Almost from the moment Canadian-US mining company Tahoe Resources acquired the Escobal silver project from Goldcorp over five years ago, the company and the Guatemalan government have used repression, criminalization, and, ultimately, militarization to try to silence peaceful resistance to mining activities in the area. Instead of treating local residents as people peacefully defending their lands from the negative impacts of mining on their health, water and agriculture, Tahoe Resources’ militarized security strategy seemed designed to face an insurgency.