…[T]he Xinka Parliament of Guatemala drew over 1,000 community members to its press conference where Xinka Indigenous representatives called on Canadian company Pan American Silver to respect their right to freely participate in the court-ordered consultation process over the Escobal mine. Xinka communities demanded the company cease attempts to seek dialogue and community engagement in parallel to the consultation process, which they say is coercive, heightens tensions and puts them at greater risk of human rights abuses. Pan American’s May 8th shareholder meeting in Vancouver was its first since it acquired Tahoe Resources and the Escobal mine in February 2019…The Xinka Parliament’s lawyer, Quelvin Jiménez, reacted to the company’s response stating, “Pan American Silver clearly insists on continuing to manipulate and intervene in the consultation process with the Xinka People, despite being contrary to international standards. As the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has stated: “...corporate actors, by definition, are not impartial given their profit motive…” The attitude of Pan American Silver is in open and clear violation of the ‘free’ character of the consultation, which will only increase conflict and put the process at risk. These practices are the same sort of thing that Tahoe Resources did to limit and violate our rights as Indigenous Peoples.”…