Demanda en contra de Tahoe Resources – señal de alerta para inversionistas y canadienses

Fuente: Alerta Minera Canadá - Red en Solidaridad con el Pueblo de Guatemala (NISGUA) - Red Rompiendo el Silencio de las Provincias Marítimas y Guatemala

18 de junio de 2014

(Ottawa/Tatamagouche/Guatemala) Se presentó hoy día una demanda civil en Vancouver contra Tahoe Resources por negligencia y agresión en relación a un tiroteo en el proyecto argentífero de la empresa en Guatemala, lo que transmite un claro mensaje a inversionistas y a la población canadiense en general.

Victimas y sus abogados en Guatemala. Photo: Giles Clarke

Siete víctimas de un tiroteo que habría sido encargado por el ex jefe de seguridad de la empresa Tahoe Resources, Alberto Rotondo, han enjuiciado a la empresa por daños punitivos. Rotondo es un antiguo oficial de marina peruano ligado a proceso en Guatemala con cargos relacionados al ataque de mayo del 2013. La demanda canadiense representa uno de los muchos abusos vinculados al único proyecto de Tahoe, el cual se precipitó a la producción en enero del 2014 a pesar de la elevada oposición de las comunidades.

El desarrollo del proyecto argentífero Escobal de la empresa Tahoe Resources, en el suroriente de Guatemala, se ha caracterizado por violencia y represión.

“La represión de dirigentes comunitarios involucrados en la organización de consultas locales y manifestaciones pacíficas en contra de la mina de Tahoe se remonta al 2011. Alrededor de 90 personas han sido acosadas mediante persecuciones legales espurias, y en mayo del 2013 se declaró estado de sitio en la zona lindera a la mina, creando así un ambiente de temor e intimidación para acabar con la oposición local”, indica Ellen Moore de la Red en Solidaridad con el Pueblo de Guatemala (NISGUA por sus siglas en inglés).

Decenas de miles de personas han votado en contra de la minería en San Rafael Las Flores, donde Tahoe opera en la actualidad, y en los municipios lindantes donde la empresa espera llevar a cabo mayor exploración.

La abrumadora oposición se basa en preocupaciones por los impactos actuales y futuros de las operaciones de Tahoe en las fuentes acuíferas locales, al igual que en la salud de la comunidad y en actividades agrícolas. La mina de Tahoe se ubica a tan sólo 2 kilómetros del parque central en San Rafael Las Flores y a escasos metros de viviendas y ganado.

“La empresa tiene una historia turbulenta en Guatemala, lo que debería preocupar a la población canadiense y a los inversionistas”, observa Jackie McVicar de la Red Rompiendo el Silencio de las Provincias Marítimas y Guatemala. “Tahoe Resources surgió de la empresa Goldcorp de Vancouver, cuya mina Marlin en las sierras del noroccidente de Guatemala ha sido fuente de conflictividad y de constantes violaciones a los derechos indígenas y humanos en la última década.”

Goldcorp mantiene una participación del 40% en Tahoe Resources, y seis de los ocho miembros de la junta directiva de esta última están o estuvieron vinculados al gigante de la minería aurífera. La mayor parte de los canadienses también invierten en Tahoe Resources a través del Fondo de Pensiones de Canadá, cuyas acciones llegaron a un valor de CAD $49 millones el 31 de marzo del 2014.

Cabe resaltar que, al enfrentarse a demandas por parte de guatemaltecos/as, la empresa canadiense HudBay Minerals terminó vendiendo su proyecto de níquel Fénix a una firma rusa a un cuarto del precio que había pagado. Las tres demandas por el asesinato a mano armada del dirigente de derechos a la tierra, la violación colectiva de 11 mujeres maya q’eqchi’ y la parálisis de un hombre joven causada por arma de fuego siguen su curso en las cortes de Ontario.

“Los abusos por los que se enjuicia a Tahoe son la punta del iceberg en términos de las flagrantes violaciones vinculadas a las operaciones mineras canadienses en Guatemala y en toda la región”, observa Jen Moore, de Alerta Minera Canadá. “Esta demanda debería sonar la alarma a la población canadiense indicando un problema mucho más profundo con esta industria que las autoridades canadienses promueven incondicionalmente en el extranjero”.

Contactos:

Ellen Moore, Red en Solidaridad con el Pueblo de Guatemala (NISGUA), (011) 502 4141 1187, ellen(arroba)nisgua.org 
Jackie McVicar, Red Rompiendo el Silencio de las Provincias Marítimas y Guatemala, (902) 324-2584 btsguatemala(arroba)gmail.com
Jen Moore, Alerta Minera Canadá, (613) 569-3439, jen(arroba)miningwatch.ca 



ANTECEDENTES

El proyecto argentífero Escobal, de la empresa Tahoe Resources, se ubica en el municipio de San Rafael Las Flores en el suroriente de Guatemala. Ha sido objeto de oposición local y continuos procesos legales en contra de la validez de la licencia de explotación. Dirigentes comunitarios han sido reprimidos, criminalizados y violentados debido a su promoción de los procesos de consulta comunitaria. A pesar del conflicto – o quizás a causa de éste – Tahoe se precipitó a comenzar operaciones en la mina, incluso antes de establecer reservas minerales confiables. Según la empresa, la mina subterránea comenzó a operar en enero del 2014.

La mina de Tahoe carece de licencia social.

• Hasta la fecha, se han llevado a cabo 14 consultas en las que decenas de miles de personas en los seis municipios más cercanos al proyecto votaron en contra de la mina Escobal, debido a sus preocupaciones sobre los impactos ambientales y sociales actuales y futuros.

El proyecto Escobal ha llevado a violencia y criminalización.

• Alberto Rotondo, ex jefe de seguridad de la empresa y antiguo oficial militar de Perú, se encuentra en prisión a la espera de juicio por haber presuntamente ordenado a los guardias de seguridad abrir fuego contra manifestantes en frente de la mina el 27 de abril del 2013. Siete víctimas de este ataque presentaron en Columbia Británica una demanda civil contra Tahoe Resources por negligencia en relación al incidente.

• El gobierno de Guatemala decretó el estado de sitio por un mes luego del tiroteo del 27 de abril del 2013 en municipios en que el voto en contra de la mina había sido abrumador.

• En junio del 2012, Tahoe presentó una demanda contra el gobierno de Guatemala, exigiéndole cumplir un rol más activo en la protección de la mina. La corte de Guatemala desestimó la demanda en febrero del 2013, unos pocos meses antes de imponerse el estado de sitio.

• Desde septiembre del 2012, más de 90 personas han sido sindicadas con cargos criminales infundados, debiendo soportar las dificultades y pesadumbre de los procesos legales que esto implica. Algunas de ellas tuvieron que pasar meses en la cárcel antes de quedar absueltas de todo cargo.

Los entes regulatorios guatemaltecos otorgaron a Tahoe la licencia de explotación sin antes conocer los recursos presentados por pobladores, poniendo en tela de juicio la validez de la licencia.

• Poco antes de otorgarle a Tahoe la licencia de explotación el 3 de abril del 2013, el Ministerio de Energía y Minas de Guatemala desestimó y dejó sin resolver unos 250 recursos presentados por pobladores.

• En julio del 2013 los querellantes presentaron un amparo por la desestimación de uno de los recursos, el cual fue otorgado, poniendo en duda la validez de la licencia. Se espera que la Corte de Constitucionalidad de Guatemala emita en breve la decisión final.

Debido a sus estrechos vínculos con Goldcorp, Tahoe conoce los riesgos de proseguir sin el consentimiento de la comunidad y con un proyecto que ya ha llevado a violencia y represión.

• Goldcorp mantiene una participación del 40% en Tahoe Resources.

• Seis de los ocho miembros de la junta directiva de la empresa son o han sido ejecutivos en Goldcorp, incluyendo al fundador y presidente de Tahoe, Kevin McArthur, que fue presidente de Glamis Gold y de Goldcorp hasta el 2008.

• La mina Marlin de Goldcorp en Guatemala también comenzó a operar en medio de oposición y represión generalizadas. Como resultado, ha sido objeto de repetidas declaraciones internacionales en materia de derechos humanos urgiendo la suspensión de la mina, e indicando preocupaciones por los impactos en la salud de la comunidad, en el ambiente, y por el derecho a la libre determinación de las comunidades indígenas mayas del alrededor.

• La Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos abrió recientemente un caso por violaciones a los derechos indígenas y humanos en la mina Marlin.

Tahoe Resources Inc. es una empresa de exploración y desarrollo argentífero, que cotiza en la bolsa de valores de Toronto y de Nueva York, con oficinas en Vancouver, Columbia Británica, Canadá y Reno, Nevada, EEUU. Escobal es su único proyecto.

Lawsuit Against Tahoe Resources a Wake Up Call for Investors and Canadians

Source:  MiningWatch Canada - Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) - Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network  

June 18, 2014

(Ottawa/Tatamagouche/Guatemala City) A civil lawsuit filed today in Vancouver against Tahoe Resources for negligence and battery in connection with a shooting at the company’s silver project in Guatemala sends a strong message to investors and all Canadians.

Victims and legal team in Guatemala. Photo: Giles Clarke

Seven victims of a shooting allegedly ordered by Tahoe Resources’ former head of security, Alberto Rotondo, are suing the company for punitive damages. Rotondo is an ex-naval officer from Peru who was indicted in Guatemala on charges related to this attack in May 2013. The Canadian lawsuit represents one of numerous abuses in connection with Tahoe's only asset, which was rushed into production in January 2014 despite strong community opposition.

Violence and repression has marked the development of Tahoe Resources’ Escobal silver project in southeast Guatemala.

“Repression against community leaders involved in organizing local referenda and peaceful protests in opposition to Tahoe’s mine dates back to 2011. Some 90 individuals have faced spurious legal persecution and, in May 2013, a military state of siege was declared in the area surrounding the mine creating a climate of fear and intimidation in order to quash local opposition,” observes Ellen Moore for the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA).

Tens of thousands have voted against mining in San Rafael Las Flores, where Tahoe currently operates, and in the immediately surrounding municipalities where the company hopes to carry out further exploration.

The widespread opposition is motivated by concerns over the current and future impacts of Tahoe’s operations on local water supplies, as well as community health and agricultural activities. Tahoe’s mine is only two kilometres from the central park in San Rafael Las Flores and mere metres from homes and livestock. 

“This is a company with a troubled history in Guatemala, which should be a cause of concern to Canadians and all investors,” remarks Jackie McVicar from the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network. “Tahoe Resources is a spin-off company from Vancouver-based Goldcorp, whose Marlin mine in Guatemala’s northwestern highlands has been a source of strife and ongoing Indigenous and human rights violations during the last decade.”

Goldcorp holds 40% of the shares in Tahoe Resources and six of the company’s eight Directors have past or current ties to the gold mining mammoth. Most Canadians are also invested in Tahoe Resources through the Canada Pension Plan, which reported holding CAD $49 million in shares as of March 31, 2014. 

Notably, when Guatemalans sued another Canadian mining company, HudBay Minerals, the company ended up selling off its Fénix nickel project to a Russian firm at a quarter of the price for which it had purchased it. The three lawsuits for the shooting murder of a land rights activist, gang rape of 11 Maya Q’eqchi’ women and shooting paralysis of a young man are ongoing in Ontario courts.

“The abuses for which Tahoe is being sued are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of rampant violations in connection with Canadian mining operations in Guatemala and across the region,” comments Jen Moore for MiningWatch Canada. “This lawsuit should alert Canadians to a much deeper problem with this industry that Canadian authorities are unconditionally promoting abroad.”

Contacts:

Ellen Moore, Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA), (011) 502 4141 1187, ellen(at)nisgua.org 
Jackie McVicar, Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network, (902) 324-2584 btsguatemala(at)gmail.com
Jen Moore, MiningWatch Canada, (613) 569-3439, jen(at)miningwatch.ca 


BACKGROUND

Tahoe Resources’ Escobal silver project in the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores, southeastern Guatemala, is the subject of local opposition and ongoing legal processes against the validity of the exploitation licence. Community leaders have faced repression, criminalization and violence for their efforts to promote community consultation processes. Despite the conflict – or perhaps because of it – Tahoe has rushed to put the mine into operation even before establishing reliable mineral reserves. It reportedly brought its underground mine into operation in January 2014.

Tahoe lacks a social licence for the mine.

• To date, fourteen referenda have been held in which tens of thousands of people in the six municipalities closest to the project have voted against the Escobal mine given their concerns over current and potential environmental and social impacts.

The Escobal project has led to violence and criminalization.

• The company’s former security manager, an ex-military officer from Peru, Alberto Rotondo, is currently under arrest awaiting trial for allegedly ordering security guards to fire at protesters outside the mine on April 27, 2013. Seven victims of this attack are now bringing a civil lawsuit in British Columbia against Tahoe Resources for negligence and battery in connection with this incident.

• The Guatemalan government imposed a military state of emergency for a month after the shooting on April 27, 2013 in municipalities where people overwhelmingly voted against mining.

• In June 2012, Tahoe sued the Guatemalan government, demanding that it do more to protect the mine. A Guatemalan court dismissed the lawsuit in February 2013, mere months before the military siege was imposed.

• Since September 2012, some 90 people have been slapped with unfounded criminal charges and have had to endure legal processes causing them distress and hardship. Several spent months in jail before being cleared of all charges.

Guatemalan regulators failed to address residents’ complaints prior to granting Tahoe’s exploitation licence, putting the licence in doubt.

• The Guatemalan Ministry of Energy and Mines dismissed some 250 formal community complaints without a proper hearing shortly before granting Tahoe's exploitation licence on April 3, 2013.

• In July 2013, the plaintiffs appealed the dismissal of a complaint and won, putting the validity of the licence in doubt. A final decision from Guatemala's Constitutional Court is expected soon.

Given its close relationship to Goldcorp, Tahoe knows better than to proceed without community consent and when its project has already given rise to violence and repression.

• Goldcorp holds 40% of Tahoe's shares.

• Six of eight of Tahoe’s Directors are current or former Goldcorp executives, including Tahoe founder and CEO, Kevin McArthur, who was CEO of Glamis Gold and Goldcorp until 2008.

• Goldcorp’s Marlin mine in Guatemala was also put into operation in the midst of widespread opposition and repression. As a result, it has been the subject of repeat international human rights declarations calling for suspension of the mine and raising concern over impacts on community health, the environment and right to self-determination of neighbouring Maya Indigenous communities.

• The Inter American Commission on Human Rights recently admitted a case against Indigenous and human rights violations at the Marlin mine.

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. Escobal is its only project.

Communities of Santa Rosa and Jalapa denounce criminalization of leaders opposing Tahoe Resources' Escobal mine

Since the May 2 declaration of a state of siege in four municipalities surrounding Tahoe Resources' mine, 12 members of the Committee in Defense of Life and Peace of San Rafael had their homes raided by police and military forces, five community members have been arrested and charged, and at least 18 more have pending arrest warrants against them.

During the last year, there have been more than 70 legal processes against individuals peacefully opposing Tahoe's Escobal mine. Many of those singled out have participated in the Committee in Defense of Life and Peace and have been leaders in the organization of the 12 community consultations carried out in the region since 2011. In each of the consultations, the population voted overwhelmingly against mining projects in their territory.

Criminalization continued during the May state of siege when Judge Carol Patricia Flores, who attempted to annul the historic genocide trial before the Constituional Court did so officially on May 20, issued at least 18 arrest warrants in a legal process filled with anomalies. Among the five arrested was Guillermo Carrera, community leader and member of the Committee in Defense of Life and Peace. After almost two months in prison, a judge in Jalapa has only just been assigned to hear Carrera's case. All of the accused are implicated in crimes related to the robbery of mine explosives in November 2012 and the detention of police officers in Santa Maria Xalapán in April 2013.

Supporter calls for due process at the peaceful protest outside the Public Prosecutor's office. A photo of Guillermo Carrera, unjustly imprisoned for almost 2 months, hangs around his neck. (Photo: NISGUA)

President of the Xinca Parliament, Roberto González, and prominent leader of the Committee for the Defense of Life and Peace of San Rafael las Flores, Rudy Pivaral, are among those with arrest warrants pending. González was one of the Xinca leaders kidnapped after leaving a community consultation on the Tahoe project in March, 2013. Rudy Pivaral has been instrumental is the organization of the eight consultations to date in the municipality of San Rafael las Flores.

On June 19, the Campesino Unity Committee (CUC) and the Xinca Parliament filed an appeal against High Risk Court “A” judge, Carol Patricia Flores. The legal action denounced the loss of the court audio, considered to be critical pretrial evidence. According to Sergio Beltetón, legal counsel for CUC, “It is a violation of the Penal Process, which requires that all judicial hearings be electronically recorded... the judge's excuse is that the audio was lost, and that it wasn't recorded on a CD or a hard drive on the computer.” 

Today, families, friends and supporters of the criminalized and jailed gathered outside Guatemala's Public Prosecutor's office to demand an end to criminalization and respect for due process. NISGUA joins our Guatemalan partners in denouncing the persecution of community and indigenous leaders legitimately defending their territory, self-determination and the right to live in a healthy environment. 

Rudy Pivaral's mother calls for due process in the case against her son. (Photo: NISGUA)

Despite the ongoing persecution of mine opposition, important steps have been made in the search for justice for victims of the violent attack carried out against peaceful protesters outside the mine site on April 27. Two Tahoe Resources employees have been arrested and charged in connection to the attack against community members in which six men were seriously injured. Former Tahoe head of security, Alberto Rotondo, and security advisor Juan Pablo Oliva Trejo are under house arrest awaiting trial.

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

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.

Complaint asks for investigation into Tahoe Resources after wiretap evidence implicates employees in violence at Escobal mine

On Saturday April 27, mine security at Tahoe Resources' Escobal project opened fire on community members peacefully gathered outside the mine site. Six men were shot and seriously injured. This incident set of a chain of events, eventually resulting in the declaration of a state of siege in four municipalities surrounding the Escobal mine. 

On April 30, Alberto Rotondo, Security Manager for Tahoe Resources was arrested and on May 7 Rotondo was charged with obstruction of justice and assault. On May 4, another Tahoe employee, Juan Pablo Oliva Trejo, was arrested and later charged with concealment of evidence for his role in helping Rotondo mobilize during the days following the attack. Wire tap evidence gathered by Guatemala's Public Prosecutor's office implicates both men in the crimes.

According to Canadian law, Tahoe Resources is obligated to inform their shareholders and the public in general of any events that may impact the project. Tahoe has only released one statement regarding the concerning events on April 27, downplaying the seriousness of the incident and criminal implications for their employees. On May 31, the Justice and Corporate Accountability Project, in coordination with local partners, submitted a complaint to the Ontario Securities Commission regarding Tahoe's lack of disclosure. Please see the press release below.

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 3, 2013

COMPLAINT ASKS ONTARIO SECURITIES COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE TAHOE RESOURCES AFTER WIRETAP EVIDENCE IMPLICATES EMPLOYEES IN VIOLENCE AT GUATEMALA MINE

(Toronto/Ottawa) Friday, the Justice and Corporate Accountability Project (JCAP) submitted a complaint to the Ontario Securities Commission regarding Tahoe Resources’ (TSX: THO; NYSE: TAHO) poor disclosure about violence in connection with the company’s only mine project in southeast Guatemala.

On April 27, security personnel shot and wounded six people gathered outside of the Escobal mine site. Wiretap evidence gathered under orders of the Guatemalan public prosecutor’s office has implicated company employees.

According to the wiretap evidence, Tahoe’s Security Manager Alberto Rotondo ordered the mine security to attack the protestors. Mr. Rotondo has been charged with causing serious and minor injuries and obstructing justice, which included tampering with evidence at the site of the crime. He is currently under house arrest and awaiting an evidentiary hearing in July 2013.

The security advisor for the company, Juan Pablo Oliva Trejo, has also been apprehended in connection to the attack and charged with concealing a crime. According to wiretap evidence, he helped Mr. Rotondo mobilize in the days following the attack, warning him to leave the country to avoid facing legal problems. 

According to Securities Commission requirements, Tahoe Resources must file material changes “forthwith”. Company disclosure, however, has been both insufficient and inaccurate.

“We are concerned that Tahoe Resources has downplayed the serious crimes for which its employees have been accused in comments to the press and that it has not issued an official statement since the wiretap evidence came to light that would correct earlier errors,” stated lawyer Shin Imai of JCAP at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto.

JCAP has requested that the Commission undertake an investigation based on section 75(1) of the Securities Act. JCAP filed the complaint on behalf of MiningWatch Canada and its Guatemalan partner, the Committee for the Defence of Peace and Life of San Rafael Las Flores.

“As the company’s only mine project, investors, and the public in general, need to know about the implication of its employees in such an egregious attack, as well as widespread and ongoing opposition to the mine,” remarked Jen Moore for MiningWatch Canada.

Local communities have resoundingly rejected the Escobal mining project in 12 community consultations to date and have sustained a peaceful resistance to the mine for three years. Goldcorp Inc. owned the Escobal project until 2010 and currently owns 40% of the shares in Tahoe Resources. As of March 2012, the Canadian Pension Plan held $9 million CDN worth of shares in the company. 

A copy of the letter submitted to the Ontario Securities Commission on May 30 can be accessed here. Refer to an Investor Alert from May 8 for further background here.

Contact:

Shin Imai, Justice and Corporate Accountability Project, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, (tel) 647-524-2312

Jennifer Moore, Latin America Program Coordinator, MiningWatch Canada, (tel) 613-569-3439, jen(@)miningwatch.ca

The Justice and Corporate Accountability Project (JCAP) is made up of volunteer lawyers and law students who provide research and advice on corporate accountability in Latin America.

MiningWatch Canada is a pan-Canadian initiative supported by environmental, social justice, Aboriginal and labour organisations from across the country. It addresses the urgent need for a co-ordinated public interest response to the threats to public health, water and air quality, fish and wildlife habitat and community interests posed by irresponsible mineral policies and practices in Canada and around the world.

Tahoe Resources Investor Alert calls Guatemala project a Dangerous Investment

(Ottawa/Guatemala City) – Yesterday, the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) and MiningWatch Canada warned Tahoe Resources investors against further investment in the Escobal silver project, given lack of community support and increasing violence and repression in the area. Risks identified include:

1. Tahoe Resources does not have the social license to operate the Escobal project;
2. It is likely that conflict and violence will persist if the mining project continues to be imposed without community consent, given recent violence attributed to public armed forces, an illegal armed group and the company’s private security;
3. Implication of company private security in recent acts of violence could lead to civil lawsuits as has taken place in relation to other mining conflicts in which Canadian companies are involved;
4. Tahoe Resources is already under investigation in Guatemala for industrial contamination of water supplies near the Escobal mine site;
5. Failure of Guatemalan regulators to address residents’ complaints prior to granting company’s exploitation license is under appeal, which could put Tahoe’s exploitation license in jeopardy;
6. By repeating patterns seen in Guatemala’s mining sector in connection with Goldcorp’s Marlin mine, including lack of respect for prior community consultation, targeting of peaceful protesters through the judicial system and putting the project into production in the midst of violence and repression, the company is likely to be the object of further protests.

The project is located in the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores in the department of Santa Rosa where for over three years local communities have been peacefully demonstrating their opposition to the mining project given concerns over potential social and environmental impacts. Twelve municipal and community level plebiscites have been carried out in which over 90% of participants voted against the mine.



Tahoe Resources’ received its license to put the Escobal silver mine project into operation in early April despite widespread social opposition to the project and unaddressed complaints against the granting of the permit.



Tahoe’s project has provoked an increase in conflict in the region, which recently escalated on April 27 when the company’s private security shot at community members, injuring six men, two of them seriously. Contrary to company statements, a spokesperson for the Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City indicated that live ammunition was used. Alberto Rotondo, security manager for Minera San Rafael, Tahoe Resources’ wholly owned Guatemalan subsidiary, has been arrested and charged with with causing mild and serious bodily harm, and for obstructing the investigation by tampering with the crime scene. Two more supposed mine employees have been arrested in connection with the recent violence, including the killing of a police officer.



On May 2, the Guatemalan government declared a state of siege in San Rafael Las Flores, where Tahoe’s Escobal project is located effectively making public protest and further community consultations illegal as long as the measure remains in place. Local activists have been among those targeted in raids and detentions. 



NISGUA and MiningWatch Canada will be sending their report to key analysts and shareholders in Tahoe Resources Ltd. including the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, which holds 439 thousand shares in Tahoe worth approximately $9 million CAD.



The investor alert can be downloaded here.

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

Guatemalan gov't declares state of siege in municipalities surrounding Tahoe Escobal mine

During the early hours of Thursday, May 2, one day after the first anniversary of the state of siege in Santa Cruz de Barillas, Huehuetenango, the Guatemalan government declared another state of siege in four municipalities surrounding Tahoe Resources’ Escobal mine. The imposition of martial law comes less than one month after Minera San Rafael, Tahoe Resources wholly-owned Guatemala subsidiary, received its final permit for mineral exploitation. The permit was granted without the consent of the affected communities and in a context of escalating violence and criminalization against human rights defenders and their legal council.

Over the past three years, four municipalities, including two of those currently under a state of siege, carried out municipal level community referenda rejecting mining projects in their territory. During the past two months, eight villages in San Rafael Las Flores have carried out community referenda, given that attempts to organize a municipal level consultation were thwarted by legal appeals and injunctions filed by individuals who work for Minera San Rafael. In each of these referenda, the population voted overwhelmingly against the Escobal project.

"With the referedum we decide our future" Banner of the Committee in Defense of Life and Peace (Photo: NISGUA)

In a press conference yesterday, President Otto Pérez Molina and Minister of the Interior Mauricio López Bonilla explained that the suspension of basic civil liberties is in effect for the municipalities of Casillas and San Rafael Las Flores, in the department of Santa Rosa, as well as Jalapa and Mataquescuintla, in the department of Jalapa.

State of siege in Santa Rosa and Jalapa (Photo: MiMundo.org)

While Pérez Molina and López Bonilla claim the state of siege is not in response to mine opposition, their actions suggest otherwise. Prominent community activists, members of the Committee in Defense of Life and Peace, and leaders of the community referenda in San Rafael, had their homes raided by police early Thursday morning. The government has issued at least 18 arrest warrants for individuals allegedly involved in delinquent acts, including Roberto Gonzalez president of the Xinca Parliament and Rudy Pirvaral of the Committee in Defense of Life and Peace.

In statements to the press Bonilla attempted to explain that mining opposition has been used as a pretext for the establishment of organized crime in the region. "There is a difference between legitimate conflict and pseudo-conflict...by saying that they are opposing [the mine] through delinquent acts, they are hiding behind the excuse of mining opposition. It favors them to make people believe that there is conflict over mining in all of the municipalities."

State of siege in Santa Rosa and Jalapa (Photo: MiMundo.org)

The past week has seen an increase in conflict and violence in the departments surrounding the mine site.

On Saturday, April 27 mine security shot at and injured six community members, as they walked on a public road located in front of the mine installations. One of the men remain in the hospital in critical condition. Alberto Rotondo, head of security for Tahoe Resources' subsidiary, Minera San Rafael, is being held responsible for the attack. Medical personnel confirmed the attack was carried out with live ammunition, as well as rubber bullets, despite initial declarations from the company and López Bonilla which claimed only non-lethal measures were used. On the morning of April 30, Guatemalan authorities arrested Rotondo in the airport as he attempted to flee the country. Rotondo has been formally charged with attempted homicide.

On Monday the 29th, as Minera San Rafael management and the Guatemalan government signed an agreement outlining the royalties to be paid to the state, more than 2,000 residents of San Rafael Las Flores took to the streets in a peaceful march in opposition to the mine project. Later that afternoon, community members intercepted and detained 23 members of the national police in Jalapa, believing that they were mobilizing to repress the march in San Rafael. An operation carried out by the national police the following day resulted in the release of the officers.

Later that same day, a member of the National Police was killed in an armed attack carried out by a group of masked men in Sabana Redonda, a community located near the mine site. While this incident is still under investigation by Guatemalan authorities, the attack matches the pattern previously denounced by human rights organizations, which is characterized by illegal clandestine groups intent on creating instability in the region and delegitimizing peaceful opposition to the mine.

These recent events highlight the need for an in-depth investigation into the attacks and violence being carried out in communities surrounding the mine site, as was called for in the petition of over 4,000 signatures delivered by NISGUA to Guatemala’s Public Prosecutor’s office in early April.

Despite government claims on Thursday that they are in dialogue with mine affected communities, the deployment of 8,500 military and police to the four municipalities suggests otherwise. Far from acting as a mediator, the Guatemalan government has instead chosen to respond to conflict with the repression of communities opposing large-scale development projects and the stigmatization of community leaders and human rights defenders.

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