Izabal Department, Guatemala · North America
El Estor sits on the route: 40 minutes from Panzos, 55km from Río Dulce Gorge.
El Estor is a town located in Izabal Department, Guatemala. With a population of 20,489, it is an important destination in North America.
On a road trip, El Estor sits in Guatemala. It's in the America/Guatemala time zone. Below you'll find where to stay, things to do nearby, and everything you need to add El Estor to your route.
The Fenix nickel project, also known as El Estor mine, is an integrated mountain-top nickel mine and processing facility near El Estor in the Izabal Department of eastern Guatemala, situated on the ancestral lands of the Maya Q'eqchi' people. The project consists of a cluster of several deposits with reservesRead more
amounting to 36.1 million tonnes of ore grading 1.86% nickel. The project is currently owned by Solway Group, a Switzerland-headquartered company with Russian ownership, through its Guatemalan subsidiaries CGN (formerly Eximbal) and Pronico.
The mine has contributed to over six decades of documented conflict, dispossession, and violence against Maya Q'eqchi' communities. Initial mining rights were granted following the US-backed 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, without the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples. During the ensuing Guatemalan civil war, Eximbal mine security was implicated in violence against Mayan people in 1978. Canadian mining companies Inco, and later Skye Resources and Hudbay Minerals, failed to obtain consent from or acknowledge the land claims of Maya Q'eqchi' communities throughout their periods of operation. In 2006, the International Labour Organization ruled that Guatemala had violated international law by granting the Fenix concession without first consulting local Indigenous peoples.
In late 2006 and early 2007, Skye Resources, operating through its Guatemalan subsidiary CGN, sought the forced eviction of five Q'eqchi' communities on contested mine land, including families holding hereditary and ancestral land claims. Police arrived without a court-ordered eviction notice as required by Guatemalan law, and homes were burned to the ground during these operations. During the January 17, 2007 eviction of Lote Ocho, eleven Q'eqchi' women were gang raped by police, soldiers, and CGN security personnel. On September 27, 2009, mine security forces shot and killed prominent Q'eqchi' teacher and community leader Adolfo Ich Chamán, shot and paralyzed activist German Chub. These incidents gave rise to three landmark lawsuits filed in Canada: Caal v. Hudbay, Choc v. Hudbay, and Chub v. Hudbay, for violence against Q'eqchi' land defenders. In 2011, amid this litigation, Hudbay sold the Fenix project to the Solway Group for $170 million.
A 2019 media investigation coordinated by French NGO Forbidden Stories found evidence in leaked documents that the mining company covered up pollution events, bribed community leaders to support the mine, and made payments to police and the military.
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El Estor offers many attractions including tourist sites, museums, parks, and local restaurants. Explore famous landmarks, scenic roads, and natural wonders on our interactive map and plan your visit.
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El Estor is located in Izabal Department, Guatemala, North America. The coordinates are 15.5322 latitude, -89.3311 longitude.
El Estor has a population of approximately 20,489 people, making it a town in Guatemala.
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3 notable places within an hour's drive.
castle
A compact 17th-century Spanish fort of turrets and drawbridges at the narrowest point where Lake Izabal meets the Río Dulce, built to stop Caribbean pirates: a chain was once strung across the water to the far bank.
38 km · about 45 min drive
ancient ruins
UNESCO Maya site just off Guatemala's Atlantic Highway, home to the tallest stelae ever carved by the Maya: 10-m sandstone giants standing in a banana-plantation clearing.
43 km · about 50 min drive
natural wonder
A jungle river running out of Lake Izabal to the Caribbean through a gorge of 100 m limestone walls hung with bromeliads, with hot springs at the water's edge. The highway bridge at Fronteras gives the classic overview.
55 km · about 65 min drive
Year-round
Tropical latitude: plan around the wet season rather than temperature.
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