2012-2013 Tahoe Lawsuit against Guatemalan Government

In June 2012, Minera San Rafael, S.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tahoe Resources Inc., commenced a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court of Guatemala alleging that “community protests had ‘impeded its work,’ including the construction of an electrical transmission line through a road allowance in the neighbouring municipality of Mataquescuintla. The lawsuit named the President of the Republic of Guatemala, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of National Defence, Director of the National Police, Commissioner of the National Police in the Department of Jalapa, and the Commissioner of National Police in the Department of Santa Rosa. It accused them of failing in their duties to protect the mine” (JCAP, 2017). The Court dismissed the lawsuit in February 2013, finding that that government had acted within its legal capacities, having provided security and strategic contingency plans to ensure order and security within the region.