W. George Lovell has written, in The Conversation, on the failing of the peace accords to bring a firm and lasting peace, highlighting the legacy of violence, corruption, neo-liberalism, and over exploitation of human and natural resources. Dec. 29 marked… Read More ›
Legal
Guatemala’s Failed Promise
Jeff Abbott has written a piece for The Progressive, reflecting on the failure of the Guatemalan Peace Accords, twenty-five years after their signing, and the unmet hopes for social justice. Twenty-five years after the peace accords that ended the Central… Read More ›
2021 Alice Zachmann Award: El Estor Resistance
The Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC) recently announced that the winner of the annual Alice Zachmann Human Rights Award, for 2021, is being awarded to The El Estor Resistance. In October of this year, Indigenous authorities, along with the Fisherman’s… Read More ›
Oil Palm Monoculture in Ixcán Municipality, Guatemala: A Story of Dispossession and Deception
Herbert Sandoval, from the Social Intercultural Movement of the People of Ixcán, Guatemala (Movimiento Social Intercultural del Pueblo de Ixcán, Guatemala), has a piece on the World Rainforest Movement website about the destruction being caused by palm oil monoculture in… Read More ›
María Choc: life between awaiting trial and a state of siege
The Q’eqchi’ human rights defender has been waiting for three years for her legal situation to be resolved. Her situation is aggravated in a context of restriction of rights caused by a state of siege. Jody García writes in la… Read More ›
We Reject The Criminalisation Of Critical Voices
The Alliance For Reform (Alianza Por Las Reformas) recently issued a statement condemning state violence directed against those civil society actors fighting against systemic corruption and human rights abuses. Any errors in translation are mine. We Reject The Criminalisation Of… Read More ›
Denouncing Crackdown against Peaceful Protest in Guatemala
Grassroots International recently posted a piece focussing on the events in El Estor. It is a translation of a piece from ALBA Movimientos. On Sunday, October 24, the president of Guatemala declared a state of siege in the municipality of… Read More ›
Condemnation of Human Rights Violations Occurring Under the State of Siege in El Estor
Ten human rights organisations recently released a joint statement condemning police brutality in El Estor. Read the pronouncement below. You can read the above condemnation on the website of GHRC, here, GHRC – Condemnation. You can read more about the… Read More ›
“It pains me to tell you that the image of Canada is severely damaged”
Damning testimony in a new book reveals the horrific record of Canadian mining companies in Guatemala. Joan Baxter has written in the Canadian publication, Halifax Examiner, about a new book, Testimonio: Canadian Mining in the Aftermath of Genocides in Guatemala,… Read More ›
The Indigenous Leader Targeted for Protecting His People’s Land
The case of Bernardo Caal Xol is featured on this video from VICE as part of the Amnesty International campaign ‘Write For Rights’. “Why am I in jail? For denouncing what they are doing to the rivers, defending what little… Read More ›