NISGUA’s 2017 tour speaking tour brings together youth organizers in defense of life
NISGUA partnered with Jalapa-based youth organization, Youth Organized in Defense of Life (JODVID), for a 16-day U.S. speaking tour, “Guatemalan Youth in Defense of Land and Life.” Together we helped raise awareness about the community and youth forces that have organized in resistance to Tahoe Resources' Escobal silver mine in southeastern Guatemala and the human rights abuses that surround the project. [...]
Accompanier Perspectives: From Huehuetenango to Omaha, NE
The Maya Q’anjob’al Nation takes their defense of land and life in Huehuetenango transnational through community organizing in both Guatemala and the U.S. Caya Simonsen worked for 6 months as a NISGUA accompanier in Huehuetenango and shares her experience visiting the Maya Q’anjob’al Nation in both Guatemala and her hometown of Omaha, NE. Through its Guatemala Accompaniment Project (GAP), NISGUA [...]
Give Senator Heller the facts he badly needs about Tahoe Resources
In August, Nevada Senator Dean Heller wrote to the U.S. State Department to lobby for Tahoe Resources, a Canadian company headquartered in Reno. At the time, Tahoe’s operating license for its flagship Escobal mine in Guatemala had been suspended by Guatemala’s highest court over failure to consult with the Xinca Indigenous people. Almost immediately, Tahoe’s stock dropped 40% as investors [...]
Peaceful Resistance Camp in Casillas protests in front of Guatemalan Constitutional Court
Members of the Peaceful Resistance Camp in Casillas have created a second camp in front of the Guatemalan Constitutional Court. They arrived one week ago and will remain until court justices make a decision on the permanent closure of Tahoe Resources' Escobal mine. The Peaceful Resistance in Casillas is made up of groups from at [...]
AJR ¡Presente! in ongoing genocide retrial
Today, Survivors of massacres in the 80s from Chimaltenango traveled to participate in the trial against Rodríguez Sánchez for the Ixil genocide. The AJR (Association for Justice and Reconciliation) is made up of survivors from 5 regions in Guatemala and solidarity between communities has been their foundation since their formation. ¡AJR Presente! Photo credit: José Silvio T. [...]
Recording: Alex Escobar talks about youth organizing; Grabación: Alex Escobar habla sobre la organización juvenil
[español abajo] An online presentation from our annual speaking tour, "Guatemalan Youth in Defense of Land and Life"! Who is JODVID? Youth Organized in Defense of Life (JODVID, in Spanish) is a Guatemalan environmental justice collective that uses the arts and popular education to mobilize youth in local and regional movements in defense of the earth and the environment. JODVID [...]