(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil Waututh)/ Vancouver, B.C.) The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and the Xinka Parliament of Guatemala call on the Canadian government and Pan American Silver to respect the Xinka People’s decision seeking the permanent closure of the Escobal mine in accord with their rights to self-determination under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration).

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Date: Thursday, June 5, 

We find the Act as a whole to represent a disturbingly unaccountable and anti-democratic initiative, in that many of its provisions either bypass, undo, or override established processes, reserving decision-making authority to Ministers or Cabinet and removing those decisions from the purview of the Legislature or any other deliberative and publicly-accountable body or process.

We, the undersigned Canadian civil society organizations, wish to express our deep solidarity with the Xinka people and their struggle for self-determination concerning the future of the Escobal mine, owned by Vancouver-based Pan American Silver. The Indigenous Xinka people have denied consent for the restart of the mine in the culmination of a seven-year consultation process ordered by Guatemala’s Constitutional Court in September 2018. 

On May 19, the Ecuadorian Chamber of Mining reported that a "free, prior and informed consultation process" had been approved for Canadian Dundee Precious Metals’ project.

Media Advisory: Xinka Delegation Upcoming Events

On March 6, 2025 the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, a healthy environment, water and sanitation, and the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights sent formal letters to the governments of Colombia, Canada, and the

Equinox Gold indefinitely suspended its Los Filos mine in Guerrero, Mexico on April 1, 2025 when the company let lapse its land use and social cooperation agreements with the community of Carrizalillo.

Photo Credit: No a La Mina Esquel