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A petition signed by 133 civil society organizations and Canadian coalitions is calling on Guatemalan authorities, the Canadian government, and Canadian-owned Pan American Silver to affirm the Xinka People’s right to free, prior and informed consent regarding the controversial Escobal mine. The signatory organizations, including Earthworks, represent 20 countries around the world, and the coalitions include the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) and the Americas Policy Group (APG), which together represent over 45 international development and humanitarian NGOs, human rights and environmental justice organizations, labour unions, faith-based groups, and solidarity groups.
In May of this year, following a long and at times fraught consultation process ordered by the Guatemalan Constitutional Court, the Xinka announced their final decision on the future of the mine: an emphatic “no.” Their right to self-determination and autonomy is enshrined in international law and is in accordance with a 2018 Guatemalan Constitutional Court decision.
“It is clear that the State has not been able to guarantee our rights to health, life, a healthy environment, water, housing, freedom of expression, identity, our language, our culture, and our territory,” the Xinka Parliament stated in their press release. “For this reason, the Xinka people do not consent to the mining project ‘El Escobal.’”
Pan American Silver’s response? A deafening silence.
There has never been any ambiguity in the Xinka position. They’ve resisted the silver mine from the beginning, when it was illegally permitted in their territory without consent. As they recently put it in an Instagram post (translated from the Spanish): “We’ve been resisting for over 15 years.They wanted to divide us. They criminalized us. We were stigmatized. But we’re still here. Strong. United. Worthy. This fight is not just from the Xinka People. It’s a fight for the right to decide. It’s a struggle for life.”
They’ve spoken. Now it’s time for the company—and the authorities—to listen.
Our petition makes a simple and straightforward request: keep your word, as detailed in the Guatemalan Constitutional Court decision and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to which Canada is a signatory. It also demands protection for the safety and security of Xinka defenders and members of the Xinka Parliament, who have faced intimidation, attempts at coercion, threats, and the killing of one of their leaders.
Through it all Xinka communities have remained dedicated to defending water and life over mining. Since June 2017, the Peaceful Resistance have maintained two 24-hour resistance camps to prevent mine traffic from reaching Escobal. The camps also aim to ensure compliance with the Supreme Court decisions in 2017 and 2018 that suspended the project for lack of prior consultation and discrimination.
Representatives from the Xinka Parliament will be visiting Canada again this fall to share their message. For more information on their visit and the ongoing struggle for the Xinka’s right to deny consent for the Escobal project, follow Earthworks, MiningWatch Canada, and the Xinka Parliament.