Attaque contre un défenseur des droits de l'homme
Elizandro Pérez Nuevo Día Chortí Indigenous Association (Coordinadora Central Campesina Chortí Nuevo Día (CCCND))
Sources
Elizandro Pérez lived near the “Los Manantiales” quarry, a mining operation extracting antimony belonging to the company INCAMIN S.A. The thirty-year permit for the mine was granted without a free and informed consultation with the Ch’orti’ people. Elizandro, 36 years old, had been victim of death threats and other types of intimidation since 2016 for his activism and defense of his territory. The threats were more constant throughout November, and in response, the communities had made denunciations to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. There were also attempts to illegally arrest him. The community members and the organisation denounced that the employees of INCAMIN S.A are fully responsible for the threats and attempts to arrest him. On 21st November 2018, Elizandro Pérez was found dead. It is still not clear how he died, but given the increasing death threats, the community insists that Elizandro´s death was related to his role as resistance leader defending his land and territory.