On 6 April 2015 Gregorio Catalan Morales, an environmental & land rights defender opposing construction of ‘El Tambor’ mine, died in a traffic accident while driving his motorcycle. Community members of La Puya consider that the circumstances of his death are suspicious. Armando Carrera, a community leader, alleges that Gregoria Catalan and other leaders were threatened after being acquitted from a lawsuit for their work against a mining company. Gregorio was a member of la Resistencia Pacífica de La Puya in Guatemala. He dedicated the last three years of his life to opposition to the El Tambor Progreso VII Derivada project.