Guatemala mine's ex-security chief convicted of Indigenous leader's murder

• Mynor Padilla pleaded guilty over death of Adolfo Ich in 2009
• Mining firms accused of litany of abuses in Central America

A judge in Guatemala has accepted a guilty plea by the former head of security at Central America's largest nickel mine who was on trial for killing an Indigenous leader, in a rare conviction over human rights violations allegedly linked to Canadian-owned mining companies in the region.

Mynor Padilla was found guilty on Wednesday of homicide for the 2009 fatal shooting of Adolfo Ich, a Maya Q'eqchi' teacher and community leader who opposed the Fenix mine outside the town of El Estor.