Mothers Day and Mining Resistance 

The delegation visits Colís.

Friday, May 10 was Mother’s Day here in Guatemala and the day that we went to go visit Colís, which is a community that has been in resistance to mining for some years.

We had an early start to the day because we wanted to try and beat traffic leaving Guatemala City. Maria joined us for this part of the trip and it was great to be able to see her in person. The community has been in resistance to the Escobar mine (currently operated by Pan American Silver) since 2010.

The delegation visits members of the mining resistance.

In 2013/2014  the resistance sort of tapered out a little bit due to some fear of repercussions from the mining company. But in 2017, there was a massive landslide nearby. It was thought it was probably caused by the mining activity. This helped galvanize the community and they set up the encampment, which prevented the mine from being able to really operate.
The efforts were successful. The mine was forced to cease operations and the government ordered consultations with the Xinca people. (Something we learned was that people in the area were not previously recognized as Indigenous Xinca, because they didn’t speak the language or maintain traditional clothing.)
We were all shocked to realize that the mine is basically right in the middle of town. The mine is underground, so when you see the site, it doesn’t really look like much (unlike open pit mines). But, as part of the consultations, the community was able to enter the mine and realized that there were kilometres and kilometres of tunnels. They even had stoplights set up because there were so much traffic happening underground.
Based on the fact that there are so many kilometres of tunnels it’s really not hard to believe that it was the mining activity that caused that fatal landslide. As we were headed back to Guatemala City, we passed the mountain and it looked like half of the face of it was missing.
The community continues to have 24/7 encampments set up, with one to three people there at a time. They monitor traffic coming through town to stop any mining-related vehicles. There are still about 80 to 90 people working at the mine, just for general maintenance of equipment, so there are mining trucks that do need to come through. But the community monitors the vehicles and kind of inspect them as they’re passing through to make sure there isn’t any equipment or there aren’t enough supplies that would allow the company to start up mining operations again
The Resistance expressed that there is some hope with this new government, that they might be able to move the consultation process along. While we were visiting with them, they did learn that later in May they will finally be able to have a meeting with the new government in order to discuss what’s taken place, what’s been happening with the consultations and hopefully be able to move things forward.
It’s remarkable to think about how long this community has been steadfastly stopping this mine from operating. There were dozens of members of the resistance that came out to meet with us even though it was Mother’s Day.
It was also very clear this Resistance appreciates the relationship with BTS. They spoke highly of Lisa, and all she had done for them, especially helping them connect with roasters for their coffee crops. It was also very, very clear how much folks appreciated Maria, with how they greeted her and interacted with her throughout the day.
After our visit, we headed back into Guatemala City and just had a relaxing night. We ordered some pizza and watched a documentary (Camino de Oro or Paths of Gold).
Overall, a great day that reminded me about the importance of BTS relationships!