See the full petition here.

April 15, 2021

Dear Pan American Silver,

When you purchased the Escobal mine in 2019, you knew about the broad opposition to the project and that there had been violent repression against those involved in the fight. Now, your refusal to halt local programs in Xinka communities is fomenting tension and division. These activities violate the court-ordered suspension of the mine, undermine the possibility of a good faith consultation with the Xinka, and put Xinka land defenders at risk.

Enough. Today we deliver a petition signed by Indigenous leaders such as Kukpi7 Judy Wilson and Winona LaDuke, former UN Special Rapporteurs Michel Forst and Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, and influential authors Noam Chomsky and Naomi Klein, along with 3,900+ others to demand that you respect the Xinka people’s right to be freely consulted without violence and threats, and immediately cease interference in Xinka communities.

Thank you,

Kukpi7 Judy Wilson, Secretary/Treasurer, Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs

Vicky Tauli-Corpuz, Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2014 – 2020)

Michel Forst, Former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders (2014-2020)

Winona LaDuke, Executive Director, Honor the Earth

Noam Chomsky, Author

Naomi Klein, Author

Randy Hayes, Executive Director, Foundation Earth

Blaine Grinder, Tsilhqot’in Nation

Paul Manly, Member of Parliament Nanaimo-Ladysmith

Jean Swanson, City Councillor in Vancouver, BC

Ginger Cassady, Executive Director, Rainforest Action Network

Abby Maxman, President & CEO Oxfam US

Lauren Ravon, Executive director, Oxfam Canada

Carroll Muffett, President & CEO Center for International Environmental Law

Amanda Kistler, Vice President, Center for International Environmental Law

Leila Salazar-López, Executive Director, Amazon Watch

Paul Paz y Mino, Associate Director, Amazon Watch

Casey Camp-Horinek, Ponca Nation

Bianca Mugyenyi, Director, Canadian Foreign Policy Institute

Charlotte Kiddell, Co-Executive Director, Inter Pares

Isabella Zizi, Idle No More SF Bay

Luis Marcos Q’anjob’al Maya, Ambassador of the Akateko, Chuj, Popti and Q’anjob’al Maya to the Omaha Nation; Member of the Council of Authorities of the National Council of Indigenous Peoples in Diaspora; Preparatory Body member of the Congress of Nations and States

Lisa Haugaard, Co-Director, Latin America Working Group

John Cavanagh, Director, Institute for Policy Studies

Cindy Wiesner, Executive Director, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance

Jennifer Krill, Executive Director, Earthworks

Valerie Raoul, Professor Emerita, Social Justice Institute, University of British Columbia

Dana Frank, Professor Emerita, University of California, Santa Cruz

Danielle DeLuca, Advocacy Program Manager, Cultural Survival

Marc Choyt, Director, Fair Jewelry Action

Nick Hesterberg, Executive Director, Environmental Defender Law Center

Daniella Burgi-Palomino, Co-Director, Latin America Working Group

Alexis Stoumbelis, Executive Director, Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador

Leonor Hurtado, Asociación Q’anil

Ana Simeon, Campaigns Director, RAVEN (Respecting Aboriginal Values and Environmental Needs)

Shin Imai, Professor Emeritus, Osgoode Hall Law School

Stepan Wood, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Law, Society & Sustainability, Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia

Stephen Collis, Professor, Simon Fraser University

Dan Lewis, Executive Director, Clayoquot Action

Laura Hurtado, Country Director, ActionAid Guatemala

Juan José Hurtado Paz y Paz, Director, Asociación Pop No’j

Laura Carlsen, Director, Americas Program

Anabella Sibrián, Director, Protección Internacional Mesoamerica

Margo Matwychuk, Director, Social Justice Studies, University of Victoria

Catherine Nolin, Professor, Guatemala Research Group, University of Northern British Columbia

Isabelle Ménard, Confédération des syndicats nationaux

Terry O’Toole, Canadian Catholic Organization for Development & Peace – Caritas Canada

Johanna Aucoin-Slaunwhite, Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace – Caritas Canada

Elisa Canqui, Former Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Ruth Sullivan, Professor of Law, University of Ottawa (retired)

Gerardo Otero, School for International Studies, Simon Fraser University

Barbara Hansen, Diaconal Minister, United Church of Canada

Laura Macdonald, Professor, Political Science, Carleton University

Diane Nelson, Professor Duke University

Simon Granovsky-Larsen, Associate Professor of Politics and International Studies, University of Regina

Catherine Coumans, Co-manager, MiningWatch Canada

Bonny Glambeck, Clayoquot Action Society

Drew Johnson, Bows & Arrows Coffee Roasters

Carsen Oglend, Drumroaster Coffee

Ahmed Nassrat, Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op Ltd.

Claire Gilmore, Managing Editor, Watershed Sentinel magazine (Watershed Sentinel Educational Society)

Audrey-Ann Allen, Comité pour les droits humains en Amérique latine- CDHAL

Grahame Russell, Director, Rights Action

Sara Ghebremusse, Assistant Professor, Peter A. Allard School of Law, The University of British Columbia

Francisco-Fernando Granados, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Art, OCAD University

Anil Hira, Professor, Simon Fraser University

Nicholas Copeland, Professor, Virginia Tech

Rosa Peralta, Committee for Human Rights in Latin America (CDHAL)

Irwin Oostindie, President, Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia

Gabriela Jimenez, Latin America Partnerships Coordinator | KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives

Sharon Hunter-Smith, Human Rights Coordinator, Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America

Marlene LeGates, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Vancouver

Beth Dollaga, Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights (CPSHR)

Yves Engler, Author