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 ›
Indigenous peoples
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.
International Organisations Denounce Serious Setbacks in ‘Diario Militar’ Case
International organisations recently issued a statement denouncing decisions made regarding the Diario Militar case, or ‘Death Squad Diary’ case, which seek to shut down the case contrary to law and violating the right of families to a prompt and fulfilled… Read More ›
La Puya – A Mining Lawsuit In Guatemala Shows How Trade Courts Put Locals Last
A U.S. mining company is suing Guatemala over a shuttered project. The state relied on affected communities to mount a legal defense, but now it’s trying to bypass them to open the mine. Ana Sandoval writes in Foreign Policy In… Read More ›
Guatemala Solidarity Network 