For nearly a decade, the Indigenous Xinka people, living near the Escobal silver mine in Guatemala, have peacefully opposed the mine -- protecting their lands and waters from destruction. For their resistance, Xinka community members have been killed and jailed.

The silver lining was that they stopped one of the most contentious silver mines in Latin America mid operation.

But now, a Canadian mining company wants to revive the destructive mine. And the Guatemalan government is cozying up with the mining giant by ramming through a rigged consultation process that excludes the Xinka people in order to restart the mine. 

Our partners in Guatemala are planning an action targeting the Guatemalan government to help the Xinka protect their home in the next two weeks. If we can get 10,000 signatures before then, our partners will deliver them directly to the Guatemalan government. That's why your support now is essential.

Sign the pledge of solidarity with the Xinka people in their fight to protect their home from the Escobal mine.

It is clear that the Xinka people and their neighbours do not want the mine; they have been resisting the mine for nearly a decade.

Their opposition has been fierce but peaceful and it has come at a cost: there has been a loss of lives and many have been forced to abandon their homes and land.

Yet they won an important victory -- in 2017, the Guatemalan courts recognized that the Guatemalan government discriminated against the Xinka and failed to consult them. The mine was suspended.

But now, in the interest of a Canadian mining company, Pan American Silver, the Guatemalan government is trying to fast track the consultation process and exclude the very people who they discriminated against in the first place, the Xinka, to revive the destructive mine.

We need 10,000 signatures in the next 2 weeks -- will you sign the pledge in support of the resistance to the Escobal mine?

I was at Pan American Silver’s annual meeting earlier this summer to ask a question on behalf of SumOfUs members like you, and incredible allies such as Earthworks and on-the-ground organizations that have come together and won against billion-dollar mining companies before. Together, we have held off Newmont Mining’s attempts to build a gold mine on Máxima Acuña’s farm land in Peru.

And if we act now, we can halt the Guatemalan government's attempts to violate Xinka rights and restart the destructive Escobal mine. Sign a pledge of solidarity now and our partners in Guatemala will deliver your names straight to the Guatemalan government.

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