David Toro Escobar writes in La Prensa Latina about the trial of nine former members of the Guatemalan army regarding the 1982 massacre of Rancho Bejuco. Of the 25 indigenous Achi Maya peoples killed, 17 were children. Rancho Bejuco, is… Read More ›
Indigenous peoples
Peaceful Resistance of La Puya expects ICSID ruling in June as consultation process on El Tambor mine set to start this summer
On March 2, 2012, area residents, who had not been consulted about this mine, set up a 24-hour a day blockade at the entrance to the mine site. Within weeks, on May 8, 2012, the women of the Peaceful Resistance… Read More ›
International legal experts gravely concerned at lack of protections for Indigenous peoples and human rights defenders in Guatemala
Peace Brigades International UK (PBI-UK) accompanied a group of international lawyers to Guatemala concerned at UN and civil society reports regarding human rights violations associated with agrarian conflict in Alta Verapaz. The International Delegation of Independent Lawyers travelled to Alta… Read More ›
The first trial for the genocide of Indigenous Peoples
We received this note from Pamela Yates and Paco de Onís, of Skylight, relating to the genocide trial of Efraín Ríos Montt in 2013, which may be of interest. We wanted to share it. Dear Friend, Ten years ago, General… Read More ›
Exclusion of Presidential Candidates Stains June Guatemalan Elections
Inscription for the June national vote closed this weekend. Electoral authorities, toeing the line of far-right political operatives, have spuriously excluded two presidential duos and are aiming for a third, clearing the way for conservative Zury Rios. Roman Gressier and… Read More ›
Disassembling the Death Squad Dossier Case
Jo-Marie Burt and Paulo Estrada wrote in El Faro English on the further dismantling of the independent justice system and its effects on a particularly important historical case. For decades, survivors and the families of the victims of the Death Squad… Read More ›
June 2023 Election Poses Critical Test for Guatemalan Democracy
Dozens of mostly conservative candidates are expected to compete in the June general election as divided elites seek control of a state emptied of its anti-corruption judges and prosecutors. Election lawfare to block candidacies could tip the scales, as it… Read More ›
Anti-Mining Networks Support Land Defense Movements in Central America
In Guatemala and Honduras, regional anti-mining networks have become key players in struggles to combat extractivism and the criminalization of activists. Giada Ferrucci and Pedro Cabezas write in NACLA on extractivism and resistance in Central America, focussing on Guatemala and… Read More ›
FONGI Denounces Use Of Excessive Force In Chapín Abajo
GHRC writes, ‘In the early morning of December 6, hundreds of Guatemalan police and military forces attacked the Q’eqchi’ community of Chapín Abajo in El Estor, Izabal. The group arrived via boat, working alongside what witnesses have reported as local… Read More ›
GHRC alert condemning the violence against Indigenous Q’eqchi community
GHRC recently issued an alert condemning the violence perpetrated by State security forces against the Indigenous Q’eqchi community in Chapin Abajo, El Estor. Read the full statement above.
Guatemala Solidarity Network 