The Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Office and the law firm (BDH – Bufete de Derechos Humanos) demanded that the Guatemala state fulfilled its obligations under the ruling of the Inter-American Commisison for Human Rights (CIDH) with regard to the 111 families that were evicted from Laguna Larga, San Andrés, Petén.
Stef Arreaga writes in Prensa Comunitaria.
The community were violently evicted on the 12th June 2017, by the military and the police, who burned homes, crops, and a school house that the community had constructed. In their place was constructed a military base.
Since they were evicted, the families have been living in a camp on the border between Guatemala and Mexico, where they constructed temporary houses of straw, plastic and tin. The land is muddy and uncultivable, without access to potable water, school or health centre. The families are still waiting for the decision to let them return home.
Since the families settled in Laguna Larga, in the 1980s, they forged a sustainable way of life and, with the passing of the years, children were able to receive an education in the school that they themselves constructed. Each family had their own plot of land for crops and livestock, as well as freshwater wells. Their ability to market their produce earned income that families could use to access health centres.
Now, things are a nightmare.
This is excerpted from the original Spanish article, by Stef Arreaga, which you can read, and look at the shocking images, here, in Prensa Comunitaria.
Categories: Environment, Guatemala, Human Rights, Indigenous peoples, Justice, Land, Poverty, Violence
Guatemala Solidarity Network 
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