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

STATEMENT

PARLIAMENT OF THE XINKA PEOPLE OF GUATEMALA

TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC

In recent weeks, intentionally and in bad faith, there has been false information circulated that would have people believe the Xinka have accepted a proposal from the mining corporation Pan American Silver, about the consultation process, in order to sow doubt, confusion, and disinformation, with the goal of generating distrust and dividing communities.

These types of tactics are not new; since the arrival of the mining projects in our territory there has been stigmatization, defamation, intimidation, criminalization, and even attacks against our leaders — both through the mining company and through third parties — which is why we condemn these actions that demonstrate a total lack of respect to the communities. As is public knowledge, any decision about our territory is made by assembly, in accordance with our own forms of organization, and never hidden or done under the table.

After having communicated the community’s decision, about the mining project “Escobal”, as was ordered by the ruling of September 3, 2018, dictated by the Constitutional Court in file No. 4785-2017, every obligated institution is analyzing and verifying how to comply with the Court’s order.

It is important to reiterate that the process ordered by the Constitutional Court, as established by ILO Convention 169 and the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Human Rights System, is between the Xinka people, through the Parliament of the Xinka People, and the State, through the Ministry of Energy and Mines; therefore, the only official information is what is communicated jointly between the Parliament of the Xinka People and the Ministry of Energy and Mines, as was agreed upon by both institutions on October 14, 2020.

We call upon the public to not be fazed, to remain united, to document and denounce any act of disinformation or defamation about the consultation, since those acts constitute an open violation of the principle of good faith.

Naru Xinka Alaya’ (Territory of the Xinka People), August 23, 2025.