The larger context

The Escobal mine is an underground silver project in southeastern Guatemala and one of the largest and most contentious mines in Latin America. Tahoe Resources brought it into operation in 2014. The mine has been suspended since June 2017 by the strong local opposition and successive court decisions for discrimination and failure to consult with the Xinka Indigenous people.

Tahoe’s losses as a result of its flagship project being shuttered led to its acquisition by Vancouver-based Pan American Silver in early 2019.

At Pan American Silver’s 2019 annual shareholder meeting, founder and then CEO Ross Beaty declared that he saw no social, environmental, or political reason the Escobal mine shouldn’t be generating $400 million in profit a year. This company mindset ignores the tens of thousands of people who have rejected mining in their territories through local votes and whose peaceful resistance to the project remains firm. It brushes off the legacy of violence and criminalization that communities suffered at the hands of companies and the Guatemalan government to put the mine into operation. And it ignores the 2018 decision by Guatemala’s Constitutional Court that ordered the state to meaningfully consult with affected Xinka People in accordance with their own traditions before operations could resume. This means their self-determination must be respected. No consent. No mine.

In June 2017, local residents took direct action and erected a peaceful resistance encampment near the Escobal mine, halting operations by preventing truck traffic from reaching the mine. The next month, the Supreme Court found that the Xinka had their Indigenous rights violated when they were not consulted prior to the start of operations, ordering the mine suspended. The Constitutional Court upheld the decision in 2018 and ordered a state-led consultation to take place. 

From 2018-2020, the Xinka people were excluded from participation in the consultation and denounced illegalities and discrimination in the process. During this time, the Xinka Parliament filed more than a dozen complaints over the lack of due process, Indigenous participation, and discrimination. Finally, in October 2020, the Xinka came to an agreement with the government on the conditions necessary to begin the consultation. This included accreditation of their 59 elected representatives and the completion of a cultural and spiritual study on the impacts of the mine on Xinka traditions by an expert of the Xinka people’s choosing. The study was completed in July 2022. 

Despite an order by the Constitutional Court, the Guatemalan government failed to provide funding for experts of their choosing to review environmental, health and other relevant information. Instead, between 2022 and 2024, the Xinka Parliament raised funds and worked with their team of environmental and health experts to review and analyze information provided by the government and Pan American Silver, as well as to carry out independent fieldwork. Lack of fulsome cooperation from the government and company led to delays, difficulties in analyzing the impacts from the mine, and incomplete information in some respects. Despite this, the final results from the process were presented in February 2024. 

The consultation process has been marked by harassment, threats, intimidation and criminalization against Xinka leaders. In July 2019, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted precautionary measures for Xinka Parliament lawyer, Quelvin Jiménez, after he received multiple death threats. International human rights organizations have also documented acts of provocation, intimidation, and criminalization, as well as defamation campaigns and pressure by armed groups and groups of people aligned with the mining project.

Since early in the consultation process until today, the Xinka Parliament has warned that the company’s community programs, mine visits and other actions that overstep its court-ordered role, undermine the free nature of the consultation and heighten tensions, as outlined in a letter from 13 congressional representatives to the U.S. Secretary of State in September 2023.

A mine brought into operation through violence

The threats that Xinka leaders and the broad resistance movement face today are nothing new. To get Escobal operational, former owner Tahoe Resources relied on a militarized security strategy that suppressed local opposition, including supporting the creation of a government office that framed the peaceful resistance as a threat to national security. As a result, communities faced intense repression, militarization and an increase in social control and surveillance. Nearly 100 people were criminalized, being accused of baseless criminal charges for their legitimate roles organizing community referenda and peaceful protests. All were eventually absolved for lack of evidence.

In 2013, private security for the Escobal mine opened fire on a peaceful protest and seriously injured seven men who were shot at close range. This violence formed the basis for a successful civil lawsuit against Tahoe Resources in British Columbia. Acts of harassment, threats, attacks, and defamation against Xinka leaders and community members have continued throughout the consultation process,  so much so that two Xinka leaders and their families were forced to flee Guatemala and are living outside of the country.

> For more information on attacks against human rights and environmental defenders, see the timeline