Valerie Croft

Blacklisting Migrant Workers

valcroft — Tue, 06 May 2014 16:53:47 +0000

Guatemalans speaking out against abuse expelled from temporary foreign worker program

GUATEMALA CITY—When Jose Sicajau left his community in Guatemala to participate in Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program, he hoped to make enough money doing seasonal agriculture work to be able to provide for his family back home.

Guatemalan Ex-military commissioner gets 150 years in prison

valcroft — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:53:14 +0000

Topic:

After years of waiting, a verdict has finally been issued in the first ever case of forced disappearance to be tried in Guatemala. Felipe Cusanero Coj, an ex-military commissioner, has been found guilty of 6 cases of forced disappearance occurring between 1979 and 1982. He has been sentenced to 150 years in prison - 25 years per victim - of which 50 he'll serve.

For a country that is ravaged by political impunity, this landmark case is being celebrated by those fighting for social justice. At the same time, however, there still remains deep scarring for the victim's families who are no further in finding the remains of their loved ones.

Sources:

- Some of the plaintiffs, if contact is possible (likely)
- Some of the organizations involved in supporting the trial, such as Famdegua
- CALDH (Centre for Legal Action for Human Rights) - the lawyers involved in the case

Writing Samples:

http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2744 http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2322

About the Author:

I have written for the Dominion

I make less than $10,000 annually

Number of articles published for the Media Co-op to date:

One-line bio:

Valerie Croft volunteered as an international accompanier with ACOGUATE from February to July 2008, and accompanied the witnesses in the Choatalúm case.

Community rights versus property rights in Guatemala (that's moi's synopsis, not Valerie's title)

Moira Peters — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:04:15 +0000

Minerals are being extracted by Goldcorp Inc. from a large open-pit gold mine in the area of San Miguel Ixtahuacán, and community members in resistance are being met with intimidation and threats. I have written an article for the upcoming issue on the recent set of confrontations between community members and company officials over land disputes as Goldcorp expands its operations; however, I didn’t get a chance to write about the concepts of community rights and access to water, which I think is a fundamental aspect of this story. The increase in sickness due to water contamination in the area and the criminalization of resistance has already been reported, but the reasons behind the resistance have not been written about in detail.

In Canada, a foundational part of our system is the concept of private property. The sense that legal title to land forgoes environmental and social responsibility has allowed Canadian corporations to participate in human rights and environmental abuse. In the community of Agel, where current confrontations are taking place, families claim that their rights are being abused by Goldcorp, since mineral extraction will affect the entire community. This article will focus on the conflict that is occurring now in the region, provide a brief history, and then explore what the concept of community rights means to individuals being threatened for demanding these rights.

Main interviews:

1) Javier de Leon: Director of ADISMI, who has recently received four death threats (including threats against his wife and children), for the resistance work he is doing in San Miguel Ixtahuacan.
2) Rights Action – a human rights organization working in the region

There are also several other Guatemalan organizations working in the area, that have taken independent water samples and others that have organized consultations.

Writing Samples:

http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2744 http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2322

About the Author:

I have written for the Dominion

I regularly work as a journalist

Email Address:

valcroft@live.com

One-line bio:

Valerie Croft worked in Guatemala as an international accompanier in 2008, and is gravely concerned about the ongoing mining situation in the country.