Indigenous people in Guatemala, among them the Maya Ixil people, have experienced moments of pain, sadness, and resistance in their history, one of the most recent being the Internal Armed Conflict between 1960 and 1996, which ended with the deaths of thousands of our sisters and brothers. The Historical Clarification Commission registered more than 250,000 deaths and disappearances, more than 1 million internal displacements, 200,000 refugees, 440 communities erased from the map, more than 600,000 massacres, 70,000 orphans, and 50,000 widows. 93% of these crimes committed against the population are attributed to the national military.

With the signing of the Peace Agreements on December 29, 1996, the possibility opened that the cause of the conflict was the State, which put in practice the National Program of Reparations and, to dignify the memory of the victims, hope blossomed with the secretary of Peace and other institutions. But with the last three administrations of Otto Pérez Molina, Jimmy Morales, and Alejandro Giammatei, the institutional framework of the Peace Agreements was dismantled, and all effort to build an inclusive Guatemala was abandoned.

It is for this that the sons, daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters of the victims of the Internal Armed Conflict reaffirm the commitment to maintain the historical memory of our family members and continue fighting to achieve justice not as an act of vengeance, but as a right so that the grave violations to human rights do not repeat themselves.

In view of the above, we call upon the administration of Bernardo Arévalo to:

1. Reactivate immediately the institutions and programs in favor of peace, especially the secretary of Peace and National Program of Reparations, assigning the budget and personnel in charge that are suitable and competent to attend to the demands of the families and survivors of the IAC.
2. Ensure that the System of Justice and Public Ministry comply with their role in guaranteeing access to justice to the families and survivors so that the crimes against humanity and genocide do not advance with impunity and are judged.
3. Ensure that the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Culture and Sports comply with Article 1 of Decree No. 48-2008 of the Congress of the Republic in promotion of actions as set forth in the aforementioned law.
4. The general population, fighting for historical memory as a right to honor and dignify our loved ones. As such, we urge you to not be misled by people seeking to erase a past that implicates themselves, reaching communities with royalties, with discussions about reconciliation, but in the background searching for impunity.

Ixil Territory, February 255, 2024

Collective voice and action for the defense of the rights of the Indigenous people!