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January 27, 2026


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Second killing of a Maya Q’eqchi’ land defender related to mining interests of Quebec-based Central America Nickel
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“Our crime was to get the 10 mining exploration and exploitation licenses [of Rio Niquel / Central America Nickel] canceled. The owners may be angry because they may have paid a lot of money and now they want to take our lives”

Opponent of mining companies murdered in Livingston, Izabal
By Juan Bautista Xol, December 22, 2025
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This is the second murder of a person opposing mining operations in Livingston, Izabal. Víctor Manuel Colindres was a land defender who participated in the 2025 protests against mining operations [by Rio Niquel, owned by the Canadian company Central America Nickel] in the Sierra Santa Cruz.

Source: A local friend of Victor Manuel Colindres

“He was a good person. Someday God will resolve what they did to him,” said relatives of Víctor Manuel Colindres, a Maya Q’eqchi’ defender of the land and environment from the community of San Antonio Sejá, Livingston, Izabal.

According to family members, Colindres was murdered on the morning of December 14 in a grocery store located in that community. Although local residents heard gunshots, they were unable to identify those responsible for the crime.

Colindres actively participated in protests from January to June of this year [2025], in which 54 communities demanded that the government revoke 10 environmental licenses granted to the Río Nickel S.A., subsidiary of the Canadian company Central American Nickel (CAN), and Producciones del Atlántico, a Guatemalan company. They argued that the companies' operations threatened the biodiversity of the Sierra Santa Cruz located in Livingston and El Estor, Izabal, and their water sources.

Source: El Observador, August 1, 2025,
MARN cancela diez licencias ambientales de proyectos mineros de níquel en Livingston ([link removed]) .
[These now cancelled 10 licenses covered a vast swath of Maya Q’eqchi’ lands and territory, adjacent to the El Estor region where Rights Action has worked in support of mining resistance struggles since 2004; the same region where the 15 year struggle for a measure of justice in the landmark Hudbay Minerals ([link removed]) took place.]

They also feared the threat to Lake Izabal, which has been polluted by the Guatemalan Nickel Company (CGN PRONICO) – [formerly owned by Hudbay Minerals; owned since 2011 by Swiss company Solway Investment Group and most recently together with Solway’s U.S.-based subsidiary Fenix Nickel Company] – and which operates illegally in El Estor. They believed that the activation of new mining licenses could contaminate the natural resources.

The murder of the defender has caused fear among his family, who have decided to protect their identities from any reprisals, as they say they have no problems with anyone, although they pointed out that the incident could have been due to Colindres' participation in the protests, referring to the blockade of the main road in the community of San Antonio Sejá in Livingston.

“We don't have problems with anyone, nor did he like to look for trouble. He was a hard worker and very friendly with people, all in defense of natural resources,” his relatives said.

They ask the government for security
His fellow activists also expressed their concern and asked the government to provide the necessary security for the community so that no one else is killed. They added that their struggles were simply to protect the lives of the people and the flora and fauna in the Sierra Santa Cruz, and that their only crime was to have 10 mining exploration and exploitation licenses in the municipality canceled.

“Our crime was to get the 10 mining exploration and exploitation licenses [of Rio Niquel / Central America Nickel] canceled. The owners may be angry because they may have paid a lot of money and now they want to take our lives,” they said.

On July 31, 2025, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) informed community representatives that the licenses had been canceled. Several irregularities were found in the authorization of these environmental permits.

Prensa Comunitaria sought the police report on the Colindres case, but after several calls to the local police station, the authorities did not respond.

The crime against Colindres marks the second murder of a defender who participated in the protests. The first was Misael Mata, a native of the Las Flores community, who was killed in May of this year [2025].

Background
Cancellation of ill-gotten Central America Nickel mining licenses in Guatemala
Rights Action, August 13, 2025
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60-year nightmare of mining in Q’eqchi’ territories
* 1964-2004: INCO (Canadian owner) and EXMIBAL (subsidiary in Guatemala)
* 2004-2008: Skye Resources (Canadian, incorporated by former INCO directors) and CGN (new name of EXMIBAL)
* 2008-2011: Hudbay Minerals (Canadian), bought Fenix mine and CGN mine from Skye
* 2011-Present: Solway Investment Group (Swiss) and CGN/ PRONICO (a second subsidiary)
* 2024-Present: Fenix Nickel Company (USA), new subsidiary of Solway Investment Group, and CGN/ PRONICO
* 2024-Present: Central America Nickel (Canada), and Rio Niquel and NICHROMET (subsidiaries)

Occurring in waves over this entire time, mining in the Q’eqchi’ territories of eastern Guatemala has been characterized by corruption, forced evictions and land theft, human rights violations including killings, rapes, lawfare (criminalizing community defenders), environmental and health harms and, for the most part, complete impunity in Guatemala and in the home countries of the companies (mainly Canada, also Switzerland and most recently the U.S.).

Call by Q’eqchi’ people
Rights Action supports this 2024 call of Q’eqchi’ people ([link removed]) for:
* Suspension: Immediate suspension of all mining operations in Q'eqchi' region of El Estor, Panzos, Livingston.
* Investigatory commission: Formation of a commission to investigate violences and harms of mining against Q’eqchi’ people and the environment between 2004-2025.
* Reparations: Preparation of a compensation plan for people and communities that suffered the violences and harms.
* Consultation process: Then, implementation of a consultation process, based on prior and complete information in the Q'eqchi' language to decide if mining operations might continue in the future.

Rights Action calls on organizations and people - particularly in Canada, Switzerland and the U.S., home to the mining companies – to initiate, or continue with your education and activism work to pressure our governments, and our mining companies to stop all mining, and to comply with these demands of the Q’eqchi’ people.

More information
Rights Action archive: 60 year Fenix mine archive ([link removed])

The recently resolved landmark Hudbay Minerals lawsuits are an important exception to Canada’s almost iron clad wall of impunity and immunity from liability.

Tax-Deductible Donations (Canada & U.S.)

To support land and environmental defenders, and human rights, justice and democracy struggles in Honduras and Guatemala, make check to "Rights Action" and mail to:
* U.S.: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887
* Canada: Box 82858, RPO Cabbagetown Toronto, ON, M5A 3Y2

Credit-Card Donations: [link removed]
Direct deposits, write to: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
Donations of securities, write to: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

13 BRAVE GIANTS ([link removed])
How We Won the Landmark Hudbay Minerals Lawsuits in Canada and the Mynor Padilla Criminal Trial in Guatemala, and at What Cost! ([link removed])
By Grahame Russell, Rights Action, 2025

TESTIMONIO Canadian Mining in the Aftermath of Genocides in Guatemala ([link removed])
Edited by Catherine Nolin & Grahame Russell , Between The Lines, 2021

More info: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) , www.rightsaction.org
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