Linda Etchart, for Latin America Bureau, interviewed environment defender Lucía Ixchíu, of the K´iché Maya of Totonicapán, a community famous for its ‘48 Cantons’ resistance movement.
Totonicapán was the second most important city of the K’iché and the headquarters of the last Mayan ruler, Tecún Umán. A major uprising against Spanish domination took place in Totonicapán in 1820.
In this interview, Lucía explains that Guatemalan Indigenous peoples continue to be intimidated, threatened, and attacked by the agents of the extractive industries operating in her homeland. She reports that the expansion of mining and logging has brought about a ‘fourth invasion’ of the region by multinational companies, whose activities have displaced communities and caused serious damage to the local and regional ecosystems. In 2012, seven members of Ixchíu’s community were killed by the police during a demonstration against the privatisation of the electricity supply.
Lucía tells the story of her path to political activism, her awakening to her role in creating solidarity among diverse Indigenous communities in Guatemala resisting oppression; and her life in exile, from where she continues to lobby foreign governments to support democracy, the rights of Indigenous peoples, and the protection of the environment in Guatemala.
You can read the full interview, with links, photos and videos, here, Honouring Indigenous resistance in Totonicapán: interview with Maya K’iché exile Lucía Ixchíu.
Categories: Corruption, Criminalisation, Culture, Environment, Gender, Genocide, Guatemala, Human Rights, Impunity, Indigenous peoples, Justice, Land, Military, Mining, Racism, Resource Extraction, Solidarity in Action, Violence
Guatemala Solidarity Network 
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