On July 26, 2024, over a hundred people joined the Departmental Assembly of the People of Huehuetenango in Defense of Territory and for the Autonomy and Free Determination of the People -ADH- in celebrating their anniversary in Aguacatán, Huehuetenango, the latest municipality to win a water protection agreement in [...]
The community of Copal AA La Esperanza was established in 1994 by Guatemalan refugees returning from exile in Mexico. They lived in exile for a decade due to the state policy of genocide in Guatemala during the Internal Armed Conflict. On June 6th and 7th of 2024, the [...]
On June 6-7, 2024, the community of Copal AA- a community of returnees from Mexico after the Internal Armed Conflict (IAC) and leader of the fight against a hydroelectric dam- celebrated their tenth Festival on the Environment. The festival [...]
Youth in Copal AA march towards the river with signs denouncing contamination of the earth and water. Photo by NISGUA internacionalistas. Jóvenes de Copal AA marchan hacia el río con carteles que denuncian la contaminación de la tierra y el agua. Fotografía por internacionalistas de NISGUA (Español [...]
Photograph by: NISGUA. Board inside the Peaceful Resistance of Casillas, May 2024. This June 7 marked the 7th anniversary of the "Casillas Resistance" that the Xinka people have been maintaining to defend their territory against the Escobal mine, which since 2011 has been illegally installed in their territory [...]
John Sutton, presente! John Sutton, tireless community leader for peoples' liberation struggles, has left a void that is impossible to fill. His legacy, marked by his unwavering commitment to awareness and action for justice in Guatemala and beyond, will resonate throughout time. John was much more than an activist; [...]
(ESPAÑOL ABAJO) We, the Indigenous and ancestral authorities of the different Indigenous communities of Ixcán, Cobán, and Uspantán that make up the Association of Communities for the Development and Defense of the Land and Natural Resources (ACODET), are convened in the community La Libertad Xalarocjá, in the municipality of [...]
(ESPAÑOL ABAJO) We, representatives of the communities of La Costa Sur, Huehuetenango and the Indigenous Local Government of San Juan Cotzal, have convened in the Ixil territory of K’usal to share and exchange experiences of our wisdom for the defense of territory, reiterating our commitment to search for harmony [...]
The Xinka people maintain a struggle to protect life, water and territory from deadly extractive megaprojects, including the Escobal mine. Their commitment to defend life against transnational corporations has cost them criminalization, injuries, and assassinations. Ten years after the murder of 16-year-old Topacio Reynoso Pacheco in the attack that [...]
[ESPAÑOL ABAJO] By the Departmental Assembly of the Peoples of Huehuetenango The genocide that the Palestinian people are currently suffering under the irrational force of Israel is indifferent to the world powers, as if Palestinian citizens were not human beings and children of the same God. Palestinians are living [...]
Welcome to the March Solidarity Update! This month, we participated in a series of critical activities and topics that are setting the stage for the field of justice and human rights. We highlight the transitional justice case of the Alaska Summit Massacre, a milestone that represents an important step [...]
![[ENG] The image is a photograph taken at night of the national palace of Guatemala, which is illuminated with artificial lights and you can see the shadows of people looking towards the building. [ESP] La imagen es una fotografía tomada de noche del palacio nacional de Guatemala, que se encuentra iluminado con luces artificiales y se alcanzan a ver las sombras de personas que están mirando hacia el edificio.](https://nisgua.org/wp-content/uploads/signal-2024-02-14-142806-320x202.jpeg)
After 106 days of resistance of Indigenous people in the national strike against corruption and in defense of democracy in Guatemala, our partners continue the fight for truth, memory, and justice. In this solidarity update we share with you: a series of interviews with Guatemalan Indigenous leaders during the [...]
(Spanish below) On January 31, Judge Jorge Douglas Ochoa of the Criminal Sentencing Court of the Department of Chiquimula sentenced a commissioner and two agents of the National Civil Police (PNC) for the crime of abuse of authority in the detention of journalist Norma Sancir, who was covering a [...]
![[ENG] Around 10 community members under a yellow roof. In the foreground, a female-presenting person is reading a copy of the Official Journal of Central America. A male-presenting person is holding up a copy of the Official Journal of Central America. [ESP] Alrededor de 10 miembros de la comunidad abajo de una terraza amarilla. En el primer plano, una persona que presenta feminina está leyendo una copia del Diario Oficial de Centroamérica. Un hombre está levantando una copia del Diario Oficial de Centroamérica](https://nisgua.org/wp-content/uploads/signal-2024-01-25-182117_006-320x202.jpeg)
On December 23, 2023, the community of Aguacatán, Huehuetenago celebrated the publication of a Municipal Water Protection Agreement in the Official Journal of Central America (Diario Oficial de Centroamérica). The Water Protection Agreement symbolizes the recognition of Indigenous people’s right to land and water in the Municipal Code, and [...]
We welcome you all to the new year, a year of continuing the struggle and resistance of the people in Guatemala, Palestine, and the whole world. The voices that clamor for the people’s liberation do not cease. We join in solidarity to amplify those voices from where we find [...]
THANK YOU TO THE PEOPLE OF GUATEMALA FOR THESE 105 DAYS OF RESISTANCE We have completed 105 days of dignified and historic resistance in defense of democracy, with which we have demonstrated that the power of the people should not be underestimated. When all was thought lost, our organization [...]
"Let us walk hand in hand with the People" Since the last update we shared, the Indefinite National Strike initiated on October 2nd, led by the Ancestral Authorities of different Indigenous peoples throughout the country, and maintained by various sectors of the Guatemalan population, continues. The demand is firm: [...]
Ilustration by Isa Villalón, Internacionalista 2019-2021 On Saturday October 28, 2023, Xinka community leader, 69-year old Noé Gómez Barrera was murdered in the department of Jutiapa, Guatemala. Mr. Noé, much loved and respected by the community, was member of the ancestral authorities of the Xinka Parliament of Guatemala, [...]
We, the Indigenous people, through our Ancestral Authorities, gathered in a permanent Assembly, together with organizations of Indigenous peoples, civil society, peasants, women, trade unions, students, working-class neighborhoods, settlement dwellers, united market workers, youth, urban organizations, academics and citizens who accompany us. We have met, we have dialogued, and [...]
United as Organized Civil Society 1- We, the Mam people, upon finding out about the crimes committed by the Guatemalan government, have organized as civil society to defend and rescue an endangered Democracy, the reason for which national strikes are being carried out. The government and its pact of [...]
Photo courtesy of Needham Guatemala Partnership Clark Taylor (and his late wife Kay) were champions and stalwarts of the Needham Sponsoring Community (which they founded). Clark's volunteer field work with anthropologist Beatriz Manz in the 1970s and 80s contributed to her books Refugees of a Hidden War: [...]
The crisis in Guatemala is not an isolated moment, it is a structural crisis It has been 17 days of the people of Guatemala expressing their rejection of public officials’ actions of corruption, impunity and perpetuation in power. Specifically, they have demanded the resignation of Attorney General Consuelo [...]
We want to express our rejection of Consuelo Porras' request to dismiss the Minister of the Interior. Her persistence is of note to us, given the fact that the current situation in the country is a consequence of the Attorney General's stubbornness in not resigning, which confirms her coupist [...]
That after 12 days of peaceful demonstrations throughout the national territory, a meeting was held with the President of the Republic, Alejandro Giammattei, with the mediation of the Organization of American States (OAS), in which the demands of the people were presented. That the results of the first meeting [...]
People of Guatemala, In recent years we have witnessed the direct effects of corruption and impunity by those whose duty it is to ensure collective wellbeing and justice, so this year, we decided as indigenous peoples to unite together to rescue our country and democracy and demand respect for [...]
Guatemala City, October 11, 2023 Mr. Alejandro Giammettei Falla The Office the President of the Republic Mr. President, With great indignation and disgust, through the media we have learned that a letter signed by yourself has been circulating in which you insist, just as you did on the national [...]
WE STRONGLY CONDEMN THE ACTS OF VANDALISM AND VIOLENCE! Regarding some acts of vandalism that occurred today, as indigenous authorities we inform the people of Guatemala, that for eight consecutive days we have conducted protests in a peaceful, orderly and respectful manner, allowing the passage of medical vehicles, ambulances, [...]
Before national and international public opinion, we make it known that: The ASSEMBLY OF THE PEOPLE OF HUEHUETENANGO IN DEFENSE OF TERRITORY AND FOR THE AUTONOMY AND FREE DETERMINATION OF THE PEOPLE (ADH) on this occasion categorically declare that we reject the actions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which [...]
For years the Departmental Assembly of the People of Huehuetenango (ADH) has remained strong in the defense of the territory from different strategies, last June 21, 2023, the 4th Municipal Water Protection Agreement was signed, in which the alienable and imprescriptible character of the water resources of the municipality [...]
Protection of all existing water in Guatemala / Protección de toda el agua existente en Guatemala Recognize the right to a minimal amount of potable water and water for domestic use to cover basic needs / Reconocer el derecho a una cantidad mínima de agua potable y domiciliar para cubrir [...]
This month for Guatemala and its struggles has meant the reaffirmation that the struggle for life and dignity will be in its forms, or it will not be. On the one hand, the elections represent the feeling and need to leave behind corrupt systems, giving the vote of confidence [...]
As part of our commitment to share accessible information created in dialogue with our Guatemalan partners, we share below some key points of the historical electoral process, which will culminate with the second round on August 20th. General context for understanding elections in Guatemala: "Pacto de [...]
In Huehuetenango, Guatemala, the Assembly of the Peoples of Huehuetenenango in Defense of the Territory, and for the Autonomy and Self-Determination of the People -ADH- has achieved 4 Municipal Water Protection Agreements. They are leveraging the people's commitment to care for Mother Water by fighting for their municipal authorities [...]
We reject the suspension of the certification of the results of the first round of the general elections. It is regrettable that political parties accused of crimes such as illicit electoral financing, money laundering, or drug trafficking attempt to disrupt the electoral process established in the Political Constitution of [...]
Last June we accompanied our partners in their struggles for justice in the midst of a context full of uncertainty before the electoral period. Join us to read about the importance of an electoral vote with memory and dignity, about the recognition of justice from international awards beyond the [...]
Thank you for joining us in this May edition of NISGUA’s Solidarity Update. This month has been a month of justice. Not because of access to it, but because despite the lack of it, the people have never ceased to demand it. This month, hundreds of people took to [...]
Claire (they/them), former NISGUA Internacionalista, wrote this update during their time as a volunteer with NISGUA. Dear NISGUA family, Almost exactly one year after leaving staff, I’m honored to come back for a month as an accompanier. Frankly, it's a disturbing political scene to return to. You [...]
Oli (they/them) former NISGUA internacionalista wrote this update during their time as a volunteer with NISGUA. Read and enjoy! Dear community, I am in Guatemala for my second stint as an accompanier. Some of the struggles I accompanied when I was here last in 2018-19 have been won, [...]
Political statement on the occasion of World Mother Earth Day Tq’ijlal Qtxu’ Tx’otx’. The Assembly of the Peoples of Huehuetenango -ADH in defense of the land, autonomy, and free determination of the people -ADH On April 22, 1970, the U.N. declared World Earth Day, and approximately 20 million people [...]
THE ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT, DEFENSE OF THE LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES ACODET, IN ITS FIFTEENTH ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY BEFORE THE PUBLIC OPINION, WE DECLARE: We, the indigenous and ancestral authorities of the different indigenous communities of Ixcán, Cobán and Uspantán that make up the Association of [...]