Flaviano Bianchini a human rights defender and environmentalist with the Mother Jungle Collective (Colectivo Madre Selva) in Guatemala has been the subject of a series of threats and acts of intimidation since 12 January 2007.
Bianchini recently carried out studies about the contamination of the Río Tzalá in the Sipakapa area of Guatemala in the San Marco department in which he denounced the presence of mining products in the water.
Since 12 January, Bianchini has received seven threatening phone calls at various hours of the day, the most recent of which was received on 25 January, from an unidentified person who said, “careful, careful”, before hanging up the telephone. Later during the night of the same day, he received a call in which the stranger said, “Stop screwing around”. On 16 January, on returning home, at eight o'clock at night, he noticed that a grey Hyundai car was parked outside his apartment, however before he could go to the terrace of the house to see it again, the car had gone. On 18 January, at half past eight in the morning, on leaving his house he saw the same vehicle outside, but it left quickly once the occupants became aware of his presence.
