In wake of Guatemala corruption scandals, Tahoe Resources’ Escobal license faces legal challenge

On July 12, 2015, the Guatemalan Center for Environmental and Social Legal Action (CALAS) filed criminal charges against former Minister of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), Erick Archila, and former mines director at MEM, Fernando Castellanos. CALAS is accusing Archila and Castellanos of violating the Constitution and for breach of duty for having granted Tahoe Resources an exploitation license for the Escobal project without adequate consideration of more than 250 community complaints against the project. CALAS called on the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) to fully investigate the Escobal licensing process, citing Archila's possible involvement in influence trafficking and illicit enrichment.

CALAS’s complaint reflects ongoing and widespread opposition to mining in Santa Rosa and Jalapa, which the government and company alike have ignored. Beginning in December 2011, more than a year before MEM granted Tahoe Resources its license, residents from various communities in Santa Rosa and Jalapa began filing administrative complaints against the project, according to provisions within Guatemala's mining law. The complaints, over 250 in all, expressed opposition to the project based on anticipated environmental impacts, which would violate residents' rights to water and to live in a healthy environment. 

According to the mining law, MEM is required to hold a hearing with the affected individual and the mining company in order to resolve each complaint. However, on April 3, 2012, less than one hour before the press conference when the approval of Tahoe’s exploitation license was announced, all of the complaints were dismissed.[1] CALAS argues that the Escobal license was therefore granted illegally and in violation of constitutional rights.[2] In May 2013, they initiated legal proceedings to repeal MEM's decision.[3]

On July 23, 2013, the Civil and Mercantile Division of Guatemala's First Court of Appeals decided in favor of the communities, upholding the appeal and putting the legality of the Escobal exploitation license in question. Tahoe Resources' Guatemala subsidiary Minera San Rafael appealed the decision, sending the case to the Constitutional Court. A final decision is pending. 

The recent charges come in the wake of an ongoing political crisis in Guatemala sparked by joint CICIG and Public Prosecutor investigations that revealed rampant corruption in the social security and customs offices, as well as in the judicial system and Congress. So far, 42 people, including President Molina's former personal secretary, his general secretary and the head of the national bank, have been arrested. Vice President Roxana Baldetti resigned on May 8 under suspicion of illegal enrichment and Congress is considering stripping Otto Perez Molina of his presidential immunity. Former MEM Minister Erick Archila resigned on May 15 and is facing allegations of corruption, money laundering and anomalies in the granting of numerous government contracts.

[1] Prensa Libre, “MEM inválida oposiciones en Santa Rosa” (5 April 2013), online:

[2] La Hora, “Tensión por proyecto minero en San Rafael Las Flores” (10 April 2013), online: http://www.lahora.com.gt/index.php/nacional/guatemala/actualidad/176076-tension-por-proyecto-minero-en-san-rafael-las-flores

[3] El Periodico, “Despues de recibir ataques, CALAS anuncia acciones legales contra mina” (4 April 2013), online:

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.

Wiretap transcripts raise troubling questions about Tahoe Resources' militarized security detail

Source: Amnesty International Canada – MiningWatch Canada - Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA)

April 7, 2015

(Guatemala City/Ottawa/Vancouver) Wiretap transcripts ordered by Guatemala’s Public Prosecutor of Tahoe Resources’ former head of security, Alberto Rotondo, in connection with an April 27, 2013 shooting outside its Escobal mine provide strong evidence that he targeted peaceful protesters, tried to cover up the crime and flee the country. The Public Prosecutor ordered the telephone intercepts roughly two weeks before this incident occurred, in apparent connection with suspicions over earlier violence at the mine site. The intercepts were originally presented in a public hearing in Guatemala in May 2013 at which Rotondo was charged with assault and obstruction of justice.

Hearings in a lawsuit brought by seven Guatemalan men wounded in this attack against Vancouver-based Tahoe Resources for negligence and battery are set to take place at the B.C. Supreme Court starting April 8, 2015. According to the statement of claim, Tahoe is accused of having expressly or implicitly authorized the use of excessive force by Rotondo and the security personnel against those injured, or was otherwise negligent in failing to prevent the use of excessive force. The wiretap transcripts have been filed in court as part of the lawsuit.

In Intercept No. 4010, in a conversation with Tahoe’s communications and security advisor, Rotondo makes clear his intention to quell protests against the mine through violence: “I ran them out with bullets [...] Bring on the priest Melgar then, or women and children to defend them, weren't you the real trouble-maker? That's what I told all of them. Well then, sons of bitches! [...] And I let them have it [...] There is no way I am ever going to allow these people to get confident...”.

In Intercept No.4052, apparently speaking with one of the guards under his command, Rotondo continues: “They say that one has a, a bullet wound in the face and... if it exploded in their face, it's with bullets that they learn.”

In the same intercept, Rotondo orders the evidence to be altered, while he concocts another version of events: “Clean the guns then [...] Clean them well, we're saying “nothing happened here.” There are no recordings. You understand me? [...] The version is: they entered and they attacked us. And we repelled them, right? […] The people need to be told, that they should not worry, that they come every day to attack us, with machetes and rocks; and so the people have defended themselves. There are, there are the broken shields there. But break another two so that they see that they attacked us.”

It also seems that Rotondo coordinated with a police officer, referred to as ‘Adilio’ and known to local residents by the same name, to make sure that security guards and police told the same version about the events of April 27. Local activists also suspect that an individual acting under Rotondo’s direction, referred to as “El Moreno” in the wiretap evidence, had infiltrated their meetings.

Finally, during a phone call with his son in Lima, Peru, Rotondo informs of his plans to escape: “There have been problems here in Guatemala and it's better that I'm away for awhile. Right? [...] I kicked the crap out of a bunch of lazy bastards here. They can go to hell. So, to avoid legal issues and all that.”

Shortly after this last call, Alberto Rotondo was arrested at Guatemala's international airport and charged with assault and obstruction of justice. Six farmers and one student were wounded in the attack. All of them are residents of the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores where the Escobal mine is located. Criminal proceedings against Rotondo are underway in Guatemala. The case has been subject to numerous delays since 2013.

On May 1, 2013, Tahoe Resources issued a statement trying to pin the blame elsewhere: “violence from outside influences,” accused the company, was responsible for escalating tensions around the mine site, and “a protest involving approximately 20 people armed with machetes turned hostile.” Days after the wiretap evidence was released at a public hearing in Guatemala on May 6, 2013, in an interview with iPolitics, Tahoe’s Investor Relations official Ira Gostin denied that the wiretap evidence had been made public and stated that claims that Rotondo ordered protestors shot were made-up. The transcripts show otherwise.

The company did not make another official statement about the event until July 10th when it reported having ended its contract with Rotondo’s firm. In later communications with the Norwegian Pension Fund cited in its recent report, Tahoe Resources "[denied] that Mr. Rotondo ordered the murder of demonstrators but did not wish to expand on this in view of ongoing proceedings." The Norwegian Pension Fund concluded its investigation by recommending against investment in Tahoe Resources.

According to an affidavit filed by Tahoe’s Vice President of Operations, Donald Paul Gray, Tahoe originally employed Rotondo through a contract with the International Security and Defense Management, LLC, a U.S. company based in California and led by former military personnel with experience in Afghanistan and Iraq. Under recommendation from ISDM, Rotondo was later directly contracted by Tahoe's Guatemalan subsidiary Minera San Rafael. Rotondo formerly served with the Peruvian navy and, according to his LinkedIn page, has received U.S. military training in physiological warfare and counter-terrorism in low intensity conflicts at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The civil claim that the seven men filed against Tahoe Resources for its actions overseas is the first of its kind to be heard in B.C. The wiretap evidence and other declarations were submitted as part of this process. The hearings this week, pursuant to a motion brought by Tahoe Resources to dismiss the case, will address whether it is best heard in B.C. or Guatemala.

Tahoe Resources is incorporated under the B.C. Corporations Act and has its headquarters in Vancouver. Goldcorp, whose Marlin mine in northwestern Guatemala has been an ongoing source of conflict with neighbouring Indigenous communities for over ten years, holds 40% of shares in the company and annually names three directors to the company’s board.

Amnesty International Canada, MiningWatch Canada and the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) have been monitoring and reporting on this case for the last several years.

Copies of the wiretap evidence and declarations referred to in this press release are linked here: wiretap evidence and Donald Paul Gray's affidavit.

Contacts:

Jen Moore, MiningWatch Canada, (613) 569-3439, jen(at)miningwatch.ca

Megan Whelan, Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA), (510) 763-1403, Megan(at)nisgua.org

Tara Scurr, Amnesty International Canada, 604.294.5160 x102, TScurr(at)amnesty.ca

Tahoe Resources’ former security manager to be tried in Guatemalan court

Source: Center for Environmental, Social and Legal Action (CALAS) - MiningWatch Canada - Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA)

(Guatemala City/Ottawa) On Wednesday, a Guatemalan judge decided that Tahoe’s former security manager, Alberto Rotondo, should stand trial for his role in a shooting attack on peaceful protesters in April of last year.

On April 27, 2013, Tahoe Resources’ private security opened fire on peaceful protesters outside the Escobal mine, the company’s only project, in the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores in southeastern Guatemala. Rotondo, Tahoe’s then head of security and an ex-military officer from Peru, was arrested at Guatemala’s international airport and charged with allegedly having ordered the attack.

Alberto Rotondo to stand trial

Yesterday, the judge ruled that Rotondo should stand trial on charges of causing serious and minor bodily harm to four of the seven men injured in the attack, as well as for obstruction of justice. If convicted, Rotondo could face up to 28 years in prison. The evidentiary hearing is scheduled for February 3, 2015.

“This decision sets an important precedent to the extent that it will allow the Public Prosecutor and the victims to demonstrate the premeditated and aggressive way in which Rotondo orchestrated the attack, as well as the responsibility of Guatemalan authorities in its planning and execution,” explained Rafael Maldonado, Director of the Center for Environmental, Social and Legal Action (CALAS).

Tahoe Resources’ Escobal silver project is the subject of broad local opposition and ongoing legal processes in Guatemala and Canada. In June 2014, the seven victims of the attack filed a civil suit in British Columbia against the company for its role in the April 2013 violence. The first major hearing in this case is scheduled for April 2015 regarding Tahoe's argument that the case should be heard in Guatemala instead of Canada.

“What we want is justice. Even though we know that this is difficult to achieve in Guatemala, we are confident that we will have an opportunity to demonstrate that Mr. Rotondo and the company are guilty,” stated Artemio Castillo, a victim of the attack and a co-plaintiff in both cases.

Foreshadowing the obstacles ahead toward achieving justice in Guatemala, the judge granted Rotondo house arrest, rejecting two separate instances in which the Public Prosecutor accused the ex Tahoe employee with being in contempt of court.

Maldonado commented on this unexpected decision saying, “Despite the favorable decision to send Rotondo to trial, the judge demonstrated partiality in this case by rejecting multiple requests from the victims and the Public Prosecutor to keep Rotondo in detention.”

Tahoe Resources Inc. is a silver exploration and development company that lists on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges, with offices in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and Reno, Nevada, USA. Goldcorp, a mining company with a lengthy history of human rights abuses at its Marlin Mine in northeastern Guatemala, holds 40% of Tahoe Resources shares and three seats on its board of directors.

For more information:
* Rafael Maldonado, Centre for Environmental and Social Legal Action (CALAS), rafamaldonado(at)calas.org.gt, (502) 5307-4250
* Jen Moore, MiningWatch Canada, jen(at)miningwatch.ca, (613) 569-3439
* Ellen Moore, Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA), ellen(at)nisgua.org, (502) 3027-7134

Photo credit to: Vea Canal/Panorama News

For more background, please visit tahoeontrial.net 

NISGUA has accompanied communities in opposition to the Tahoe Resources Escobal mine since 2011. 

‘On the Road for Justice’ Speaking Tour to Bring Attention to Guatemala Mining Conflict, Need for Remedy in Canada

(Ottawa) How is it that when community leaders wrongfully targeted in the wake of violence connected with Tahoe Resources’ Escobal silver mine in Guatemala they spend months in jail, while the company’s former head of security, accused of ordering guards to open fire on protesters last April, is first given house arrest and then allowed to avoid prison by arguing that he is sick?

This is just one of the stark asymmetries in the current conflict between the Toronto-listed mining firm and communities in southeastern Guatemala, where repression and violence have been the outcome of efforts to install the project without social support.

More than half of the communities in the municipality of San Rafael las Flores, where the Escobal project is located, have declared opposition to the mine. In neighbouring municipalities, in the departments of Santa Rosa and Jalapa, the majority of the population has voted against the mine in municipal referenda.



Nonetheless, Tahoe Resources reported in January that the Escobal mine is operational, claiming that “unanticipated social issues have been addressed.” According to local reports, the only thing that Tahoe Resources seems to have resolved is how to mine despite ongoing conflict in Guatemala, where the company and its principal investor, Goldcorp, wield considerable political and economic influence.

This conflict brings to the forefront the need for the Canadian government to facilitate access to justice for abuses committed abroad. The tour of a group of Guatemalans to include stops in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia will link to the Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability’s Open for Justice campaign. The CNCA campaign calls for laws to allow access to Canadian courts for people who have been harmed by the international operations of Canadian companies. It also calls for the creation of an extractive-sector Ombuds office in Canada mandated to investigate accusations of abuses and make recommendations to the government and the companies involved.

To provide a first hand community account of the situation around the Escobal mine, lawyer Rafael Maldonado from the Guatemalan Centre for Environmental, Social, and Legal Action (CALAS) will visit Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal to talk about the current state of Canadian mining conflicts in Guatemala.

Mr. Maldonado has defended numerous community members who have been criminalized for their opposition to the Tahoe project and represents plaintiffs in the case against Alberto Rotondo, who is facing charges for aggravated assault against six community members. Mr. Maldonado also represents communities in a case of industrial contamination against the mine.

Mr. Oscar Morales will join Mr. Maldonado in Toronto and then travel to Kingston, Peterborough and Vancouver. Mr. Morales is Coordinator of the Committee in Defense of Life and Peace in San Rafael Las Flores, as well as a community advocate and agronomist who is deeply concerned about the environmental and social impacts of Tahoe's mine. He has worked to support the six men shot by mine security in April 2013 and has been an advocate for the community consultations that have taken place throughout Santa Rosa.

Ms. Celeste Gutierrez from the Diocesan Committee in Defense of Nature (CODIDENA) from Santa Rosa will also participate in the events in Toronto and then travel to the Maritimes. Ms. Gutierrez will speak on CODIDENA's work to educate communities on the impacts of mining projects, her experiences organizing community consultations in Santa Rosa and the risks for human rights defenders in Guatemala.

For more information or to arrange interviews with the delegation:

• Jen Moore, Latin America Program Coordinator, MiningWatch Canada, (613) 569-3439, jen(at)miningwatch.ca

This speaking tour would not be possible without the support and hard work of the Justice and Corporate Accountability Project (JCAP) at Osgoode Hall Law School, the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network (BTS), and the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA).

Public events:

OTTAWA


Tues Mar 18th from 6:30-8pm


25One Community, 2nd Floor, 251 Bank St


Organized by Octopus Books, MiningWatch Canada, CNCA, the Public Service Alliance of Canada Social Justice Fund, Education in Action and the Americas Policy Group

TORONTO


Thurs Mar 20th from 7-9pm


Koffler House, Room 108, University of Toronto, 569 Spadina Crescent


Organized by the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network (MISN), BTS, NISGUA and friends

HALIFAX


Sun Mar 23rd at 10:30am


Edgewood Oxford United Church, 3055 Connaught Ave.


Organized by the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network

KINGSTON


Mon Mar 24th from 1:30-3pm


Providence Motherhouse Auditorium, 1200 Princess St (across from the Peach Tree Inn)


Organized by the Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation Office of the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul

PETERBOROUGH


Mon Mar 24th from 6:30-8:30pm


Sadleir House, 751 George St. N.


with a short film screening and Q&A to follow


Organized by Canadians for Mining Awareness

MONTREAL


Mon Mar 24th from 6:30-9pm


Salle D-R200, UQAM (1430, rue Saint-Denis)


with Alain Deneault, author of 'Canada: A New Tax Haven'


Organized by the Projet Accompagnement Québec Guatemala and the Social Justice Committee of Montreal

TATAMAGOUCHE


Mon Mar 24th at 7pm


Event at the Tatamagouche Centre, Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia


Organized by the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network



ANTIGONISH


Tues Mar 25th at 7pm


Room 150, Coady International Institute


Organized by the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network



VANCOUVER


Wed Mar 26th from 5:15-8pm


CAWP Room 2916, Forest Science Centre, University of British Columbia


with a screening of "Gold Fever"


Organized by the Forestry Graduate Students Association at UBC

FREDERICTON


Wed Mar 26th at 5:30pm
James Dunn Hall, room TBA, St. Thomas University


Organized by the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network

VANCOUVER


Sat Mar 29th from 7-9pm


Two Nations, One Struggle


Grandview Calvary Baptist Church, 1803 East 1st Ave


with Marilyn Baptiste, council of Xeni Gwet'in, Tŝilhqot’in Nation


Organized by Cafe Rebelde, with support from Amnesty International, the Mining Justice Alliance, the Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights and Streams of Justice

Find a one page backgrounder here.

Communities denounce forced labor in San Miguel Ixtahuacán

CALAS and Plurijul denounce mayor of San Miguel Ixtahuacán
Photo: Breaking the Silence

Press Conference Communiqué

Article 4 of the political constitution of the Republic of Guatemala establishes that no person can be subjected to servitude or any other condition which undermines their dignity.

On January 8, 2014, five communities of San Miguel Ixtahuacán, department of San Marcos, where the Marlin Mine (Goldcorp Inc.) operates, presented a complaint against Ovidio Joel Domingo Bámaca, Mayor of San Miguel Ixtahuacán, for the crime of subjecting citizens to involuntary servitude according to article 202 of the criminal code. At the end of January, the Guatemalan Supreme Court of Justice transferred the legal process to the Joint Chamber the Appeals Court of San Marcos.

The Chamber will appoint a judge to resolve whether the complaint put forward constitutes a crime that has been committed, and that is hasn’t been submitted for spurious, political or illegitimate reasons. It will then be sent to be investigated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in San Marcos.

When a person is obliged to do something against his or her will, the crime of servitude is being committed. This offense is punishable by 10 years in prison. It is a public offense, and therefore, the Appeals Court Judge is required to officially forward the complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office of San Marcos.

The Municipal Mayor is also violating Article 6 of the American Convention on Human Rights of the Organizations of American States (OAS) which prohibits absolute and irrevocable prohibition of slavery, servitude and forced labor.

The five communities of Ágel, San Antonio de los Altos, San José Nueva Esperanza, San José Ixcaniche, and Siete Platos of San Miguel Ixtahuacán, San Marcos, are beneficiaries of the precautionary measures ordered by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights – CIDH – on May 20, 2010, which require guaranteed potable water, water for domestic use and water safe for irrigation, in particular water not contaminated by the Marlin Mine operations. However, we are being forced to work without pay to have access to the precautionary measures.

The accused mayor, Ovidio Joel Domingo Bámaca, is forcing the five communities to:

1. Pay for the right to have running water,

2. Work for free to build the infrastructure for the water projects,

3. Give, for free, natural resources from our communal territories to make the construction materials,

4. Pay for the right of way to the owners of the land where the infrastructure for the water projects will be built,

5. Provide free free labor in the construction, operation and maintenance of infrastructure of the water projects in our communities.

Guatemala, February 6, 2014.

Plurijur, Maya Sipacapense Council, FREDEMI, CALAS

Translation by Breaking the Silence.

Comunidades denuncian sometimiento a servidumbre en San Miguel Ixtahuacán

CALAS y Plurijur denuncian al alcade de San Miguel Ixtahuacán.
Foto: Rompiendo el Silencio

Comunicado Conferencia de Prensa

La Constitución Política de la República establece en el artículo 4° que, ninguna persona puede ser sometida a servidumbre ni a otra condición que menoscabe su dignidad.

Cinco comunidades de San Miguel Ixtahuacán en San Marcos donde opera la mina Marlin, presentamos el 8 de enero del presente año una denuncia contra el Alcalde Municipal Ovidio Joel Domingo Bámaca por el delito de sometimiento a servidumbre según el artículo 202 del código penal.  La Corte Suprema de Justicia trasladó a finales del mes de enero el proceso a la Sala Mixta de la Corte de Apelaciones del departamento de San Marcos.

La Sala de Apelaciones nombrará a uno de sus Magistrados para resolver si en la denuncia consta la comisión de un acto o hecho constitutivo de delito y no simplemente por razones espurias, políticas o ilegítimas, certificando lo conducente a la Fiscalía Distrital del departamento de San Marcos.

El delito de sometimiento a servidumbre se comete cuando una persona es obligada a realizar algo en contra de su voluntad, castigado con prisión de dos a diez años.  Es un delito de acción pública, por lo tanto, el Magistrado de la Sala de Apelaciones está obligado a certificar lo conducente a la Fiscalía de San Marcos.

El Alcalde Municipal también está violando el artículo 6 de la Convención Americana sobre Derechos Humanos de la Organización de Estados Americanos –OEA-, el cual contiene la prohibición absoluta e inderogable de la esclavitud, servidumbre y trabajo forzoso.

Las cinco comunidades de Ágel, San Antonio de los Altos, San José Nueva Esperanza, San José Ixcaniche, y Siete Platos de San Miguel Ixtahuacán, San Marcos, somos beneficiaras de las medidas cautelares otorgadas por la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos –CIDH- el 20 de mayo de 2010 que nos garantizan agua potable, agua para uso doméstico y segura para riego, especialmente no contaminada por las operaciones de la mina Marlin, pero estamos siendo obligadas a trabajar sin gozar de salario para tener derecho a las medidas cautelares.

El Alcalde sindicado Ovidio Joel Domingo Bámaca está obligando a las cinco comunidades a:
(1) pagar por el derecho al chorro de agua,
(2) trabajar gratuitamente para construir la infraestructura de los proyectos de agua,
(3) entregar gratuitamente los recursos naturales de nuestros territorios comunales para fabricar los materiales de construcción,
(4) pagar los derechos de paso a los propietarios de las tierras donde se construirá la infraestructura de los proyectos de agua,
(5) trabajar gratuitamente en la construcción, funcionamiento y mantenimiento de la infraestructura de los proyectos de agua en nuestras comunidades.

Guatemala, 6 de febrero de 2014.

Plurijur, Consejo Maya Sipacapense, FREDEMI, CALAS

Jalapa says NO to mining! Guatemalan Constitutional Court hears case related to Tahoe Resources' mining license

Jalapa has said NO to mining. Photo: Xinka Parliament

On Sunday, November 10, in a community consultation in the municipality of Jalapa, 23,152 people said NO to chemical metal mining.

Members of Santa María Xalapán and other indigenous Xinca communities in Jalapa requested the popular vote in order to address the threat of environmental and social impacts from the nearby Escobal silver mine, owned by Tahoe Resources. Nearly 24,000 people participated in the vote. Over 98% of all participants voted against mining while 1.71% voted in favor.

Do you agree with the development, installation and operation of chemical
metal mining in any part of the municipality of Jalapa? YES or NO.
Photo: CPR Urbana

In 2011, other municipalities surrounding the Escobal mine began holding municipal-level popular votes on the issue of mining. Casillas, Nueva Santa Rosa and Santa Rosa Lima were the first to hold votes in the department of Santa Rosa. In 2012, Matasquintla in the department of Jalapa also held a consultation. All four votes resulted in the overwhelming rejection of mining on their territory.

This year, the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores, where the Escobal mine is located, planned to hold a municipal wide consultation but their request was denied. Instead, individual communities in the municipality organized community-level consultations. Eight of San Rafael Las Flores' 26 communities completed popular votes when the process was cut short due to a government declared state of siege in May. The community consultation earlier this month in Jalapa marks the first popular vote surrounding the Escobal mine since the state of siege.

Participants in the community consultation show off their inked fingers, a sign of their vote.
Photo: CPR Urbana

Meanwhile, in a separate process of legitimate opposition to mining, Quelvin Jiménez continues to defend his legal right to have his voice heard. Jiménez, along with over 200 other complainants, filed legal complaints against Tahoe Resources regarding potential social and environmental impacts from the company's Escobal project. While individual legal complaints are less utilized than the community consultation process to express opposition to mining projects, they are protected under Guatemala's mining law.

The Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) ignored community opposition to the Escobal mine and rejected the 200+ complaints in April of this year, just before granting Tahoe Resources the mining license necessary to move forward with production. Jiménez, with legal support from the Center for Environmental and Social Legal Action (CALAS), appealed MEM's rejection of his complaint, citing lack of due process. The appeal was upheld in July, which CALAS interpreted to mean the suspension of Tahoe Resources' license. However, Minera San Rafael, Tahoe's Guatemalan subsidiary, put forward another legal appeal against the decision, sending Jiménez' case to Guatemala's Constitutional Court.

Hundreds of supporters from the legitimate resistance to the Escobal mine traveled in to Guatemala City to attend the Constitutional Court hearing this past November 5. Jiménez, before a packed room, defended his legal right to self-determination. He reflected on the process saying, "We hope the court respects our rights, that justice be fulfilled, not just for me but for all the communities."

A community member in the attendance also commented on the hearing, "They think they can take the law in their own hands but there is rule of law in Guatemala and it must be respected… We are demanding our rights be respected."

CALAS and Jiménez currently await notification from the Constitutional Court regarding its resolution.

Support community resistance to the Escobal mine by echoing their voices internationally: Take Action! Write Kevin McArthur, President of Tahoe Resources, to demand the company respect communities' right to self-determination and leave Guatemala!

Tahoe Myths: Setting the record straight

On Monday July 8, Guatemala's Public Prosecutor, on behalf of the six victims and co-plaintiffs in the case, filed a formal accusation against Alberto Rotondo, former security manager for Minera San Rafael, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian mining company Tahoe Resources. Rotondo was employed by the company when he allegedly ordered private security guards under his command to shoot at peaceful protesters outside the mine’s entrance on April 27 of this year. He has since been indicted on charges of assault causing serious and minor injuries and obstruction of justice.

Since the incident on April 27, Tahoe Resources has issued public statements that negate the existence of peaceful local opposition to the project and downplay the seriousness of the violence around the mine site and the charges against company employees.

NISGUA, together with our partners in Guatemala and Canada, want to help set the record straight. Here is a handful of Tahoe Myths to get started: 

1. Only non-lethal force was used in April 27 attack against protesters (Tahoe press release, May 1 and Tahoe press release, July 10)
FACT - Spokespeople for Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City stated that lead bullets were removed from victims.  Official documentation prepared by the national hospital of Cuilapa, where three victims were treated, also states that the injuries were caused by firearms. Victims testified to being shot with lead bullets, in addition to rubber bullets, and injuries sustained support that testimony.

2. Injured protesters taken to hospital and released (Tahoe press release May 1 and Tahoe press release July 10)
FACT – Of the six men seriously injured, one man was hospitalized for 16 days and will require facial re-constructive surgery. Two other men initially admitted and release at local hospitals were later re-hospitalized and held overnight.

3. Alberto Rotondo, Tahoe's security manager, was detained but not charged with any crimes (Tahoe press release, May 1)
FACT – Security manager Alberto Rotondo was detained on April 30, and on May 7, he was charged with obstruction of justice and assault. In a June 4 press release, Tahoe CEO Kevin McArthur did not amend the May 1 statement, nor did he respond to the fact that Rotondo was under house arrest awaiting trial. Instead he stated in a separate interview that he could not comment on the investigation. It was not until July 10 that Tahoe Resources acknowledged the criminal charges filed against their former security manager.

Juan Pablo Oliva Trejo, Rotondo's security advisor, employed by Tahoe, was also arrested, and on May 15 was charged with concealing evidence. He is also under house arrest awaiting trial.

4. There is widespread support for the Escobal project
FACT – There is widespread opposition to the project. 12 community consultations held since 2011 have rejected Tahoe's project. The 8 most recent consultations were held in communities within the municipality of San Rafael las Flores. In each vote people have overwhelmingly rejected the project. The remaining 16 communities plan to have consultations as soon as possible. At least 200 legal objections to the project have been filed with the Ministry of Energy and Mines by individuals who stand to be directly impacted by the operations of the Escobal mine.

See our Top 10 Tahoe Myths for a full list of facts on the case against former Tahoe security manager.

For a time line of events see: Tahoe Resources' Security Manager on Trial in Guatemala: Chronology of Events: April 27, 2013 – July 9, 2013

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

• Share this information with your network

• Follow the case against Rotondo on the NISGUA blog and on Twitter: @NISGUA_Guate

• Join the conversation on twitter using #TahoeOnTrial  

• Remain attentive to future actions and alerts as the case moves forward 

See NISGUA’s previous blog entries for more information:
The complaint issued to Ontario Securities Commission for Tahoe's lack of disclosure on violence around the mine;   Tahoe Resources Shareholder Alert: A Dangerous Investment or download the complete document here.

Exploitation License Granted for Tahoe Resources Escobal Project in Context of Escalating Violence

Communities in the departments of Santa Rosa and Jalapa have been peacefully resisting the proposed Escobal silver mine, operated by Minera San Rafael, Guatemalan Subsidiary of Canada's Tahoe Resources for more than three years. Since 2011, residents have carried out eight community consultations in which more than 35,000 people have rejected chemical mineral mining on their territory. "The Minera San Rafael does not have the social license to operate and they are never going to have the social license to operate," stated Oscar Morales from the Committe in Defense of Life and Peace of San Rafael Las Flores. 

Despite this ongoing community opposition, on April 3 the Guatemalan authorities granted Tahoe Resources the final permit necessary to begin mineral exploitation.

This morning community, human rights and environmental organizations held a press conference to highlight the numerous illegalities of the Escobal exploitation license and to denounce the context of escalating violence, specifically the recent abduction of four Xinca leaders. Representatives from communities surrounding the mine site called for an investigation of the attack against the Xinca leadership, which resulted in one death, and demanded respect for their rights to free, prior and informed consent over the mine project.

Press conference to denounce granting of license (Photo: C.P.R.Urbana)

Yuri Melini and Rafael Maldonado of the Center for Environmental and Social Legal Action (CALAS), the legal team supporting the peaceful community resistance to the project, also denounced the multiple attacks perpetrated against them on the same day that the Tahoe license was granted. Three gun shots were fired at the CALAS office, while Maldonado's home was ransacked for the second time in two weeks. In a interview with Guatemala's Plaza Publica, Maldonado states, “It was a direct message from the mine because we have been accompanying the entire process of legal opposition, as well as in the community consultations.”

PRESS RELEASE

Translation by NISGUA

IN RESPONSE TO THE ILLEGAL APPROVAL OF THE MINERAL EXPLORATION LICENSE IDENTIFIED AS SEXT-015-11 ESCOBAL of

MINERA SAN RAFAEL, S.A.

WE EXPRESS

1. Our profound rejection of the illegal means by which the exploration license was granted to Minera San Rafael S. A., a company formally accused of the industrial contamination of the El Escobal ravine, a direct tributary of the Los Esclavos river. The criminal complaint, identified as file 1048-2012, is investigated by the Pollution Prosecution Unit of the Public Prosecutor's Office on Crimes Against the Environment and is subject to the judicial oversight of the Court specialized in Criminal, Narcotics and Crimes against the Environment in the department of Santa Rosa. On September 10, 2012 the aforementioned Court confirmed the denouncement of the blatant industrial contamination, a situation that makes the approval of the granted license totally invalid.

2. The serious violation of the Rule of Law committed by the Ministry of Energy and Mines in refusing to process the more than 250 administrative objections to the approved mining license, which were presented by citizens of the affected municipalities. The affected citizens were notified of the arbitrary and illegal decision to dismiss the objections in the exact same moment in which the license was granted. This administrative decision, in addition to being illegal, represents a series of violations of the fundamental rights of the affected citizens in accordance with articles 46, 47, 48 and 49, which regulate administrative objections. The aforementioned articles demonstrate that there are no legal means to dismiss the [administrative] process.

3. Our complete disappointment in the attitude assumed by the Ministry of Energy and Mines who, in clear violation of the prevalence of the common good over the individual, ignored the community consultations carried out in the municipalities of Casillas, Nueva Santa Rosa and Santa Rosa de Lima, as well as the community consultations held in the communities of San Rafael Las Flores, during which more than 98% of the population rejected the development of this illegally approved mining project.

4. Our complete condemnation of the violation of the right to access the file of the approved license, perpetrated by the office advisor of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Justina Solís, and the General Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, María Mercedes Bonilla, who denied Yuri Giovanni Melini Salguero, General Director of CALAS, Moisés Divas Santos and Quelvin Otoniel Jiménez access to the requested file. This situation raises suspicion that the license had not yet been legally granted and was immediately reported to the Human Rights Ombudsman.

5. Finally, considering the evidence and the glaring illegalities that the Ministry of Energy and Mines has committed in granting the license to Minera San Rafael, we commit to exhausting all constitutional, administrative and criminal legal actions in order to invalidate the approved license, and to request an immediate criminal investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, so that the government officials responsible for this violation of national judicial regulation are punished.

Center for Environmental and Social Legal Action (CALAS)

The Diocesan Commission in Defense of Nature (CODIDENA)

Committee in Defense of Life and Peace of San Rafael Las Flores

Xinca Peoples' Parliament of Guatemala (PAPXIGUA)

Guatemala City, April 4, 2013

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