The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has posted on social media:
“Last week, #PBI accompanied journalist Carlos Choc to Puerto Barrios for a session of the ‘Citizen Voices’ project, coordinated by the Stella Maris Church in collaboration with the organization Guatemalta. Carlos discussed the mining-related problems faced by the community of El Estor, in Izabal, and the threat looming over journalists’ right to freedom of expression.”
The Fenix Nickel mine in El Estor
On May 27, 2026, El Pais reported: “Fenix Nickel, the mining giant and one of Guatemala’s largest nickel extractive companies — accused of bribery, environmental destruction, and violence against Maya communities in the country’s north — has resumed operations after a three-year suspension, Indigenous leaders in the area and local media confirmed this week. …A member of the ancestral Q’eqchi’ Maya authorities in Izabal, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they are waiting for the government to take action and that if it does not they could take to the streets again.”
In 1960, Toronto-based INCO Ltd. began negotiations with the military dictatorship of Guatemala to establish the Fenix mine. By 1965, EXMIBAL, a joint venture between INCO and the Guatemalan state, was granted a 40-year mining licence.
Professor Shin Imai has written: “Colonel Carolos Arana Osorio was responsible for clearing the Indigenous people out of the INCO region in Zacapa-Lake Izabal. He launched what has been referred to as a ‘reign of terror’ in the region, in which the number of people killed is estimated to be between three and six thousand.”
Professor Imai adds: “Major construction began on the El Estor mine in 1974 aided by a $20 million loan from the Canadian Export Development Corporation.”
Vancouver-based Skye Resources bought the mine from INCO in 2004. Skye Resources then merged with Toronto-based Hudbay in 2008. The mine was purchased by Solway Investment Group in 2011. In May 2026, El Pais reported: “The project ceased to be owned by Solway, of Russian origin, and shifted its parent company to Nickel Company LLC, registered in New York, which it intends to use to export the extracted material, local media said.”
Accompaniment
The Monthly Information Package (April 2025) from the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project noted:
“At our twice-yearly assembly this April, we completed our analysis of the accompaniment request that we received from Carlos Choc, a Q’eqchi’ Maya journalist, human rights defender, and environmentalist known for his important work in journalism, his reporting on human rights violations, and his support for communities that are victims of violations, environmental injustices, and evictions. He works in Q’eqchi’ territory, in the departments of Izabal, Alta Verapaz, and Petén. Carlos was involved in a lengthy legal process in which he was criminalized but ultimately acquitted. However, because he has continued his work, he remains at risk, which led him to request our accompaniment. After reviewing his request, we decided to begin accompanying him this April.”
PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson met with Choc in Guatemala City in May 2023 and then did a follow-up webinar with him on August 18, 2023.
