In 2007, the small Guatemalan village of Lote Ocho, Spanish for Lot 8, was burned to the ground by military, police and security for a Canadian-owned mine. Eleven women claim they were raped during the evictions.

A few years later, a prominent community activist is murdered in broad daylight by the head of security for the mining company. 

These are just some of the many crimes that Canadian mining companies have been accused of committing in this region over the last 60 years.

Many Canadian mining companies are pariahs around the world. So why does Canada allow this to happen? And is this industry violent by its very nature?

Featured in this episode: Angélica Choc, Grahame Russel, Catherin Nolin, Heather Gies, Richard Poplak

To learn more:

“How a Canadian mining company infiltrated the Guatemalan state” by Max Binks-Collier in The Intercept

“Guatemala mine’s ex-security chief convicted of Indigenous leader’s murder” by Sandra Cuffe in The Guardian

Paradise Lost by CTV’s W5

Additional music from Audio Network

This episode is brought to you by Rotman’s Behaviourally Informed Strategy Program & Dispatch Coffee