Members of La Puya resistance meet with President Otto Pérez Molina

Yolanda Oquelí (foreground) meets with Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina and
Minister of The Interior Mauricio Lopez Bonilla. Photo: Giles Clarke

In an uncharacteristic move, President Otto Pérez Molina and the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) invited members of the peaceful resistance of La Puya to a high level meeting last week to explain their ongoing opposition to the El Tambor (Progresso VII) gold mine located in the municipalities of San José del Golfo and San Pedro Ayampuc. Community members have maintained a constant presence at the entrance of the mine site for the past 15 months.

In the hours long meeting, community representatives explained the reasons for the resistance highlighting the lack of consultation and serious flaws in the Environmental Impact Assessment, as demonstrated in the analysis conducted earlier this year. Leader of the resistance, Yolanda Oquelí described the meeting stating: "This isn't a quick fix or a negotiation. We came at the invitation of the president and the minister of Energy and Mines because they wanted to know why we oppose the mining project." According to an article published on the MEM website, the authorities insisted on the environmental and economic viability of the project and offered to carry out a physical inspection of the mine installations with the participation of relevant local organizations.

Also invited to the high level meeting were representatives from the US company behind the project, Kappes Cassiday & Associates, their legal council, which also represents Canadian mining giant that owns Guatemala's Marlin Mine, GoldCrop, and principle investors in the project. However, at the request of the representatives from La Puya, KCA's meeting with the president was held separately. La Puya maintains firm that their concerns and demands are with the Guatemalan government, and not the private company.

A supporter holds a sign saying "I peacefully resist" outside the presidential palace.
Photo: CPR Urbana

While just 10 representatives were allowed inside the meeting, scores of community members and supporters of the peaceful resistance gathered outside the Presidential Palace. At the request of La Puya resistance, the Independent Media Center (CMI) gained access to the meeting in order to film the proceedings from within. 

A boy watches footage of the presidential meeting in La Puya. Photo: NISGUA

On Sunday, June 16, the resistance at large gathered at La Puya to watch the footage from Wednesday's meeting. A community assembly is planned for this weekend to discuss the meeting and to make a decision surrounding next steps moving forward. In the assembly on Sunday, the La Puya representatives recognized that there struggle has been hard and exhausting, but reaffirmed that after 15 months in resistance they have no intention of stopping now.

Criminal case against Alberto Rotondo, security manager for Tahoe Resources, moves forward in Guatemalan courts

On Friday June 7, Alberto Rotondo, former security manager for Tahoe Resources, was summoned to appear for the second time in a Guatemalan court. During the first hearing on May 7, Rotondo was charged with assault and obstruction of justice in connection to the April 27 attack outside Tahoe's Escobal project in which mine security opened fire on community members, seriously injuring six.  The purpose of the hearing was to formally register the six victims as co-plaintiffs in the case.

Co-plaintiffs and their lawyers at the second hearing in the case against Alberto Rotondo.
Barbarena, Santa Rosa, June 7, 2013 (Photo: Giles Clarke)

Alberto Rotondo (center) and his legal team at the defense table. Barbarena,
Santa Rosa, June 7, 2013 (Photo: Karla Solórzano)

In early May, Juan Pablo Oliva Trejo, former Tahoe employee and security advisor to Rotondo, was also arrested, and on May 15 was charged with concealing evidence in connection to the April incident. While Rotondo and Oliva Trejo are said to no longer work for Tahoe Resources, both were employees when the alleged crimes took place. Wire tap evidence collected by Guatemala's Public Prosecutor is believed to implicate Rotondo and Oliva Trejo in the crimes and both are currently under house arrest.

Despite repeated claims by Tahoe Resources and Guatemalan officials that only non-lethal rubber bullets were used to disperse the protesters, the injuries suggest otherwise. One victim explained to NISGUA staff that while the wounds he suffered from the rubber bullets have faded, the injuries caused by live ammunition have yet to fully heal. The photos below were taken more than a month after the attack.

Two victims of the April 27 attack. Barbarena, Santa Rosa June 7, 2013 (Photo: Giles Clarke)

Since Rotondo was captured on April 30, Tahoe Resources spokespeople, including head of investor relations Ira Gostin and CEO Kevin McArthur have made misleading statements in an attempt to downplay the seriousness of the incidents and the charges filed against Tahoe employees. See Tahoe's May 1 press release.

As a result, on May 31 the Justice and Corporate Accountability Project (JCAP) submitted a complaint to the Ontario Securities Commission regarding Tahoe Resources’ poor disclosure about violence in connection with the company’s only mine project. In its June 4 press response, Tahoe failed to reply to the specific concerns expressed in the complaint, including the ongoing criminal investigation of former Tahoe employees in connection with the escalating and persistent violence around the mine site.

While the state of siege declared in four municipalities around the Escobal mine is officially over, the tension and fear it produced remains palpable, especially for those who continue to peacefully resist the project. The April 27 attack was carried out just steps away from the non-violent encampment erected to demonstrate the community's ongoing opposition to the project. Below, one of the men shot in the April attack holds up the banner previously used to mark the entrance to the protest site.

"Communities in Peaceful Resistance: El Escobal. The Defense our Territories is our Right"
San Rafael las Flores, Santa Rosa, June 9 (Photo: Giles Clarke)

Despite twelve community consultations to date in Santa Rosa and Jalapa rejecting mining in their territories, on April 3 the Ministry of Energy and Mines approved the exploitation license for Tahoe Resources' Escobal project. With commercial production of silver expected to begin in early 2014, community members remain concerned about the social and environmental impacts of the massive project, located alarmingly close to homes, crops and livestock.

Horses and cows graze in the shadow of the Escobal mine.
Los Planes, Santa Rosa, June 9  (Photo: Giles Clarke)

Looking down on Escobal mine and town of
San Rafael las Flores, June 9 (Photo: Giles Clarke)

International solidarity with the communities of Santa Rosa and Jalapa continues defending their right to consultation and self determination. Today NISGUA and Breaking the Silence presented President Otto Pérez Molina with an open letter signed by thirty organizations calling for the revocation of Tahoe's exploitation license. The letter outlines numerous concerns, including "the lack of consultation, broad local opposition to the project, the irregularities in the approval process, the pending criminal investigation against Minera San Rafael for industrial contamination, and the context of violence, intimidation and criminalization against human rights and environmental defenders." Read the full letter on our website.

For further background on Tahoe's dangerous investment, see our May 8 Investor Alert here.

NISGUA has been accompanying the consultation processes in the communities surrounding the Tahoe Resources mine site since 2011.