Guatemalan community still feeling mine’s impact
STORY: Nestled in the hills near the Guatemalan town of San Rafael Las Flores is the Escobal mine.
It hasn't been operating since 2017, but locals say they're still dealing with its impact.
They claim blasting at the mine has damaged their homes and hurt their crops.
Blanca Oliva is a member of the indigenous Xinka Parliament.
“The damages were from the vibrations of the quakes. Little by little we started to see more of them. When the mining company started to fully exploit, work with dynamite, we had quakes from 6 am to 6 pm everyday at the same time. The cracks were a consequence of that. Because of all the quakes, the houses cracked.”
The mine is owned by Canadian company Pan American Silver.
Locals installed a non-violent blockade in 2017 to stop its workers from reaching the mine.
A year later, it was ordered by a Guatemalan court to first consult with the communities living near the mine...
Which the company claims it is currently doing.
But local farmer and environmentalist Juan Antonino Rodriguez remains unconvinced.
“The only things that keep this communities and area alive, are coffee farming, corn and bean farming and vegetable crops. But we can never say that mining companies will benefit us because we in the seven years of exploitation we haven’t seen that.”
Members of the community recently met with Argentine activists to discuss the mine’s impact.
It's left some with no choice - but to leave.
XINKA PARLIAMENT MEMBER, CELSO CASUN, SAYING:
“This is a crop area. We grow onions, tomatoes, chile. If you see the area, you’ll see a lot of Mayan houses were those crops are grown. But lately the tomatoes have been growing with spots called ‘gold’, and many plagues through the company. Many families had no option but to migrate.”
