Sixteen-year old girl murdered in continued violence associated with Tahoe Resources' mine, Canada Pension Plan urged to divest

(Ottawa/Toronto) A sixteen year old Guatemalan girl, Topacio Reynoso, was murdered on April 13, 2014 near her home town of Mataquescuintla, Guatemala where she was head of a youth movement against mining. Her father, a leader in organizing a municipal vote on the mine, was shot in the same incident and is in hospital in critical condition. This is the latest example of violence and repression associated with the Canadian-listed mining company Tahoe Resources' Escobal project.

Today, MiningWatch is sending a letter* to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board calling on the fund to divest from Tahoe Resources. MiningWatch argues that the investment is a dangerous and unacceptable gamble.

The letter says that Tahoe has failed to disclose that tens of thousands of people in five municipalities closest to Tahoe’s Escobal silver project have voted overwhelmingly against mining in their communities. For example, in the municipality of Mataquescuintla, home of Topacio Reynoso, over half of the eligible voters participated in a vote in which 96% - or some 10,000 people - voted against mining.  

“Opposition to the Tahoe mine in the surrounding municipalities is so great that Tahoe actually sued the Guatemalan government, demanding that the government do more to protect the mine,” remarks Shin Imai, lawyer for the Justice and Corporate Accountability Project at Osgoode Hall Law School. “Although the Court dismissed the suit, two months later, the government declared a state of siege in municipalities where people had voted against mining and issued arrest warrants for more than a dozen people known to oppose the mine.”

As violence and repression against mine opponents grew from 2012 to 2013, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board tripled its holdings in Tahoe.  

Despite broad opposition to its project, Tahoe rushed to put it into production.

The letter points out that Tahoe’s claims about the mineral deposit at its Escobal silver project are not backed by a feasibility study, which is normally used to establish the economic viability of exploiting a mineral deposit. In July 2013, the British Columbia Securities Commission put Tahoe on its ‘Issuers in Default List’ because the company did not comply with related disclosure requirements. The United States Securities Exchange Commission also questioned Tahoe about its claims. As a result, Tahoe was forced to amend its Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) to clarify that no feasibility study had been done and to acknowledge that projects lacking such a study “have a much higher risk of economic and technical failure.”

“Given the threat this project poses to Guatemalan communities, and at a time when Canadians are concerned about the ability of the Canada Pension Plan to meet future needs, this investment is simply irresponsible,” remarks Jen Moore, Latin America Program Coordinator for MiningWatch Canada.

Moore adds that Tahoe’s former head of security, Alberto Rotondo, is under arrest awaiting trial for an April 2013 shooting against peaceful protesters, which injured six. “The violence is bound to worsen and the CPPIB should want no part in this,” she concludes.

Contacts:

• Jen Moore, Latin America Program Coordinator, MiningWatch Canada, (613) 569-3439, jen(at)miningwatch.ca
• Shin Imai, Justice and Corporate Accountability Project, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University,  (416) 736-5274, simai(at)justice-project.org

*Sources for the MiningWatch letter to the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board

‘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

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