On July 30, 2019, lawyers for the Guatemalan victims of Tahoe Resources’ mining-linked repression in 2013, announced they reached a reparations settlement with Pan American Silver (new owner of Tahoe Resources)...

Establishing a precedent in Canadian law, this settlement shows again how long and hard is the road to properly and fully hold Canadian companies accountable in Canadian courts for crimes, harms and/or violations they cause or are responsible for in other countries.
 
After five years of legal battle in British Columbia (Canada) courts, the decision of Pan American Silver to offer a fair settlement to the Guatemalan victims of Tahoe Resources’ mining violence in 2013, is a hugely important, small step forward in on-going work and struggle to hold Canadian companies accountable crimes, harms and violations they cause or are responsible for in other countries.
 
In 2013, a Canadian court ruled for the first time in Canadian legal history (the Hudbay Minerals lawsuits, filed in 2010) that Canadian companies can be held accountable in Canadian courts if found responsible for crimes, harms and/or violations in other countries.  After that precedent, the Tahoe Resources lawsuit was filed in 2014...

Now, the Tahoe Resources lawsuit is the first case of its kind to legally force a Canadian company to offer a reparations settlement found acceptable to the victim-plaintiffs...