Guatemalans protest and block U.S gold mining efforts, 2011-2014

In 2000, a mining project known as “Progreso VII Derivada,” originally owned by the Canadian company Radius Gold and later sold to the U.S. company Kappes, Cassiday & Associates (KCA), received several licenses from the country’s government for extraction and exploration of over 5,000 acres of land in Guatemala. From this point forward, KCA began building gold mines without the knowledge of local communities in San Jose del Golfo and San Pedro Ayampuc. It was not until a local newspaper published an article in 2010 that residents found out that a mining operation was being established and voiced their concerns regarding health and potential environmental issues. However, various government agencies would not respond to residents' concerns regarding the progress of KCA’s project. 

On 11 March, 2011, Estela Reyes parked her car in the path of the mining project and refused to move. The following day, more community members joined her in the blockade, which would become known as the Communities in Resistance, or La Puya. Participation in the roadblock continued to grow, allowing for people to participate in shifts. Involvement ranged from twelve hour shifts at the roadblock, brief stops into the roadblock, food donations, and volunteering to cook. 

By January 2012, more tents appeared at the roadblock and La Puya members created solidarity banners along the roadblock. During this time, the encampment received three delegations from the Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC) along with other international solidarity visits

During a night shift on 8 May 2012, mining vehicles and machinery, accompanied by 300 riot police in 50 trucks approached the roadblock. The local priest rang the church bell to warn blockaders, and residents called family and friends to vacate the area. The hundreds of blockaders quietly remained, ultimately causing the mining vehicles and riot police to leave. 

On 3 June 2012, two unidentified men on motorcycles ambushed and shot Yolanda Oqueli, a community leader and organizer of La Puya, as she left her shift. Prior to this incident, she had received threats to her and her family by an unknown group. She made a formal complaint to the public prosecutor's office regarding her safety, but officials took no precautionary measures following the complaint, nor did they conduct a thorough investigation to find the perpetrators, according to Oqueli. 

On 7 November 2012, La Puya hosted a community forum in San Del Golfo, which hundreds of individuals attended. A variety of community members spoke, including Indigenous women and Yolanda Oqueli. A subsidiary of KCA, EXMINGUA, organized a party across the street from the community forum with live music and free t-shirts with the phrase ​“EXMINGUA – Minería Responsable.” On the 13th of November of that same year, eighty individuals in hard hats and in EXMINGUA shirts threatened and intimidated the people on the roadblock in an attempt to drive them out of the premises. However, instead, approximately 500 more people joined the demonstration.  

The pattern of threats and intimidation by EXMINGUA persisted and even included the humiliation of the female protestors by labeling them “prostitutes” and leaking explicit photos of them onto the internet from unknown individuals. The Guatemalan government declared that it would evict La Puya from the roadblock on 7 December. Despite not having any legal permits, riot police tore down installations and banners at the roadblock, arrested at least five individuals, released teargas onto the crowd, and destroyed the makeshift kitchen at the roadblock. The protestors remained and laid down on the street with masks covering their face and sang hymns. By the end of the day, it was decided that eight police officers would remain at the roadblock with the protestors, and the government would initiate a formal dialogue.   

On 23 May 2014, the Guatemalan police violently evicted protestors from the roadblock, resulting in injuries to over twenty people; seven were hospitalized.  

The Supreme Court provisionally suspended the mining license of the project and shut down the mine in 2016, when the Supreme Court ruled that the company never properly consulted the affected communities about the project, and thus the company had directly violated the rights of the community.