Indigenous and Farmworker Organizations Urge Guatemalan Congress to Approve Initiative 4084
Since this Tuesday, November 27th, indigenous and rural farmworker organizations were present in the Guatemalan Congress calling for the approval of Initiative 4048, a Comprehensive Rural Development Law. The Initiative, first introduced in Congress in February 2009, is the product of over twelve years of work by indigenous and campesino organizations. While hundreds of representatives from groups throughout the [...]
Protect pacific resistance in San José del Golfo
For the past nine months, men, women and children from San José del Golfo, San Pedro Ayampuc and their surrounding communities have maintained a constant, non-violent presence in protest of the onset of mining activities in their territories. Beginning on Tuesday, November 13, an estimated 70 people claiming to be mine employees arrived at the site of the blockade, [...]
Two Political Prisoners Liberated in Santa Cruz de Barillas Case
On November 15th, the Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango (ADH) announced that two more of the 11 political prisoners illegally detained during the 18-day state of siege imposed in Santa Cruz de Barillas, have been liberated due to a lack of evidence linking them to the crimes of which they were accused. The state of siege was put in place [...]
Communities denounce Xalalá dam and oil exploitation
The following press releases have been translated by NISGUA as part of its ongoing human rights accompaniment of communities threatened by the Xalalá dam project. Press Release 1 25 October 2012 Guatemala Imposition of Development Projects Threatens the Life of Communities in Ixcán Considering that the Ministry of Energy and Mines recently announced a new bidding process for [...]
Totonicapán rising: Guatemalan military massacres K’iche protesters
The deceased, all wounded by firearm, according to Dr. Jorge Destarac, regional head of the National Forensic Science Institute, were eight in total: Rafael Batz (Pasajoc), Santos Nicolás Menchú (Pasajoc), Jesús Baltazar Caxaj Puac (Chipuac), Francisco Ordoñez (Chipuac), José Eusebio Puac Ordoñez (Chipuac), Arturo Félix Sapón Yax (Panquix), Domingo Caniz (Chipuac), and one more from Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán whose [...]
Indigenous protesters killed in Totonicapan, Guatemala
At least six protesters were killed and dozens wounded this afternoon in repression of a protest organized by the representatives of 48 indigenous K'iche communities of Totonicapan, Guatemala. According to Guatemala Indymedia Center and social movement organizations, the protesters were shot by Guatemalan military personnel. The autonomous indigenous government of the 48 cantones (communities) of Totonicapan had announced earlier this week its call for the blocking [...]