NISGUA recently published the following summary of the report Pressure to construct Xalalá hydroelectric dam; Local opposition remains strong. Nearly two years after the Guatemalan government announced its renewed interest in constructing the Xalalá Hydroelectric Dam, communities maintain strong… Read More ›
Land
Under the Volcano
An anti-mining banner at the roadblock reads: “Defend our Mother Earth from the rats.” Guatemala sits atop a wealth of natural resources—nickel, gold, silver, and titanium—that lie beneath the country’s rich volcanic soil. In 1960, the Canadian-owned and -operated International… Read More ›
‘La Puya’: Two years against the mine
We are all ‘La Puya’ Accompanied by great photographs from the 2nd anniversary celebrations at ‘La Puya’, from Sandra Sebastián, Oswaldo J. Hernández writes, Two years ago, just on the border between San Pedro Ayampuc and San José del Golfo,… Read More ›
La Puya: Two Years of Peaceful Resistance Against an Unwanted Gold Mine
More great photoreportage from James Rodríguez (MiMundo) chronicling the days leading up the 2nd anniversary of the Cominudad en Resistencia of La Puya. The highlight of the first few days was the removal of the heavy machinery that had been… Read More ›
Celebrating Two Years of Resistance in La Puya
Sunday, 2nd March 2014, saw the Comunidad en Resistencia of ‘La Puya’ celebrate its 2nd anniversary in its struggle for land and dignity against a rapacious mining industry and the Guatemala state. Rachel Small has put together a fine series… Read More ›
Chixoy Dam news
This picture is part of a set of photographs from International Rivers website here. For more than twenty years, communities affected by the Chixoy Dam have demanded reparations for the damages caused by the project, which was built during Guatemala’s… Read More ›
The Thorn Tree Resistance
As Emilie Teresa Smith articulates so well in Sojourners magazine, Gold and silver mines in Guatemala are wreaking havoc on local communities. But the people, using nonviolent Christian action, are fighting back. With regard to this article, she is referring… 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 ›
Two years at ‘La Puya’ protecting land and community
In February of 2012, residents of San José del Golfo and San Pedro Ayampuc (La Puya), north of Guatemala City, were struggling to obtain information about a reported mining project in their communities, which would affect hundreds of families. Months… Read More ›
Brief Review of 2013
Situation of Human rights defenders The context in Guatemala in 2013 continued being hazardous for human rights’ defenders where, up to October, there were 18 assassinations of human rights defenders and 608 attacks against them, which is almost double the… Read More ›