A corporate and governance reorganization took place, and now Fenix Nickel is in charge of the Fénix mining right and the metal processing plant in El Estor, Izabal.
Meanwhile, Luis Arreaga, former United States ambassador to Guatemala, is now an independent director of Fenix Nickel, and explains in the excerpt of this interview the new approach with which they seek to approach and work with the communities of the area and apply recommendations that emerged from international evaluations on the topic of impact on human rights and relationships, environment, and social issues.
What aspects will you promote now as one of the board members of Fenix Nickel?
I am responsible for, on the one hand, receiving the company’s accountability on issues such as social responsibility, outreach to communities, issues related to compliance, anti-corruption, community relations and others.
I will have to work with the team to give guidelines on how to execute the policies, not how to do it operationally, but give them the roadmap so that things are done well.
The reason why I am in this is because I love Guatemala very much and I see a huge opportunity for a company, which had its challenges a few years ago, but has decided to transform itself and become a model for other mining activities.
That for me has a lot of value, but it is not going to be very easy, we must also work very closely with the communities, we know that we are even going to stumble sometimes, but what we ask is that we be given the opportunity because we will always have the direction (focus) that we have, and we want this to become a good narrative for the country, for development and for the work between the company and the communities.
What will be the main changes precisely for your relationship and dialogue with the communities?
As a first step, in the human rights impact studies and social impact comes a series of recommendations. We have to meet with the teams and develop a strategy to address these issues, and that involves an approach, openness and listening to the communities, because we want to build with them the activities that will be of benefit to them.
Do you think it can be achieved taking into account the experience of past years?
We have that in mind, we cannot ignore the sad history of mining activity in this region for years. I remember I was in high school when EXMIBAL (Exploraciones y Explotaciones Mineras Izabal, SA) started and it was already a very difficult topic.
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We recognize that all of that history is part of what motivates communities to not be quite sure whether we are sincere or not. What we intend to do is, with facts, show them that we are committed and that they give us the opportunity to work with them.
In the study of human rights and social impacts, what results did they have?
It’s quite long. There are some issues that have been identified as risk areas in terms of human rights impact and other areas of immediate work that we can do to address the most important needs and concerns for communities. For example, dust management, which they have told us over time is a problem for them. That is one of the priorities that we are going to work on to address comprehensively and quickly. Although it is going to take time, I ask for your patience because we are also trying to change the corporate culture so that it is not operated as it was before, but rather doing it according to international standards and that is going to take time.
We have to train people, have systems so that transparency exists, we are doing it, little by little, but we are on that path.
Can the previous position you held in diplomacy as the United States ambassador in Guatemala help maintain better communication with the United States authorities and the development of the reactivation of the mining operation?
I am already retired, but I have a relationship with them, I think that could help build trust because they know me and I know them.
I know that within the vision of this (American) government, the issue of strategic minerals interests them very much, so it is an excellent opportunity to work together to help and strengthen the relationship between Guatemala and the United States on the issue of strategic minerals.
You mentioned that the work modality adopted by Fenix Nickel could be taken as an example. Do you think the Treasury Department could see it that way?
Many people think that sanctions are only to punish, but one of the fundamental objectives is to generate behavioral change, and we have heard that, what we are doing is along those lines, to demonstrate that change is possible and that it can be positive.
Ancestral authorities ask for community consultation
Humberto Cuc, coordinator of the ancestral authorities of the Q’eqchi’ region of El Estor, Izabal, and Olga Che, ancestral authority of the center of El Estor, expressed their disagreement with the company’s restart of mining and processing activities.
Cuc indicated that the situation is very complex because the mine has been operating for more than 60 years in the Q’eqchi’ territory and has caused damage to the communities, not only environmental, such as pollution, but has also affected the population in different ways.
Among other points, they mentioned that a community consultation is needed. Cuc explained thatIn 2019 the Constitutional Court (CC) issued a ruling that ordered the State to carry out the consultation. The interviewees explained that this was carried out years later, during the previous government, but they do not agree because it was carried out in a period in which a state of siege was in force and then a state of prevention, with a large presence of security forces, so it was not done freely.
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Actions were then filed before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IDH Court). In December of 2023, according to information disclosed on that occasion by international agencies, the Inter-American Court issued a ruling in favor in the case of the Mayan Q’eqchi’ Agua Caliente Lote 9 Indigenous Community against the State of Guatemala, pointing out that it violated collective rights by authorizing mining activities without guaranteeing adequate processes of prior, free and informed consultation.
In the ruling that was announced that year, it was indicated that this consultation must allow the participation of all members of the community of Agua Caliente Lote 9. On that occasion, the then vice minister of Sustainable Development of the MEM, Óscar Pérez, responded that they would analyze it to determine the actions to follow, but stated that the consultation with the indigenous peoples had already been carried out and that representatives of this community were included, so this mining right already had a valid exploitation license.
Asked about the disagreement of communities with the reactivation of Fénix’s mining operations, the current Minister of Energy and Mines, Víctor Hugo Ventura, indicated on May 28, 2026, that the consultation processes are continuing in accordance with the corresponding sentences and that a pending process is being worked on for Fénix, which, he said, as he recalled at that time, refers to a community that was not consulted. Additional information was requested from the MEM, but it has not responded.
Cuc said this week that the ministry has been asked to comply with the Court’s ruling and to conduct a census of how many communities should be informed and consulted. Cuc argued that communities from the municipalities of Izabal and Alta Verapaz should be covered, but indicated that to date they have not responded or taken measures in this regard.
Context: Reorganization and changes
After the Guatemalan Nickel companies (CGN) and the Izabal Nickel Processing Company (Pronico) were sanctioned in 2022 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury, the sanction was lifted in January 2024, undergoing a process of verifications, changes and corporate reorganization.
CGN adopted the name Fenix Minerales, SA, and is in charge of the license for the Minera Fénix extraction project, in Izabal, which is expected to reactivate operations in June; Meanwhile, Pronico became Fenix Metales, SA, a plant that resumed operations in May of this year. Both They operate under the Fenix Nickel brand, while the parent company is Fenix Nickel Company LLC, registered in New York, United States.