Mining resistance struggles in Guatemala, as U.S. and Western resource-related aggression continues unabated in many corners of Planet Earth
Below, updates about two mining resistance struggles that Rights Action has been supporting since 2012, and are addressed in the 2021 book TESTIMONIO-Canadian Mining in the Aftermath of Genocides in Guatemala.
Water Defenders Celebrate Ruling Against U.S. Gold Company’s Claim
Major victory against an exploitative corporate lawsuit in Guatemala
January 7, 2026, by Jen Moore, Institute for Policy Studies
https://ips-dc.org/water-defenders-celebrate-ruling-against-u-s-gold-companys-claim/
Water defenders from the Peaceful Resistance La Puya, just north of Guatemala City, celebrated an important victory over the holidays. On December 23, an arbitration panel at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ruled against Nevada-based Kappes, Cassiday, and Associates (KCA) in its nearly half a billion-dollar arbitration claim against Guatemala.
KCA’s case was enabled by exclusive privileges that allow transnational corporations to sue governments in the Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Central America and the Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR). The company sought hundreds of millions of dollars in response to the court-ordered suspension of its gold mining project Progreso VII Derivada for lack of free, prior, and informed consultation with affected Maya Kaqchikel and Xinka peoples.
In their response, the Peaceful Resistance La Puya underscored in a communique that it is they who have suffered the harms of KCA’s investment:
“This arbitration began in 2018 because the company and previous Guatemalan government administrations failed to respect the will of the population and their rejection of precious metal mining in defense of life, water, and territory. The result of this violation by the State in collusion with KCA has been conflict, local discord, intimidation, repression, and criminalization of the communities in resistance, and, finally, this international arbitration process that lasted seven years.”
La Puya engaged with Guatemala’s legal defense team during the course of the arbitration, providing testimony to the arbitration panel. Also, in order to defend its case, Guatemala’s defense team drew heavily on the resistance’s arguments showing that the company did not comply with Guatemalan regulations and that its project should have never been approved. In this way, the government recognized the legitimacy of La Puya’s struggle for over a decade in defense of water, life and territory.
IAReporter revealed that KCA failed in its claim because “they had failed to adequately prove causation.” About this, the Peaceful Resistance La Puya remarked:
“We feel satisfied and vindicated in our peaceful struggle. KCA lost its wager to make millions of dollars through this international arbitration process, which it initiated knowing that it would never win the consent of communities that have always said no to its unviable project. This project is so bad that the company couldn’t even defend it in an arbitration system designed to protect the investments of transnational corporations.” …
“In this unfair arbitration system, which is a one-sided playing field where only transnational corporations can sue states and not vice versa, the State effectively cannot win. It simply does not lose. This is an opportune moment for Guatemala to review the commitments it has made in investment treaties and decide, weighing the costs and benefits, whether or not to remain in this system.”
The peaceful resistance also reaffirmed their commitment to seek the cancellation of the Progreso VII Derivado project and ensure no further mining licenses are granted in the area.
While the text of the final decision has yet to be made public, the Guatemalan Comptroller’s Office (PGN) reported that the company will now have to repay the Guatemalan government roughly $380,000 in arbitration costs. According to IAReporter, the Guatemalan government will have to cover its own legal costs, which on average cost $4.7 million.
Full text of La Puya communique available in English and Spanish.
Video of their December 28 press conference is available on Facebook.
More information
Jen Moore, https://ips-dc.org/ips_author/jen-moore/
Concerned Citizens Deliver Petition with 6,000+ Signatures to Pan-American Silver Headquarters, Demand Respect for Xinka Indigenous People’s Self-Determination in Guatemala
Mining Justice Alliance, MiningWatch Canada, November 25 2025
https://mailchi.mp/miningwatch/press-release-xinka-leaders-call-on-canada-to-respect-self-determination-over-canadian-owned-mine-10125346
[In November 2025], a group of concerned citizens in Vancouver delivered a petition with over 6,000 signatures to the headquarters of mining company Pan American Silver calling for CEO Michael Steinmann to respect the Xinka Indigenous people’s clear decision to deny consent for the re-opening of the Escobal mine in southeastern Guatemala.
Since the Xinka People announced their decision in early May, Pan American Silver has ignored their denial of consent to reopen the mine, failing to report it to shareholders and mischaracterizing the consultation process as a negotiation toward re-opening the mine.
“We traveled to Canada twice in the last six months to share our struggle in defense of our territory and demand that Pan American Silver respect the Xinka People’s decision. They must stop trying to delegitimize our right to decide over what happens in our territory, considering that our decision has been clear. We are grateful and very pleased with the letter presented with the support of 6,000 signatures demanding respect for our decision," said Marisol Guerra and Marta Muñoz, two Xinka women leaders who were named as representatives of their communities to the consultation process, and represented the Xinka People during two delegations to Canada in 2025.
The petition signatories are calling on the company to publicly report on the results of the Xinka consultation process, and respect the Xinka people’s decision by permanently closing the mine.
“After engaging seriously and in good faith in a seven-year consultation process, the Xinka have unequivocally said no to the Escobal mine once again. Pan American Silver must publicly acknowledge their decision and accept that the mine must be permanently closed out of respect for Xinka self-determination,” remarks Aidan Gilchrist-Blackwood, Coordinator of the Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability, which unites over 40 human rights, environment, labour, faith, international cooperation, and grassroots solidarity organizations from across Canada, collectively representing over 3 million Canadians.
The petition and action were initiated in solidarity with the Xinka People after delegates Marisol Guerra and Marta Muñoz toured British Columbia, the Maritimes and Ontario in May and September [2025] to raise awareness about their struggle for self-determination and the health of their communities in the face of the Escobal mine.
“The message we heard from the Xinka people during their visit here in May was clear and consistent: they will not allow the Escobal mine to re-open in their territory.” says Ruth Leckie of the Mining Justice Alliance. “Not only does the mine threaten their rights to a healthy environment, water and culture, but reopening it also threatens to re-ignite the violence that marred the early years of the project when community leaders experienced intense repression.”
The citizen group informed Pan American Silver ahead of time about the petition delivery and invited a company representative to receive it in person. Since the company indicated it would not send a representative to receive it today, the group delivered the petition directly to Pan American Silver’s reception counter where it was reluctantly accepted by a staff person and they were then promptly ushered out. Security guards then set up barricades outside of the building while the group handed out flyers to passersby.
Angus Wong is one of the citizens who delivered the petition to the company’s headquarters today in Vancouver. “This is not the first time Canadian allies have had to come in person to the company's headquarters to ensure Pan American Silver cannot ignore the message from the Xinka people,” he said. “The Xinka People have said no to the mine and to characterize the process as a negotiation of any kind is untrue and undermines Xinka efforts to assert their inherent rights."
More information
Miriam Shaftoe, miriam@miningwatch.ca, 514-348-7200
Endorsed by: Mining Justice Alliance; BC Casa-Cafe Justicia; Codevelopment Canada; Central American Student’s Association (CASA), UBC; Victoria Central America Support Committee (VCASC); Victoria Peace Coalition; Mining Justice Action Committee, Victoria, BC; MiningWatch Canada, EarthWorks, Institute for Policy Studies - Global Economy Program, Americas Policy Group coalition (APG); Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability (CNCA); Common Frontiers; CoDevelopment Canada; NISGUA (Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala); Mining Injustice Solidarity Network (MISN); Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network; Trent University Global Development Studies department; Trent University Human Rights and Global Justice department; Institute of Political Economy, Carleton University; Observatory on Violence, Criminalization and Democracy, University of Ottawa