Tahoe on Trial! Courthouse Solidarity

Stand in solidarity with Guatemalan and community activist Adolfo Garcia and his Guatemalan counsel, Rafael Maldonado from the Centre for Environmental, Social and Legal Action (CALAS) on November 1st at 9 am when they will be at the BC Court of Appeals. Together with their legal counsel in Vancouver, they will urge the court to accept jurisdiction and hear the case against Tahoe Resources’ Escobal silver mine for the armed attack against him and six others in April 2013. The seven claimants in the case against Tahoe are supported in Canada by Vancouver law firm Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman (CFM) and the Canadian Centre for International Justice (CCIJ).

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Adolfo Garcia is 1 of 7 men who were shot during a peaceful protest in April 2013 outside of Tahoe Resources’ Escobal silver mine. The men, residents of San Rafael Las Flores, where the company’s Escobal mine is located, allege that Tahoe is legally responsible for the violence inflicted on them.

Alberto Rotondo, former military officer from Peru and head of security for Tahoe at the time of the incident, was previously under arrest in Guatemala awaiting trial for allegedly ordering security guards to fire at protesters and then covering up the evidence. In November 2015, he fled the country, since which time he was rearrested in his native Peru. Guatemala has initiated an extradition process in order to eventually continue with his prosecution.

Notably, the legal cases against Tahoe Resources are being carried out in a larger context of opposition to the Escobal mine. To date, sixteen locally-convened referenda have been held in which tens of thousands of people in the seven municipalities closest to the project have voted against the Escobal mine given their concerns over current and potential environmental and social impacts. The violence, repression, and criminalization community leaders continue to face is not limited to what transpired on April 27, 2013. Find more information here: tahoeontrial.net.