Unofficial translation by the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA). You can find the original statement in Spanish further below.

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE HISTORIC RESISTANCE OF THE PEOPLE IN DEFENSE OF THEIR TERRITORY: SANTIAGO CHIMALTENANGO, HUEHUETENANGO.

Our statement for national and international communities to consider:

Today, we, the Mam peoples, are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the community conference we held in good faith on July 25, 2006. On that day, we gathered and united our voices, determined to hold a conference in good faith, motivated by the expansion of mining licenses for the exploration and exploitation of our natural resources—licenses authorized by the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM).

The womb of our grandfather mountain, Santiago Chimaltenango Tuwi Pich’q’ab, gives birth to many sources of water and oxygen; since time immemorial, it has sustained the life of the people of Santiago Chimaltenango and neighboring municipalities. You may ask what we gained from that conference and the municipal agreement for water protection adopted on November 29, 2021. We answer, in good faith, that we were fortunate that we could suspend the mining licenses, and therefore could sustain our treasured water sources, which nourish all living beings. That is why, on the day of the conference, we shouted “No” to extractive companies—for they destroy our lives, our territory, and the autonomy of Indigenous peoples.

It is essential for our future generations to clearly understand our struggle—that we stay organized to continue protecting our sacred territory. Today, clear and imminent threats persist: mining companies are reactivating licenses, banning our peoples’ good faith community conferences, and want to privatize our sacred temple, Zaculeu te Chnab’jul. Therefore we declare that it is just and necessary for us to continue defending our Common Home. We leave our land in the hands of future generations of Chimb’al, so that they may continue to defend our autonomy, our customary rights, and our own way of organizing and deciding our development as indigenous peoples—strengthening our customs and right to self’determination, as guaranteed by national and international laws, such as International Labor Organization Convention 169.

We call upon farmers, churches, teachers, students, businesses, entrepreneurs, small business owners, children, adolescents, youth, men and women, municipal and community authorities, COCODES, and various community committees: let us strengthen our resolve to struggle, stand firm, unite our forces, close ranks, and consciously join the fight to defend our land, Chimb’al. The waters within the womb of the great mountain give us life every day; let us protect our municipality’s cultural heritage and not allow national or foreign extractive companies to invade, divide, and destroy in order to plunder our natural resources.

It is time to open our eyes wide and wake up. Early election campaigns have already begun; every political party shows a saintly face; their words promise great change. Yet, once in power, they reveal themselves as a corrupt cabal of monsters. They come only to divide and deceive us, buying our precious votes with scraps, all while hiding the evil within their parties: mining interests, gangs, hitmen, extortionists, mafias, and drug traffickers, among others.

One can live without gold!

Without Mother Earth, without water, and without our forests, we will soon die!

Let us all declare ourselves guardians of our beloved land!

Issued on Chimb’al land, July 27, 2026.

En español: