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Xinka People Say “No” to the Escobal Mine
Announcement marks the culmination of court-mandated consultation process over future of Pan American Silver’s controversial silver mine
May 8, 2025
https://earthworks.org/releases/xinka-people-say-no-to-the-escobal-mine/
Contacts:
GUATEMALA CITY—Today the Xinka Parliament released the long-awaited decision on the Escobal Silver Mine after a thorough review of the projected environmental, cultural, and social impacts of reopening the mine, and amidst harassment and threats against Xinka leadership.
The Xinka People denied consent for the Escobal mine and underscored the failure of the Guatemalan government to guarantee their rights to a healthy environment, water, language, identity, culture, and territory.
“The State has discriminated against us, criminalized us, repressed us and even denied our existence in order to carry out the mining project. If this project continues, we would practically be condemned to disappear as a people,” said Marta Muñoz, spokesperson for the Xinka Parliament.
The announcement signals the conclusion of a formal consultation process ordered by the Constitutional Court of Guatemala in 2018. Under the terms of that ruling, the Guatemalan government is obliged to seek the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of the Xinka People to reopen the mine. By withholding that consent, the Xinka are demanding that the Escobal mine be permanently closed.
Their decision comes on the heels of the latest round of persecution at the national level of Indigenous leaders by a judicial system long plagued by corruption, a reminder of the absence of institutional guardrails to address any abuses at the mine or guarantee protections for the Xinka.
In October 2024, the former President of the Xinka Parliament and his family were forced to flee Guatemala due to persistent threats.
Independent analyses carried out as part of the consultation process revealed long-standing institutional weaknesses that render environmental authorities unable and potentially unwilling to analyze, monitor and mitigate impacts, and protect communities and the environment. Of the 22.6 million tons of material projected to be extracted from the Escobal mine, only a small percent is commercially viable. More than 96 percent would remain as waste rock on Xinka territory.
“Pan American Silver should respect the Xinka People’s decision,” said Ellen Moore, Earthworks Interim Mining Program Co-Director. “For Xinka communities living near the mine, the costs outweigh the potential benefits.”
Guatemalan authorities initially approved the Escobal mine despite broad community opposition and then sent in the military. After the mine went into operation in 2014, many residents were forcibly displaced from the nearby community of La Cuchilla after damage to their homes, church and road that they attribute to vibrations from the mine, which independent experts agree are likely related.
The company and the Guatemalan government deny any connection between this damage and the mine. In mid-2017, communities organized two ongoing 24-hour roadside camps to stop all mine traffic, after which the court ordered the mine suspended for discrimination and lack of prior consultation.
Despite company assurances that the mine waste, or tailings deposit, could withstand a strong seismic event, experts believe the tailings facility presents significant risk of collapse from an earthquake and/or saturation from heavy rains. If the stack collapses at full size, it would cover an area of 108 hectares downstream with toxic tailings 0.5 to 4.5 meters deep. Experts predict direct and grave damage to Escobal Creek, the Dorado River and other streams, as well as indirect harm to the San Rafael River and its tributaries, as well as the total loss of homes, crops, water sources, and other infrastructure.
“The Canadian-owned Escobal mine was brought into operation through violence against the Xinka, who faced harassment, threats, and persecution from the start,” says Viviana Herrera, Latin America Program Coordinator for MiningWatch Canada. “Still, the Xinka made every effort to engage in good faith in this historic seven-year consultation to carefully consider all impacts of the mine. Their decision to oppose this project must be respected and their safety guaranteed as they continue exerting their Indigenous rights to self-determination.”
Read an overview of the independent technical analysis of the impacts of the Escobal silver mine and Guatemala’s obligation to respect Xinka self-determination, or read the full summary. Pan American Silver’s response to the full summary can be found here.
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