"The Company"

The Russian company that owns the nickel mine just west of El Estor is apparently tougher on its workers than its Canadian predecessor, and pollution it emits is bad for workers and for the town.  A couple of people from some of the churches the team has visited each work for Ël Compania,¨ but many mine company workers are from other parts of the country, from Russia, or from other parts of the world.  Apparently a bunch of the workers live in a company housing complex west of town (although a few have even stayed in the team´s hotel), and a few have connected with local women.  In order to operate in Guatemala, foreign companies must have a local business partner, and in the case of the mine the local partner is a company headed by recently deposed Guatemalan President Oscar Perez Molina, a former general who was involved in atrocities during the civil war but helped negotiate the Peace Accords (which probably means the military is aligned with the nickel mine).

-Perry