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 ›
Poverty
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 ›
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 ›
The Lives of Those Who Died
Sergio Palencia Frener writes in NACLA about those who were killed during the Alaska (La Cumbre de Alaska) massacre in 2012. In the Mayan highlands of Guatemala there is a summit called Alaska. Known locally as Chuipatán, it is located… Read More ›
Guatemala’s past unearthed: The search for the disappeared
The Witness series on Al Jazeera features a film by Paula Monaco Felipe. A 40-year search for his disappeared father leads an Indigenous weaver into a world of forensic investigation. Carlos Poyon was just three years old when his father… Read More ›
Guatemala is Constructing a Religious Narco-State
Jeff Abbott has written a piece in The Progressive, for the “Other Americans” series, reflecting on the rise of right-wing evangelical forces in the once-Catholic majority nation which is reshaping its culture—and politics. As Christian nationalism rises within the Republican… Read More ›
FAO Report: Guatemala included among 19 countries with acute food insecurity
Ana Lucía González writes, in La Hora, about Guatemala being added to the list of ‘Hunger Hotspots’ compiled by the FAO/WFP. The report ‘Hunger Hotspots: FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity, October 2022 to January 2023 Outlook’ warns that… Read More ›
Fighting for Food Sovereignty in Guatemala
Chelsea Carrick writes in NACLA on Indigenous struggle and land rights in Guatemala, especially with reference to rising global food and consumer prices. On April 26 and 27, Guatemalans demonstrated throughout the country, blocking roads and demanding an end to… Read More ›
EJ Atlas: Lote Ocho – El Estor, Lake Izabal, Guatemala
After decades of resistance against HudBay minerals and other firms, including court cases in Guatemala and Canada, the local Mayan Q’eqchi’ community managed to stop nickel mining in 2020 officially. The Environmental Justice Atlas is a great resource and it… Read More ›
They Left Guatemala for Opportunities in the United States. Now They Want to Help Others Stay
Ciara Nugent writes in TIME about the challenges and rewards of utilising remittances that are sent back from the United States. New initiatives are suggesting alternative visions for families and for economic and social empowerment of communities through remittance co-ops… Read More ›