Not so safe to wear those Maple Leaf patches now

montrealsimon.blogspot.com

When I was backpacking through Central America about fifteen years ago, I always ran into Canadians wearing Maple Leaf patches on their backpacks. The worst thing you could do was assume that they were from the United States. Not so much in Central America today.

Vice has an interview with Rachel Smalls, a Canadian woman with the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, about what is going on in Guatemala.

Do you think there is a general ignorance amongst Canadians about what is actually happening at Canadian mining sites across the world?

Yes, it’s very telling that most Canadians don’t know that over 70 percent of the mines across the world are owned by Canadian companies, that should be a bragging point and something that Canadians are proud of, however I think it’s kept a secret for a reason because I think the more you look into these companies and you look into their projects, the more you realize it’s giving Canada a terrible reputation in many places around the world. There are many places where I would suggest people not put a Canadian flag on their backpack. Rural Guatemala is definitely one of them.

No need to just pick on the Canadians - I don't think that the nationality of the mining company is the main explanation for how they operate in a country.

You can also read Silvel Elias and Geisselle Sanchez's take on how consultations between the Guatemalan government and indigenous communities occur over various natural resource development projects in Americas Quarterly.