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Wednesday, November 15

Police and Protestors Clash at Guatemala Nickel Mine

by Patrick on Wed 15 Nov 2006 11:58 PM GMT

Protestors clashed with Guatemalan police over the planned reopening by Skye Resources Inc., of the long-dormant Fenix nickel project near Guatemala's Lake Izabal and begin producing 11,000 tonnes of ferro-nickel late in 2008. Reuters reported:

"Several people were injured when Guatemalan police clashed with rock-throwing Maya Indian protesters who burned property belonging to Canadian nickel miner Skye Resources Inc., police and local leaders said on Monday.

One officer was wounded by a rock on Sunday as the squatters occupying land owned by Skye resisted an order to leave a new area they invaded at the weekend, police spokeswoman Maria Fernandez said.

Two protesters, who want the company to cede land for subsistence farming, were hurt on Saturday in a police attempt to evict them from the site, a local Indian rights group said."

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Initiative to Facilitate Direct Support For Guatemalan Projects

by Patrick on Wed 15 Nov 2006 10:30 PM GMT

We were contacted recently about a new initiative to enable people from the UK to support grass-roots projects in Guatemala. Seth Reynolds, director of Direct Sponsorship International Ltd, explained the objective behind the project:

"The idea of the organisation is to give small, local, grass-roots projects access to interested individuals and potential donors in Europe, through a central website. The website will contain information on lots of different grass-roots projects in various developing countries.

People will be able to search these according to their interests, and then become sponsors to a project of their interest. They will be able to set up monthly direct debits online through the site and therefore support locally-managed solutions to local problems in developing countries".

Direct Sponsorship is currently in the initial stages of development. They have already begun working with three small, local NGOs in Guatemala to develop the project's systems and processes, so as to ensure these systems work for both parties.We'll be following its development with interest here on this blog.

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UK Youth Exchange Crossing Continents to Central America

by Patrick on Wed 15 Nov 2006 12:32 PM GMT

Just spotted this local news- Swindon Advertiser - great to see this kind of initiative bringing young people from the UK together with young people from Nicaragua and Guatemala. It's great to see the Swindon Ocotal Link got funding for this. I remember Bruce Clarke mentioning this youth exchange project when he wrote after his trip to Guatemala in the wake of hurricane Stan in October 2005.

"YOUNG people from Swindon will join their counterparts from Saltzgitter in a dream trip to Central America.

Six visitors from Swindon's German twin town will stay at Lower Shaw Farm before they fly to the Nicaraguan twin town of Ocotal on November 25.

The youth exchange, boosted by a £14,000 grant from agency Youth Connect, has been organised by Swindon Ocotal Link (SOL) and will give many their first taste of Latin America."

The article continues:

"The six Swindon representatives will meet six people from Saltzgitter, six from Ocotal, and six more from Santiago Atitlan in Guatemala.

Bruce Clarke, chairman of SOL, said the group were lucky to meet such varied groups.

He said: "I wrote the bid to attract funding for this trip on the basis that it is a life-changing experience.

"That is what someone said to me after our last trip there four years ago, and it should be even better with the participation of the four groups."

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Welcome, Guatemala Solidarity Network (GSN) based in the United Kingdom supports the people of Guatemala who continue to struggle for change after centuries of oppression, violence, racism and exploitation.