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How many community consultations have been held in Guatemala and are they binding?

According to the cited documentsSocial licence

Community consultations held

>100 since 2005; ~90% against

2005-2025CIIDH

More than 100 municipal or community 'good faith' consultations have been held since 2005 and roughly 90% reject the projects, invoking the Constitution, ILO Convention 169 and the Municipal Code (Decree 12-2002) as their legal basis. The Constitutional Court (CC) has held them to be advisory and not binding: from the Sipacapa plebiscite (2007) to San Juan Sacatepéquez (2018), where it declared 'non-existent' 34 consultations with around 98% turnout against. The asymmetry is that the consultation that counts is the one a court orders and the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) runs, not the one the territory convenes.

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Sources

  • CIIDH

    Consultas comunitarias en Guatemala

    • Community consultations held
    ciidhguatemala.orgAccessed Aug 19, 2026Go to the source
  • CIIDH

    Consultas comunitarias en Guatemala: cuando la justicia constitucional silencia a los pueblos indígenas

    • Community consultations held
    ciidhguatemala.orgAccessed Aug 19, 2026Go to the source