The World Bank has been heavily criticized by its own ombudsman for breaching protocol in its funding of the Marlin Project, a $45 million gold mine project in San Miguel Ixtahuacán and Sipakapa, Guatemala. According to an August 22 article in the Financial Times, the ombudsman drafted a report accusing the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the arm of the World Bank that made the loan, of failing to allow sufficient time to conduct an ‘informed consultation’ prior to establishing the mine.

On July 18, several leading civil society organizations along with the mayor of San Miguel Ixtahuacán unanimously decided to conduct direct consultations with community members regarding the impacts of the Marlin Project, an operation of Canadian company Glamis Gold, Ltd. in the department of San Marcos. The Guatemalan government awarded Glamis a license to practice open-pit mining for gold and silver and to use up to 250 liters of water per hour from the local aquifer according to the organization, Instancia Maya MAM AJPOP.

On August 6, Guatemala’s Constitutional Court ruled against the creation of a U.N.-led International Commission to Investigate Illegal Bodies and Clandestine Security Forces (CICIACS).