Early in the morning on April 17, the international day of the campesino’s struggle, nearly 450 indigenous Q’eqchi’ Mayan families from the Guatemalan departments of Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, and Izabal arrived in the historic centre of Guatemala and began… Read More ›
Indigenous peoples
Rights under siege: the remilitarisation of Guatemala
“There were around 2,500 police and army in the region,” Francisco tells me. “With tanks and trucks and everything it seemed as if they were coming to war.” Since the construction of the Escobal silver mine in the neighbouring village… Read More ›
‘Water that will extinguish the flames’
“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 ›
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 ›
Guatemala Solidarity Network 