The project has resulted in multiple lawsuits and instances of violence against the local community. Local Maya-Q’eqchi’ communities were found to have been insufficiently consulted about the project, have suffered from consequent threats to their water and livelihoods, and do not receive development benefits from the project. Despite this, the company claims that it follows all environmental laws, has invested in the community, and boasts of providing 1,900 jobs and additional contracted positions. CGN insists that the pollution in Lake Izabal was caused by sewage and agriculture, despite evidence to the contrary. Through this lawsuit, Angelica Choc and the other plaintiffs sought to hold HudBay, the Canadian corporation, liable for the violence inflicted upon the community by security personnel employed by the Guatemalan subsidiary. The lawsuit alleges that on September 27, 2009, the Fenix Head of Security, Mynor Padilla, shot and killed Adolfo Ich Chamán within just weeks of his involvement in a meeting advocating for the community’s land rights. Two other cases between the community and Hudbay were also heard: Chub v. Hudbay Minerals et al, in which German Choc Chub, a youth, pursued justice for becoming paraplegic from being shot by Mynor Padilla the same day, and Caal et al v. HudBay Minerals et al, in which Mayan women requested compensation for having faced violent evictions and gang-rape by security officers, police, and military. In a news release regarding the violent incidents, HudBay referred to the Maya-Q’eqchi’ people on Area 217 as “illegal occupiers,” denied the intentions to evict communities, described the negotiations as “consistent with HudBay's strategy of peacefully resolving illegal occupations through dialogue,” and insisted that CGN security “acted only in self defense.” HudBay states that it and CGN have cooperated fully with all investigations conducted by Guatemalan authorities in connection with the incidents which occurred on September 27, 2009 in
El Estor. According to CGN's internal investigation, none of its employees or security personnel were involved in the death of Chamán. In June 2013, the
Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that the Canadian company could be held legally responsible for crimes committed in Guatemala, including the alleged murder of Adolfo Ich Chamán and the alleged sexual assault of 11 women from Lote Ocho. A jury notice was filed in December 2013.
Evictions and land claims In late 2006 and early 2007, Skye Resources (acquired by HudBay Minerals in 2008, renamed HMI Nickel and subsequently sold by HudBay in 2011) carried out forced evictions of Mayan communities located on contested mine land. During a number of these evictions, police officers and soldiers burnt the homes of Mayan communities to the ground. The Fenix mining project is also subject to ongoing
land claims by local Mayan communities. In 2006, the
International Labour Organization, an agency of the
United Nations, ruled that Guatemala had breached international law by granting the Fenix mining concession without first consulting with the local Mayan communities. The ILO released a report discussing the violation in 2007. In February 2022, the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights heard a land-claims case from Mayan communities impacted by the mine. The case is part of a years-long claim beginning in 2002, when residents of the area bought their land back from the Guatemalan government, but never received title. Lead and Zinc are not highly toxic chemicals naturally to ecosystems; however, the accumulation of these metals as a byproduct of mining in Lake Izabal has serious consequences for those who rely on it, with pregnant women and children facing the most devastating impacts. This has raised serious concerns amongst local populations, as environmental contamination is a threat to current populations, but also to future generations of Indigenous communities. The gradual nature of this contamination can be described as a form of “slow violence”, as its incremental impacts accumulate over time. Due to the slow nature of this harm, the delayed detection of health impacts can limit the potential for oppositional action. However, despite little attention to the impacts of this slow violence in the region, large-scale pollution events have brought more immediate concern about the harm of pollution, as seen in May 2017, when the water of
Lake Izabal turned red for weeks. Attention was drawn to the issue, which, in this case, led local fishermen to begin protesting the mine.
Forbidden stories investigation In May 2019, A Guatemalan court found that the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) had failed to ensure the local Maya-Q’eqchi peoples'
free, prior and informed consent for the project, and that the mine had been operating since 2005 without local consent, which is required by
international labor law. This resulted in the court ordering the suspension of operations at the mine. Throughout this investigation, teams examined millions of leaked internal documents belonging to mining company Solway's Guatemalan subsidiary and found that several pollution events were not reported, some of which would have led to criminal prosecution. Researchers found that there was a negative relationship between the mine and troubles related to failed crops and water pollution, as many individuals reported catching polluted fish in Lake Izabal, alluding to significant environmental degradation. == See also ==