Lanny Davis
Lanny Davis

Lanny Davis & Assocs. has registered Solway Investment Group, the Switzerland-based mining company, to communicate with the US government regarding sanctions for Russian involvement in its Guatemalan nickel mine and refinery.

The US Treasury Dept.’s Office of Foreign Asset Control issued those sanctions on Nov. 18, 2022. They also covered the chief of Solway’s Guatemala mine, a Belarusian, for his alleged bribery and corruption schemes.

After Solway implemented a series of reforms to improve transparency and accountability, and fired the sanctioned employees, OFAC on Sept. 29 granted a one-year license to operate the mine.

Veteran crisis counselor Lanny Davis told the Associated Press that Solway’s Guatemalan companies are eager to resume exports to the US to help supply the nickel that is needed for electric car batteries and other clean energy uses.

In an unrelated matter, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Dec. 18 ruled that Solway's Guatemalan subsidiary violated the property rights of the indigenous Aqua Caliente community.

Solway issued a statement, saying that while it is “sympathetic to the cause of justice and the rights of indigenous peoples in Guatemala,” the complaint occurred years before it acquired the property.

It stressed that it played no part in the alleged violence and threats of harassment against the Aqua Caliente community.

Solvay though said it stands ready to work with the Guatemalan government to achieve justice for the indigenous people, whose rights were found by the Court to be injured.