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Saturday, September 12, 2026 · Guatemala CityQ7.6282 per US$+0.00%
ADVANCE GUATEMALA
Back to the researchIn research — sources cited, not yet in the verified archive

In depth

Failed or exited foreign investments in Guatemala

Dossier
The record of foreign investment: real cases11-casos.md
Domain
Foreign investment, in figurescasos-inversion
Room
Economy/economia
Audited
not audited

The dossier summarizes six cases. EXMIBAL/Inco (nickel): initial investment of US$228 million under a 1971 concession, inactive since 1980. Telefónica (telecom): exit from the country in 2019 with a sale to América Móvil for US$333 million. Tahoe Resources (silver): flagship mine suspended in 2017 and the company absorbed by Pan American Silver in 2019 for some US$1,100 million with the asset idle. CGN/ProNiCo (nickel): sanctioned by OFAC in November 2022, operation affected. TCQ (ports): concession obtained with bribes, criminal proceedings in 2016–2018, an asset that survived under APM Terminals. Nestlé Nicaragua, as a contrast: plant closure in 2024 while investing in Guatemala (headline only).

The research is written in English; quoted figures, source names and the titles of legal instruments stay in the language their source published them in.

Figures

EXMIBAL/Inco initial investmentWikipedia (en), El Estor / Solway Investment Group
US$228 millionconcession 1971, inactive since 1980
Sale of Telefónica Guatemala to América MóvilWikipedia (en), Telefónica
US$333 million2019
Absorption of Tahoe by Pan American SilverWikipedia (en), Pan American Silver
~US$1,100 million2019
OFAC sanction on CGN/ProNiCoWikipedia (en), Solway Investment Group; OFAC
November 20222022
TCQ criminal proceedingsCICIG, Caso TCQ
2016–20182016–2018

Caveat

a summary of cases with differing levels of verification; Telefónica, Tahoe and TCQ verified in the audit, the rest secondary source or headline

Sources

Organizations named in the answer

  • Tahoe ResourcesThe previous owner of Escobal; sued in British Columbia (Garcia v. Tahoe, June 2014) over shootings by its private security (April 2013); acquired by Pan American Silver in February 2019.Company case
  • Pan American SilverOwner of Escobal (it bought Tahoe Resources in February 2019): 264.5 Moz of proven and probable silver reserves, a 4,500 t/d plant, ~20 Moz a year in 2014-2017, in care and maintenance since 2017; it settled and issued a public apology in Garcia v. Tahoe (30 July 2019).Company case

Directory of organizations

Related records

This layer is research: read from public sources by the archive's own team, every claim cited with the date it was consulted, and audited where it is marked so. It has not entered the verified store — no figure here was fetched back from its source or stamped with a retrieval time — so it wears no red provenance numeral and never mixes with the verified figures.