Guatemala’s metal mining sector has grown seven-fold since 2006, and the administration of President Otto Pérez Molina has granted more than 100 mining licenses during its first 18 months in power. There are also more than 50 hydroelectric projects at… Read More ›
Indigenous peoples
Defensora – the film
Defensora_PreviewTrailer from 6kidsProductions on Vimeo. Defensora is a documentary about a Mayan Q’eqchi’ resistance against mining in Guatemala. The story is set along the shores of Lake Izabal in the community of El Estor where a nickel mining company has… Read More ›
Gladys Tzul on Indigenous Governance and State Authority in Guatemala
The driving force of the history of Indigenous peoples in Latin America is the struggle for territory. This is something that has been difficult for the traditional academy to comprehend. If we examine peoples’ uprisings throughout history – in the… Read More ›
Link Between Land Grabs and Sexual Violence Against Q´eqchí Women
Luz Mendez has posted an article on the Americas Program website describing links between land grabs and sexual violence against Maya Q’eqchí women. Relating the stories of two groups of women, who have filed claims in the courts, Mendez links… Read More ›
Wartime victims exhumed from military base return to Pambach
In the Pocomchi’ Mayan hamlet of Pambach, some 38 km from Cobán, residents gather at a local church to welcome the remains of Baldomero Chiquin (disappeared at the age of 16 with his 21-year-old brother Pedro Chiquin), Alberto Batz (disappeared… Read More ›
Guatemalan State Can No Longer Afford to Neglect Food Security
This is an important article about the problems of hunger and malnutrition that affect people in Guatemala, especially its children and the state’s wilful inactivity in this regard. Joseph Ringoen is a Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs…. Read More ›
“Yes, there was genocide!”: Guatemala’s Ixil Vow to Keep Fighting for Justice
Rob Mercatante writes on the website of the Americas Program: “In the early hours of June 21 hundreds of human rights defenders, artists, feminists, musicians, religious workers, community organizers, independent journalists, international accompaniers, campesino and indigenous activists and others gathered… Read More ›
Ríos Montt Trial
Pamela Yates (When the Mountains Tremble and Granito) has posted a great series of short films from the genocide trial of General Ríos Montt. The 19 episodes of Dictator in the Dock can be found here. The Washington Office on… Read More ›
This land is Mayan
“Indigenous communities in Guatemala, pushed off the land so biofuels can be cultivated, are struggling to survive – and it’s our fault”. On the 15th March 2011, 800 families from 14 communities in Guatemala’s Polochic Valley were forcibly evicted from… Read More ›
Totonicapán: Tension in Guatemala’s Indigenous Hinterland
The International Crisis Group is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict. It recently published a report into the killings at Totonicapán featured
Guatemala Solidarity Network 