BBC NEWS | Programmes | Crossing Continents | Unease over Guatemalan gold rush 
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/7569810.stm?sid=39d22a8f9a7c24216c0d8bbdf87731?sid=39d22a8f9a7c24216c0d8bbdf87731
With gold prices skyrocketing, the Mayans of Guatemala find themselves caught up in a new rush for the precious metal. Mario Tema sits across from me, a Mayan with a mission.
We are in the town of Sipacapa in the Western Highlands of Guatemala, washing down a breakfast of tamale and beans with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. As he tells me of the town's fight against a huge open pit gold mine, that famous picture of Che Guevara gazes at us from the wall. Here in Sipacapa, Mario Tema is an anti-mining icon.
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Comments (1)
Time after time, if you are not already a powerful community or nation, mineral resources just seem to bring death and misery. It is heartbreaking to think about the good that could have been done in places like Nigeria with its amazing oil reserves or in the Congo with diamonds and minerals only to see the people of these countries get nothing if they are lucky or have their communities destroyed if they are not.
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