During the second pre-consultation meeting in Guatemala, the team and the proposed methodology to conduct the Cultural and Spiritual Impact Study of the "Escobal" mining right in the Xinka People was accepted.
As a result of a protective action filed by the environmental organization Calas, the Constitutional Court (CC) ordered in September 2018, to carry out through the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), a community consultation in the area of operations of the mine, in El Escobal, in the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores, department of Santa Rosa.
In Nicaragua, following the arrests of political and business leaders, uncertainty has increased after local authorities arrested Luis Alberto Rivas Anduray, Executive President of Banpro.
In the last weeks Cristiana Chamorro, Arturo Cruz, Felix Maradiaga Blandon and Juan Sebastian Chamorro have been arrested, these people were presidential pre-candidates and are accused of multiple crimes.
In the context of the process of the resumption of operations of the San Rafael Mine, the first pre-consultation meeting was held and it was agreed to conduct a study of the spiritual and cultural impact of the mining right on the Xinka indigenous people.
Following a protective action filed by the environmental organization Calas, the Constitutional Court (CC) ordered in September 2018, to carry out through the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), a community consultation in the area of operations of the mine, in El Escobal, in the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores, department of Santa Rosa.
Empresa Tomza Guatemala S.A. reported that in Nicaragua the government of President Daniel Ortega illegally expropriated and confiscated the company's assets, which together amount to $4 million in investments.
The expropriation process took several years. Tomza executives explained that in 2015 they were granted the permits for the construction of a property located in the municipality of Tipitapa, department of Managua.
A few weeks before the new magistrates of the Constitutional Court take office in Guatemala, the business sector is asking that the new members of the highest court advocate for a real rule of law and provide legal certainty to investments.
In recent years, Guatemala's Constitutional Court (CC) has gained prominence in the country's economic sphere, as its rulings have affected different investments that were already operating locally.
Over two years have passed since criminal groups invaded productive land in Nicaragua, and although there have been promises to restore the rights of the owners, up to date 29 properties remain taken.
In the context of the political and social crisis that erupted in the country in 2018, at the end of June of that year it was reported that at least ten private properties in Rivas, Matagalpa, Chinandega and Managua had been taken over by criminals.
After the Constitutional Court decided to keep the "Extracción Minera Fénix" project suspended, the private sector is asking the authorities to start the community consultation process as soon as possible, in an objective and clear way.
The operations of the mine located in the department of Izabal were suspended since July 2019 as a result of a legal appeal filed by a group of neighbors, who argued that the community consultation process for the operation of the mining project had not been exhausted.
The Constitutional Court decided to keep the "Extracción Minera Fénix" project, located in the department of Izabal, suspended and ordered the community consultation process to be carried out within 18 months.
The Guatemalan Ministry of Energy and Mines decided to revoke the license it had granted in early 2020 to the Rocja Pontilá hydroelectric project, in Coban, Alta Verapaz.
With regard to the discussion of an initiative which aims to modify the Trademark Law in Nicaragua, the business sector believes that relevant changes are being considered in the area of legal security, as far as the protection of trade names is concerned.
Regarding the subject, the National Assembly reported that on February 27, "... the consultation process for the initiatives to reform the Trademark Law and the Patent Law was successfully concluded, with the participation of economic and academic agents directly linked to the subject, who provided important contributions."
Because the current legal framework is ineffective, Guatemalan entrepreneurs in the food sector are asking the government to draft a new law that would criminalize smuggling and also consider it a matter of national security.
Directives of the Guatemalan Chamber of Food and Beverages (CGAB) assure that the current Decree 58-90 "Law Against Fraud and Contraband" is obsolete and does not allow for direct and frontal combat against contraband.
Arguing that the requirements established by law to issue a license were not met, the authorities in Guatemala decided to suspend the environmental permit for the Rocja Pontila Central hydroelectric project.
In Guatemala, a group of deputies filed an unconstitutionality action against the ministerial agreement approving the Rocja Pontila hydroelectric project.
The authorization for the hydroelectric plant, owned by the Pontila Integrated Development Project and planned to be built on the Icbolay River in Alta Verapaz, was issued on January 13, 2020.
The legal appeal that the congressmen who make up the National Unity of Hope (Une) party presented to the Constitutional Court (CC), argues that Ministerial Agreement 019-2020 of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) violates seven articles of the Constitution, including 1, 3, 12, 44, 66, 97 and 154.
Alejandro Giammattei, Guatemala's new president, is hosting a country with weak institutions, legal uncertainty and a business sector that is asking for a less "hostile" environment for new investments.
To the denouncements made in recent months by businessmen from Guatemala and Nicaragua, is added that of a Honduran union, which denounces the invasion of 3,400 manzanas of productive land.