Solidarity Letter: 9th Anniversary of the Peaceful Xinka Resistance to the Escobal Mine in Casillas, Santa Rosa

Dear members of the Peaceful Xinka Resistance to the Escobal Mine in Casillas, Santa Rosa,

We, the undersigned international organizations, express our deepest respect and admiration for the nine years that you have maintained the resistance camp and for the over fifteen years that you have been organizing to exercise your self-determination and defend your water, land, identity and health from the Escobal mine in your territories. We congratulate you for all the diligence, discipline and resilience you exemplify through your organizing efforts that have remained steadfast despite the stigmatization, criminalization, attacks and violence you have faced.

For our organizations and for many in Guatemala and far beyond, your dedication to your communities, your ancestral homelands and your people is a vital example of what is possible when people unite to fight for justice, whether that be in Guatemala, Canada, the United States, or elsewhere.

We know that this struggle has not been easy and that there have been setbacks. We know that you all have had to make tremendous sacrifices for this cause. We know that this struggle for justice has been marked with difficulties and loss, and that there are people who would have wanted to be here today and who cannot be because they have been criminalized, threatened, exiled or murdered for their peaceful resistance.

Moreover, we applaud the effort and dedication that the resistance has exercised to oppose the reopening of the Escobal mine in your territory. For us, it was an honor to witness both in-person and from a distance the unambiguous NO that the Xinka People expressed in presenting the consultation results on May 8th, 2025. It is clear that the Xinka People say NO to the continuation of the Escobal mine, and that this “NO” is non-negotiable.

We recognize and honour the results of the more than 16 community and municipal referendums organized in Santa Rosa, Jalapa and Jutiapa over the past fifteen years that clearly rejected mining in your territory. With the release of the court-ordered consultation results in May 2025, we have continued to work together to support your courageous efforts. This includes speaking tours in Canada and the United States. We also organized to bring the results of the consultation with the Xinka People directly to Pan American Silver’s headquarters in Vancouver, where a petition with over 6,000 signatures to demand respect for the Xinka People’s decision. We also worked with Canadian parliamentarians to raise this issue in the Canadian legislature, including a parliamentary e-petition with over 750 signatures from individuals across twelve provinces in Canada, from the west to east coast.

We do this work out of a deep commitment to international solidarity. We understand that the struggle you are leading is rooted in your territories, histories, and collective decision-making, and our role is not to speak for you, but to stand alongside you. From our respective contexts, we seek to accompany your resistance by amplifying your voices, building awareness, and mobilizing support across borders. Similarly, we realize that we have a complementary struggle in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere to demand that our governments and corporations respect your self-determination, take responsibility for their role in the harms caused and to close the Escobal mine. In doing so, we reaffirm that this is not only a local struggle, but part of a broader global movement for justice, corporate accountability, and respect for the rights of Indigenous peoples to self-determination.

Thank you for your confidence and trust in making this local resistance a transnational effort for justice, working together to tackle this struggle from all possible angles.

We once again reiterate our deepest respect and admiration for your continued resistance — fifteen years strong and nine years here at the peaceful resistance camp. More than anything, we thank you for being a source of inspiration for what is possible when humanity stands up for what is just.

In solidarity,

Organizations:

Americas Policy Group Policy Group (APG) – El Grupo de Orientación de Políticas para las Américas (GOPA)
APG Mesoamerica Working Group
Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network (ARSN)
BC Casa-Cafe Justicia
BC Casa-Vancouver Island
Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability / Red Canadiense para la Rendición de Cuentas de las Empresas
Comité para los derechos humanos en America Latina. CDHAL
Common Frontiers
Coordination du Québec de la Marche mondiale des femmes (CQMMF)
Earthworks
Guatemala Research Group, University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC)
Institute for Policy Studies – Global Economy Program (IPS)
Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network (BTS)
Mining Injustice Solidarity Network (MISN)
Mining Justice Alliance
Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA)
Solidarité Laurentides-Amérique Centrale (SLAM)
Victoria Central America Support Committee