Aldo Santiago writes in Avispa Midia about the threat of forced displacement facing Indigenous Q’eqchi’ communities in the Polochic Valley. Resource extraction, for the benefit of local elites and the international market, continues to take a heavy toll on Indigenous… Read More ›
El Estor
GHRC – El Quetzal
The Winter edition of El Quetzal, from The Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC), has recently been published. It features the leadership of Guatemala’s Indigenous in the struggle to defend democracy with pieces by Marta Estela Gutiérrez Montúfar and Isabel Solis…. 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.
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 ›
The Hidden Story of a Notorious Guatemalan Nickel Mine
Sandra Cuffe writes in The Intercept about the situation in El Estor and the global investigation that uncovered a multitude of documents highlighting corruption at the very highest level, impacting those that live there. It is a grim tale. Cristóbal… Read More ›
Forbidden Stories – Mining Secrets
Forbidden Stories presented Mining Secrets, a leak of thousands of documents, shared by hacking collective ‘Guacamaya Roja’, that comes from mining giant Solway in Guatemala. The leak of more than eight million company documents revealed how the mining company, operating… 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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
Guatemala Solidarity Network 