•  guatemala city
• Wednesday, April 13, 2011
• Inter Press Service

Guatemala has been accepted as a candidate country by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which aims to strengthen governance by improving transparency and accountability in the sector, and to reduce tensions between mining and oil companies and local people affected by their activities.

'It should be a great help in reducing conflicts,' Guatemalan EITI delegate Silvio Gramajo told IPS. 'The EITI sets transparency standards for companies to publish what they pay in taxes, and for governments to disclose what they receive, and what use they make of these resources.'

The EITI is a coalition of governments, companies, civil society groups, investors and international organisations that promotes better governance in countries rich in natural resources, through the publication and verification of tax payments made by the companies and of government revenues from oil, gas and minerals.

Regina Rivera of the Gremial de Minas y Canteras, the industry association for mines and quarries, told IPS: 'If the EITI process is implemented responsibly, it creates an opportunity to build trust in the extractive industries, as it makes two-way financial information accessible and transparent, which can contribute to reducing conflicts.'

Candidate countries must take five steps in order to gain compliant status: joining EITI, development of a working group and work plan, capacity building, disclosure and dissemination of the report, and validation. Guatemala has only taken the first step.

Only three countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are EITI candidates: Peru was accepted in 2004 although it has not yet qualified as a compliant country; and Guatemala and Trinidad and Tobago were accepted at the Mar. 2-3 EITI Global Conference in Paris.

To be admitted, Guatemala submitted a work plan for publishing reconciliation reports next year of financial flows for the mining and oil industries, to be agreed by consensus between companies, government and civil society.

The task ahead is not an easy one. The country is aspiring for EITI certification at a time when extractive industry companies are clashing with peasant farmers, who complain of serious environmental damage from mines and oil wells, and very few benefits, or none at all, for their communities.

'The mining industry does not provide appreciable support to our communities,' indigenous leader Pedro Bal told IPS. 'We want to renegotiate terms so that the affected communities are the main beneficiaries.' There have also been complaints of environmental risks and actual harm caused by the companies.

For example, the environment secretariat of the Dominican Republic and Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) with the United States recommended on Mar. 29 an investigation into the extension of an oil contract in the Laguna del Tigre National Park, in the northern Guatemalan province of Petén.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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