DECLARATION: Revision of Sentence Demanded Against Mining Concessions in the Sacred Place of Wirikuta

WIXÁRIKA REGIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE DEFENSE OF WIRIKUTA

TO THE MASS AND ALTERNATIVE MEDIA

TO THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF MEXICO AND THE WORLD

TO OUR SUPPORTERS AND ALLIES

TO THE ORGANIZED CIVIL SOCIETY

TO THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC

TO THE MEXICAN STATE

We—the Traditional, Civil, and Agrarian Authorities of the Wixárika People, who together constitute the Wixárika Regional Council for the Defense of Wirikuta—hereby bring to your attention a recent ruling issued by the judicial authority:

DECLARATION

After 15 years of struggle and legal defense, on March 11, 2026, the Fourth District Court of the State of San Luis Potosí issued a ruling in the injunction lawsuit filed against 78 mining concessions that threaten the sacred territory of Wirikuta.

Wirikuta is the home of our supreme deity, Tamatsi Kauyumarie (Our Elder Brother), and the cradle of our Wixárika People—a place to which our ancestors have made pilgrimages throughout history in order to sustain life in the world.

It is important to highlight that the ruling recognizes the Wixárika People's right to self-determination, as well as the indissoluble bond we share with our sacred territory. Furthermore, it recognizes our right to consultation—effective from the very moment a concession application is submitted—and establishes a highly detailed methodology for conducting such consultations. The ruling also mandates the translation of the judgment into the Wixárika language and, moreover, upholds the considerations and rationale set forth in the decree issued in 2023, which serves to protect our sacred territories. However, the ruling fails to recognize the obligation to obtain the consent of the Wixárika People for the issuance of mining concessions, despite the fact that the spiritual impacts entailed by such activity within the sacred territory were duly substantiated. Furthermore, the ruling cancels only 43 concessions located within the state-designated Protected Natural Area (ANP), leaving active 20 concessions that form part of the mining project belonging to the Canadian company First Majestic, as well as 14 concessions that have expired—all of which are situated within the zone of influence of the sacred territory. Consequently, the territory remains at risk of mining exploitation, contamination, and the destruction of the environmental system that constitutes an integral part of the sacred domain. This situation is compounded by the failure to take into account the documented overexploitation of the territory's aquifers and the inherent incompatibility of such conditions with mining activities—a matter that was fully substantiated during the legal proceedings.

Likewise, the ruling stipulates that consent is required only in instances where concessions entail displacement; however, it fails to acknowledge the 2023 decree that explicitly prohibits the issuance of new concessions.

In light of the abovementioned, our Wixárika People filed a Petition for Judicial Review on March 30, 2026, challenging the determination issued by the District Court. We contend that the ruling fails to fully guarantee the territorial and identity rights of our Indigenous people, as it effectively permits the continued violation of the right to a healthy environment. This failure stems from the Court's disregard for environmental evidence demonstrating the overexploitation of aquifers, as well as its failure to ensure the protection of Wirikuta against destruction—thereby leaving our sacred plant and supreme deity, Híkuri, vulnerable to looting and extinction in those areas that, while not formally designated as protected zones, nonetheless constitute an integral part of the ritual landscape of our sacred sites.

In this spirit, our struggle continues unabated; we are prepared to pursue every necessary legal avenue—up to the highest judicial instance—to ensure that our sacred site, Wirikuta, is finally liberated. We demand:

1. The cancellation of each and every intact mining concession—held by both domestic and foreign companies—located within the Sierra de Catorce, the Wirikuta basin, and their respective zones of influence (outside the Protected Natural Area).

2. That the Wirikuta Protected Natural Area (ANP) in the State of San Luis Potosí, Mexico, be elevated to federal status.

3. The adoption of appropriate legal, scientific, technical, administrative, and financial measures to preserve our sacred sites.

4. The implementation of ecological, sustainable, and viable projects for the ejidatarios (communal landholders) and inhabitants of Wirikuta; and

5. That the Mexican State comply with UNESCO’s recommendations regarding the recent inscription of the pilgrimage route of Wirikuta’s sacred places and sites onto the UNESCO World Heritage List (July 12, 2025). These recommendations include, among others, the prohibition of mining activities in the area, the guarantee of rights of way for pilgrimages, and the strengthening of the Management Plan under the coordination of our Wixárika People (acting through the Wixárika Regional Council) and the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

S I N C E R E L Y,

Wirikuta is not for sale; It is to be loved and defended!

Wixárika Regional Council for the Defense of Wirikuta.

April 20, 2026.

Guadalajara, Jalisco.