On February 5, 2021, the government of Guatemala announced the cancellation of their Asylum Cooperative Agreements (ACA) with the U.S. For over a year, NISGUA had coordinated with 40+ Central and North American organizations in a campaign to end these inhumane and illegal agreements. While we celebrated this enormous win for human dignity and safety, we honored the memory of Rubén Herrera, founder and General Coordinator of the Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango (ADH). Rubén was the visionary behind the campaign and was instrumental to its success. The cancellation of the ACAs with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras was the result of grassroots organizing across Abiayala and Turtle Island (the so-called Americas).
The cancellation of the ACAs with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras was the result of grassroots organizing across Abiayala and Turtle Island (the so-called Americas). This win speaks to the importance of cross-border campaigns, a major ongoing focus of NISGUA’s.
📸 Three hundred community members organized by the ADH took over the Mesilla check point on the Guatemala-Mexico border on August 9, protesting the “safe third country” agreement, systemic impunity & the invasion of their territories by extractive industry. Photo by ADH.