Delegations2021-05-13T18:23:27+00:00
Seven women smile together, three in traditional Maya Q'eqchi' clothing. Bright green forest is behind them.

Representatives of the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) smile with organizers from ACODET after their conversation about the struggle against the Xalalá Dam.

“Having had the ability to go to Guatemala was a tremendously transformative experience that challenged me to contextualize the varied struggles that women face in the country and further inspire me to continue solidarity work here in the U.S.” 

Gladys Garcia, 2017 delegation scholarship recipient from Los Angeles, CA.,

Political education for U.S. organizers who engage with Guatemalan movements and bring lessons home for critical cross-border solidarity

Our delegations are opportunities for NISGUA network members to exchange with our Guatemalan partners. Delegations respond to the call of Guatemalan organizations for international solidarity and form part of a multi-faceted strategy to protect and expand political space and obtain greater security for their organizing efforts.

Delegates are activists who are interested in integrating international solidarity into their local organizing. We support participants to connect learnings to their own political work through interactive workshops and guided opportunities for reflection. Participants return home with a deepened understanding and practice of solidarity, equipped with new resources to effectively and strategically stand with Guatemalan human rights and environmental defenders as an international community that continues to work for social change from within the U.S.

Past delegations

Two women in ribbon skirts stand before 40 people sitting in chairs. Their backs are to the camera and the sun is setting.

2019: Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) Leadership Delegation

This delegation was in service to IEN’s commitment to global grassroots environmental organizing, Indigenous women’s leadership, and grassroots feminism aligned with Indigenous cosmovision. Read more

The delegates pose smiling together.

2019: NMSU Indigenous Environmental Leadership Exchange

Including a visit to Copal AA, lessons on Guatemalan history from genocide survivors, and workshops on Indigenous leadership, this delegation resourced the next generation of Indigenous leaders to have an internationalist lens in their organizing. Read more

2017: Women and the work of liberation in Guatemala

Horizontal exchange with women-led social movements in Guatemala, while exploring the dynamic strategies, resilience practices, and forms of organizing they use in the fight to build a world free from gendered violence, state repression, and environmental degradation.

2016: Communities rise up against the Escobal mine

This delegation met with communities working to prevent the operation and expansion of Canadian-U.S. company Tahoe Resources’ Escobal mine in southeastern Guatemala, through popular education, grassroots action, and the organizing of community referenda. Read more

2016: NISGUA Sponsoring Community UUCA – PAG

This 10-day delegation with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington (UUCA) met with NISGUA partners and several human rights and environmental defenders organizations receiving international accompaniment. Read more

2015: Cultural resistance to the Xalalá Dam

Participants traveled to the Ixcán to strengthen relationships with communities threatened by the proposed Xalalá hydroelectric dam, deepen our analysis of the historical and current contexts of state violence, and take the lead from our partners in developing cross-border strategies for advocacy work. Read more

Latest from delegations

1November, 2019

Sisters in struggle: Indigenous Environmental Network leadership trip to Guatemala

In September, NISGUA had the honor of hosting a delegation to Guatemala for representative leaders of the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN). The delegation featured talks with women land defenders, cultural exchanges, and a community visit to the Chixoy River watershed. There is also so much that cannot be captured [...]

1May, 2019

2019 NISGUA Delegation: Environmental Indigenous Leadership Exchange

This March, NISGUA partnered with New Mexico State University to host a week-long exchange between Indigenous undergraduate students and Maya Q'eqchi', Mam, Q'anjob'al, and K'iche' environmental defenders. Ten NMSU students visited with NISGUA partners in the Chixoy and Copón Rivers watershed to learn about their grassroots organizing model that [...]

22March, 2019

NISGUA partners with New Mexico State University for Indigenous delegation to Guatemala

This March 23-30, NISGUA is partnering with New Mexico State University to host a week-long exchange between Indigenous undergraduate students and Mayan environmental defenders. Ten NMSU students will visit with NISGUA partners in the Chixoy and Copón Rivers watershed to learn about their grassroots organizing model that builds community-level [...]

25February, 2016

Sponsoring Communities take action: UUCA and NISGUA together in Guatemala

One of the pillars of international human rights accompaniment is the backing of a strong and active international network that commits to ongoing education of the international community about the human rights context of those we accompany, monitors the specific situations of those human rights defenders, and is ready [...]

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