“Three and a half decades had to go by in order to achieve justice for a horrendous moment in the history of the country. At the time, television cameras recorded the burning of the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala and showed… Read More ›
Indigenous peoples
Mining interests in Guatemala challenged by indigenous direct democracy
We featured a piece, here, recently by James Rodríguez about a Consulta that took place in Santa María Chiquimula. This is by Jeff Abbott on Waging Nonviolence. Conflicts over mining are expanding across Guatemala. According to a recent report by… Read More ›
Spanish Embassy Case Nearing Close
On October 1, 2014, 34 years after the deadly fire that killed 37 protesters, diplomats, and others, Guatemalan judges for the first time convened to consider the culpability of a state actor in the notorious 1980 siege of the Spanish… Read More ›
Mayan Communities use Democracy as a Tool to Safeguard their Territory
The image above comes from an article by James Rodríguez (MiMundo.org) and refers to a consultation in Santa Maria Chiquimula, Totonicapán, Guatemala. The ballot reads: “Are you in favor of metal mining exploitation, the installation of geothermal energy generators, construction… Read More ›
Voices of the Resistance – Tahoe on Trial
OYOW: VOICES OF THE RESISTANCE MOVEMENT IN GUATEMALA (Special Assignment) from Maggie Padlewska on Vimeo. Maggie Padlewska shot the above film about the affect of the Tahoe Resources Escobal Mine in San Rafael Las Flores and the community resistance to… Read More ›
Remembering Adolfo Ich Chaman
It is now five years since Adolfo Ich Chaman was brutally murdered during a violent eviction carried out on Q’eqchi’ Mayan communities on the 27thSeptember 2009. Mynor Padilla, former head of security for Hudbay Minerals/CGN, and former Colonel in Guatemala… Read More ›
To Move Forward
A piece by Simone Dalmasso accompanies some great photographs and was published recently in Plaza Pública. In 1957, the mayor of Nebaj described the socioeconomic situation of the people in the area, “..the majority of the indigenous people of this… Read More ›
Defense of Indigenous and Land Rights in Guatemala – Aura Lolita Chávez
Aura Lolita Chávez is a leader of the Council of K’iche’ People for the Defense of Life, Mother Nature, Land and Territory (CPK) of Guatemala. The CPK coordinates processes of dialogue, good faith community consultations and collective actions against the… Read More ›
They return, 32 years later
They await them at the entrance to the village, in the rain. Some cover themselves with torn umbrellas while others prefer to feel the water. They were waiting for those absent for 32 years. The army took 80 men alive… Read More ›
Chixoy Dam – thirty year wait
On May 14th, 1982, Carmen Sanchez Chen left her three-year-old son Manuel with a neighbour as she went to bathe in the Chixoy River, never to see him alive again. Thirty years later she buried him. James Rodríguez (MiMundo) has… Read More ›
Guatemala Solidarity Network 