UDEFEGUA, on behalf of the the Human Rights Convergence (la Convergencia por los Derechos Humanos), tweeted a statement condemning the militarisation of communities in the Sierra de las Minas. Any errors in translation are mine. You can read the tweet… Read More ›
Indigenous peoples
Carlos Ernesto Choc Chub – Criminalised For Defending Rights
Criminalisation, and the use of ‘lawfare’, is being used increasingly against individuals, and groups, seeking to defend human rights in Guatemala. This is especially true with regard to those working to protect the environment. This can be seen through a… Read More ›
The Lives of Those Who Died
Sergio Palencia Frener writes in NACLA about those who were killed during the Alaska (La Cumbre de Alaska) massacre in 2012. In the Mayan highlands of Guatemala there is a summit called Alaska. Known locally as Chuipatán, it is located… Read More ›
Guatemala’s past unearthed: The search for the disappeared
The Witness series on Al Jazeera features a film by Paula Monaco Felipe. A 40-year search for his disappeared father leads an Indigenous weaver into a world of forensic investigation. Carlos Poyon was just three years old when his father… Read More ›
PBI – Becoming A ‘Brigadista’
The Peace Brigades International (PBI) Guatemala Project is made up of volunteers, from many countries, who have gone through a long and detailed training which covers the situation in Guatemala as well as the work of international accompaniment that PBI… Read More ›
Guatemala is Constructing a Religious Narco-State
Jeff Abbott has written a piece in The Progressive, for the “Other Americans” series, reflecting on the rise of right-wing evangelical forces in the once-Catholic majority nation which is reshaping its culture—and politics. As Christian nationalism rises within the Republican… Read More ›
The Jungle Patrol: Fighting Illegal Loggers on the Guatemala-Mexico Border
Alejandro Melgoza and Alex Papadovassilakis present an important and fascinating report, on InSight Crime, into how a shadowy timber mafia, with ties to Asia, is illegally extracting precious wood on the Guatemala-Mexico border. They document how illegal loggers have ravaged… Read More ›
Special Reports: Guatemala’s Downward Spiral
The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), the Latin America Working Group Education Fund, the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA (GHRC), and the Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLf) have, together, presented three reports into the challenges being faced by human… Read More ›
FAO Report: Guatemala included among 19 countries with acute food insecurity
Ana Lucía González writes, in La Hora, about Guatemala being added to the list of ‘Hunger Hotspots’ compiled by the FAO/WFP. The report ‘Hunger Hotspots: FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity, October 2022 to January 2023 Outlook’ warns that… Read More ›
Wounds Reopened: The Impacts of Democratic Backsliding on Human Rights in Guatemala
GHRC/USA led an Emergency Human Rights Delegation to Guatemala to document the impacts of the democratic backsliding and destruction of rule of law on human rights defenders. The delegation met with, among others, defenders, lawyers, journalists, Indigenous land defenders, and… Read More ›