Communities defend right to clean water, continue to speak out against Tahoe's dirty mine

In honor of World Environment Day, communities impacted by Tahoe Resources' Escobal mine did what they have consistently done since the mining company came on to their lands - stand up for land, water and life against mega-development extraction. The situation is critical: just over a year into the start of commercial production at the massive silver mine, water contamination and scarcity is already being reported and confirmed by community members, government officials and environmental organizations.

Beneath the rain, over a hundred people gathered outside the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) to denounce the Initial Environmental Assessment (EAI) for the Juan Bosco exploration license, owned by Tahoe Resources' subsidiary, Minera San Rafael. Despite widespread resistance to the mine and a 2013 referendum where the community of San Juan Bosco overwhelmingly rejected the presence of the mine, MARN approved the initial assessment in December 2014, putting Tahoe is one step closer to constructing its second mine in the area. Its flagship Escobal project in neighboring San Rafael las Flores began commercial production in January 2014.

Major concerns about the impact the Escobal project is having on the local water supply motivated people from San Juan Bosco and surrounding communities to take legal action to prevent the company's expansion. A preliminary injunction filed by the Center for Environmental Legal Action (CALAS) against MARN was recently accepted by a Guatemala judge. The complaint centers on the fact that the Juan Bosco EAI is for a low impact project, which is inappropriate for a mining project. The positive decision by the judge means that the approval of the EAI has been temporarily suspended. Nevertheless, community members report that the company continues to purchase land in the area.

"They call us terrorists. They say our demonstrations are violent. But look around. We're here, peacefully demanding that MARN stop authorizing these EIAs. We're talking about our land. This isn't just our struggle - it should be everyone's," said one community member from San Juan Bosco at the protest outside of MARN. 

In 2012, CALAS also filed a complaint for contamination of the Escobal Creek and the El Dorado River, located near the community of Los Planes, just steps from Tahoe’s project. The alleged offense occurred while the project was still in the exploration phase. In April of this year, Tahoe's administrative manager for its Guatemalan subsidiary, Carlos Roberto Morales Monzón, was indicted by a Guatemala judge on charges of industrial contamination and sent to pretrial detention. He was released on bail several weeks later, but remains under house arrest awaiting trial.

The charges in this case were recently backed by a report published by the MadreSelva Collective, an environmental organization that has been monitoring water quality at six points located up and down river from the Escobal mine for the past three years. The report concludes that the monitoring point closest to the mine on the Escobal Creek is the site of water discharges from underground mine operations and contains high concentrations of chemical elements and potentially toxic metals, which present serious implications for the health of residents, their crops and animals. It also documents the drying up of at least 18 wells in communities within the municipality of San Rafael las Flores, were the mine is located. 

Those gathered outside MARN also highlighted the 250 complaints related to concerns over water that were filed against the Escobal project before the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) granted the exploitation license. Even thought Guatemalan law states that all complaints must be resolved before the exploitation license can be granted, all 250 were dismissed the day the license was granted. A lawsuit is pending in Guatemala’s Constitutional Court for lack of due process in this regard, which has raised questions about the legality of Tahoe’s exploitation license.

"We already see the negative impacts of the Escobal mine," says one community member from San Rafael las Flores. He works digging wells in the community and surrounding areas for potable water. "Since Escobal started operating, we're seeing these wells dry up.... Enough is enough. It's time that the government and company stop intimidating the people in San Rafael las Flores and the surrounding areas for standing up against the mine.” he says.

Communities speak out against the Escobal mine: we are still here, we are still in resistance

"In the face of a storm, some animals go underground and bury their heads. But eagles fly above the storm. We need to be like the eagles...with this storm upon us, we choose to rise higher, knowing that our struggle is one that has value and dignity." Teresa Muñoz, San Jose la Sierra

On March 1, 2015, Teresa Muñoz addressed hundreds of people in the town square in Nueva Santa Rosa to reiterate one seemingly simple but overwhelmingly complex reality: "We are still here. We are still in resistance."

She was joined by dozens others in loudly stating their ongoing opposition to the Escobal silver mine operating in the nearby municipality of San Rafael las Flores, in southeastern Guatemala. Recent statements by the U.S.-Canadian mining company Tahoe Resources that opposition to its Escobal project has disappeared did not resonate with locals who had gathered to hear the stories of those repressed and criminalized during the 2013 state of siege aimed at quelling dissent.

Teresa, who confirmed continued resistance in the face of fear, was joined by more than a dozen others in recounting the negative impacts of mining, pointing to the family divisions, criminalization, and remilitarization that have taken place following the arrival of the transnational mining company to the area.

In May 2013, Teresa fled from her home in the community of San Jose la Sierra and walked more than 70 kilometers to Guatemala City. She ran from the Guatemalan military who had come to her community to arrest her during the state of siege enacted by the government of Otto Peréz Molina in the neighboring municipalities of Mataquescuintla, San Rafael las Flores, Casillas and Jalapa.

Teresa sits in front of her home in San Jose la Sierra.

Although the pretext for the siege was to combat narco-trafficking in the area, Teresa and many others who had spoken out against the presence of the mine found they were on a list for arrest. Some went into hiding while others went to prison, and after seven months, a Guatemalan court dismissed all charges for lack of merit. People returned home to find the subsistence crops they had planted months prior were ruined, cows recently purchased were starving, and newborn babies they had left had grown dramatically.

Together with other members of the Diocesan Committee in Defense of Nature (CODIDENA), Teresa spoke about the real impacts criminalization has had in her life and the life of her community. But while the U.S. and Canadian Embassies back up Tahoe's claim that opposition is no longer a reality in the area, Teresa affirms: "The face of the resistance may have changed slightly, but we're still here and we will always be while God continues to grant us life."

A young community member from Volcancito speaks about the need she felt - alongside dozens of others - to leave school in protest after the teacher accepted gifts from the mine. Community members point to the deception tactics the company uses to try to quell local opposition, gifting school bags, corn, fertilizers and other items in an attempt to show popular support for the mine.

Artemio speaks about his experiences being shot by private security outside the mine on April 27, 2013. A criminal case is currently being processed against Alberto Rotondo, the former head of security who allegedly ordered security to open fire on peaceful protestors. Artemio, alongside at least 6 others, were shot. Tahoe Resources is also currently facing a civil lawsuit in Canada for violence at the mine. #TahoeOnTrial

Roberto, former president of the Xinca Parliament, speaks about his experiences being criminalized and attacked for resisting the Tahoe mine. Roberto was kidnapped in 2013 alongside three other leaders of the Xinca Parliament while returning from a community consultation in Volcancito. One of the men kidnapped, Exaltación Marcos Ucelo, was murdered while Roberto and the other two eventually escaped.

"We are a peaceful people" - Mataquescuintla celebrates 2nd anniversary of municipal referendum against mining

"Second Anniversary, Municipal Consultation as requested by Residents."
Photo: CPR Urbana

“Authorities will come and go, but it’s the responsibility of the people to uphold this decision,” says Moisés Divas to a large crowd gathered in the central park in the municipality of Mataquescuintla, Jalapa, located less than six miles from Tahoe Resources' Escobal silver mine. Two years ago, 98% of the population voted “NO” to the presence of metallic mining on their territory. Last week, hundreds gathered to celebrate the second anniversary of the consultation and to make sure the decision sticks.

"The referendum was a moment when the people could make their voices heard," says Enrique López, member of the city council. "The type of development that is being imposed in this territory is not long-term development for our people." A community-based mapping project undertaken recently in the departments of Santa Rosa, Jalapa and Jutiapa demonstrates Tahoe's grip in the region – highlighting a territory almost completely covered by mining licenses. In addition to the already-operating Escobal mine, Mataquescuintla is impacted by six other metallic exploration licenses.

Residents of Mataquescuintla locate their home on a community map to learn
which mining license might impact their lives and livelihoods.

On November 11, 2012, more than 60% of registered voters in Mataquescuintla voted in a community referendum and 98% of participants – more than 10,000 people - voted to ban the presence of mining on their territories. Together, they joined other municipalities in the area in voicing their loud opposition to the presence of mining companies such as Tahoe Resources, who began commercial production of its silver mine in the area in January 2014.

A month before starting production, Guatemala's highest court ruled in support of Mataquescuintla's municipal referendum, striking down the lawsuit filed to challenge its constitutionality. The groundbreaking decision recognized the responsibility that municipal authorities have to convene such votes and to make decisions according to their results, affirming their value as “adequate means by which peoples may exercise their right to give their opinion and be consulted on topics of interest.”



The decision is particularly important given the government and company's unwillingness to recognize consultations as a legitimate form of decision making that reflects community support or opposition to large-scale projects on their territory. Despite this seemingly dismissive stance, various consultations in Tahoe's area of influence were challenged in Guatemalan courts. Additionally, in the municipality of San Rafael las Flores where the Escobal project is located, efforts to organize a municipal consultation were thwarted by a massive campaign to criminalize leaders demanding a vote. During the anniversary celebration, Moisés Divas reflected on this contradiction stating, “If they don't care about the consultations, if they don't think they are powerful, why do they put so much effort into blocking them?”

While Tahoe Resources publicly promotes that it holds widespread community support for its operations, municipalities surrounding the mine continue in opposition. For example, the municipality of Mataquescuintla has refused to allow Tahoe access to the electrical power station located inside their municipal jurisdiction. Instead operations at Escobal continue to be powered by temporary generators.

Mataquescuintla is not the only neighboring municipality that soundly rejects the company's presence. Four additional nearby municipalities have voted against the mine in municipal referenda, while more than half of the communities in the municipality of San Rafael las Flores - right where the Escobal mine is located - have also declared themselves in opposition.

Maria Antonia Solares from San Juan Bosco stands in front of the
 map highlighting the Tahoe license that covers her community.

Maria Antonia Solares from the nearby community of San Juan Bosco in the municipality of San Rafael las Flores was present at the celebration in Mataquescuintla. Residents of her community are also facing impacts from the Escobal mine and the real possibility of Tahoe expansion into their backyard with the already granted Juan Bosco exploration license.

"It's important to be here, to learn from one another," says Solares. "Even though this is not my home, I am motivated by seeing other people defend their territory in the same way we are in San Juan Bosco."