Regina Pérez writes in Prensa Comunitaria about the Escazú Agreement and what it means for environment and land defenders, who continue to face serious threats in their daly lives. In Guatemala, according to Front Line Defenders (FLD), 15 human rights… Read More ›
Report
Very High Stakes – Elections to the Constitutional Court
By the 23rd March, the five individuals who will serve the next 5-year term on the Guatemala Constitutional Court must be named in order to be sworn in and to take office on the 14th April. This is the date… Read More ›
Growing concerns regarding the situation of women human rights defenders in the northeast of Guatemala
Front Line Defenders recently made their concerns known about the situation of women human rights defenders in Guatemala and spoke about the challenges facing both Lourdes Haquelina Gómez Willis and Delia Adelina Leal Mollinedo. Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned… Read More ›
Report: Advances in Escobal Mine Consultation Overshadowed by Constitutional Crisis in Guatemala
Ellen Moore introduces a new report published on the Earthworks website. More than two years after the court ordered a consultation with the Xinka Indigenous people over the future of the Escobal silver mine, the process has yet to move… Read More ›
The consolidation of authoritarianism and the increase in attacks against people, organisations and communities that defend human rights
UDEFEGUA recently released a briefing on the situation in Guatemala regarding attacks against human rights defenders. Any errors in translation are mine. The Protection Unit for Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala (La Unidad de Protección a Defensoras y Defensores de… Read More ›
Seven Incendiary Questions About Guatemala’s Political Crisis
The institutional crisis derived from the citizens’ rejection of the 2021 Budget has broader roots and ramifications. Among these is the excessive use of the police force, the conflict between decisions of the Executive and resolutions of the Constitutional Court… Read More ›
New Report: Mining Injustice Through International Arbitration: Countering Kappes, Cassiday & Associates’ claims over a gold-mining project in Guatemala
A new report exposes omissions and misrepresentations in a Nevada-based mining company’s more than $400 million suit against the Guatemalan government. Released today, Mining Injustice Through International Arbitration: Countering Kappes, Cassiday & Associates’ Claims over a Gold-mining Project in Guatemala, examines… Read More ›
Three Urgent Policies For Achieving Sustainable Development in Guatemala
Decades ago, debates taking place among international organizations and countries around the globe were delayed in Latin America due to the dizzying implementation of neoliberalism. In Guatemala, these discussions were simply ignored: the country’s leaders faithfully believed in the directives… Read More ›
Bernardo Caal Xol is a prisoner of conscience – Amnesty International
Amnesty International has just recently declared the Q’eqchi’ Maya Indigenous leader and Guatemalan human rights defender, Bernardo Caal Xol, a prisoner of conscience, for having been wrongly imprisoned for more than two years. He had been defending the rights of… Read More ›
A pandemic is not the time for reforming judicial nominations in Guatemala
As is the case in many countries across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic has further undermined the rule of law in Guatemala due to the use of emergency measures to limit fundamental freedoms and blur the separation of powers. Simultaneously,… Read More ›