Guatemala: Xinka leader is shot in the midst of Constitutional Court's ordered consultation process on Escobal mine and a series of attacks against other community members
Julio David González Arango, one of the leaders of the Xinka Parliament, was shot on 16 January 2020 at his home. Other members of the community have been attacked in the previous 15 days, leading to the filing of a complaint for threats with the Prosecutor's Office for Crimes against Activists and Human Rights Defenders. More than 190 international organisations condemned the attack. The situation unfolds in the context of the upcoming start of the consultation process on the Escobal mine in April, which was ordered by the Constitutional Court of Guatemala in 2018 and which must take fully into account ILO Convention 169. The company responds.