“Almost from the moment Canadian-US mining company Tahoe Resources acquired the Escobal silver project from Goldcorp over five years ago, the company and the Guatemalan government have used repression, criminalization, and, ultimately, militarization to try to silence peaceful resistance to mining activities in the area. Instead of treating local residents as people peacefully defending their lands from the negative impacts of mining on their health, water and agriculture, Tahoe Resources’ militarized security strategy seemed designed to face an insurgency.”
Luis Solano has written the above report ‘Under Siege: Peaceful Resistance to Tahoe Resources and Militarization in Guatemala’.
His conclusion resonates.
“As long as Tahoe Resources and the Guatemalan government continue to treat communities affected by the Escobal project – or any other mine project in the country – as insurgents instead of people peacefully standing up for their land, water, and in defence of their existing ways of life, the kind of conflict and violence observed to date can be expected to continue.”
You can find the links to both the full report and the summary here on the Tahoe on Trial website.
Guatemala Solidarity Network 
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