Petition of Zaculeu: Communities in Huehuetenango reject U.S. militarization

The following public statement by the Assembly of Peoples of Huehuetenango (ADH) rejects the militarization by the United States in their territories. To read more about the resistance against militarization, click here. To take action in solidarity with the people of Huehuetenango and all the border departments of Guatemala, [...]

2019-07-11T21:51:59+00:00July 11th, 2019|Defense of life and territory|

Solidarity Update: June 2019

News recap: Xinka Parliament, Lawyer Quelvin Jiménez, and Peaceful Resistance Under Threat; In Blow to Justice, Judge Frees 6 Men Accused of Sexual Violence against Maya Achi Woman; 2019 Accompanier Cohort Participates in NISGUA's Organizer Training in Berkeley; Fugitive Ex-Chief of Operations Under Ríos Montt Captured on Genocide and [...]

Upcoming Presidential, Congressional Elections in Guatemala

Presidential and Congressional elections will be held in Guatemala this Sunday, June 16. Find out more about the elections, Thelma Cabrera's historic candidacy, and potential effects on organizing and movements in Guatemala. Correction: We mistakenly stated that second round presidential elections would be held in September. If the presidential [...]

Serious Concerns in the Face of Huehuetenango Militarization

In the past several weeks, communities and organizations in Huehuetenango have noted an increase in U.S. and Guatemalan military presence in their territories. This unexplained and unapproved military presence has caused great consternation in a region that was a target of the military’s “scorched earth” policies during the internal [...]

2019-06-17T20:48:19+00:00June 13th, 2019|Defense of life and territory|

Solidarity Update: April 2019

Our April Solidarity Update features a news recap: NISGUA and BTS Jointly Organize Webinars about Maya Achí Women’s Fight for Justice Report-back on 2019 Delegation: NISGUA and NMSU Organize Environmental Indigenous Leadership Exchange Accompanier Olivia Pandolfi Creates Zine about Community Consultations in Guatemala and more... [...]

Indigenous people call on Pan American Silver to cease local interference out of respect for consultation process in Guatemala

(Vancouver/Victoria/Ottawa/Tatamagouche/Washington, D.C.) Ahead of Pan American Silver’s annual shareholder meeting in Vancouver today, the Xinka Indigenous Parliament released a statement calling on the company to stop attempts to engage with communities outside of the court-ordered consultation process over the Escobal silver project. They insist that the company’s community relations [...]

2019-05-08T18:27:21+00:00May 8th, 2019|Defense of life and territory|

2019 NISGUA Delegation: Environmental Indigenous Leadership Exchange

This March, NISGUA partnered with New Mexico State University to host a week-long exchange between Indigenous undergraduate students and Maya Q'eqchi', Mam, Q'anjob'al, and K'iche' environmental defenders. Ten NMSU students visited with NISGUA partners in the Chixoy and Copón Rivers watershed to learn about their grassroots organizing model that [...]

2019-05-29T23:04:46+00:00May 1st, 2019|Defense of life and territory, Delegations|

NISGUA partners with New Mexico State University for Indigenous delegation to Guatemala

This March 23-30, NISGUA is partnering with New Mexico State University to host a week-long exchange between Indigenous undergraduate students and Mayan environmental defenders. Ten NMSU students will visit with NISGUA partners in the Chixoy and Copón Rivers watershed to learn about their grassroots organizing model that builds community-level [...]

2019-12-25T00:42:01+00:00March 22nd, 2019|Defense of life and territory, Delegations|

Hydroelectric bank complaint moves forward amid increasing attacks

Community members in Ixquisis gather. Photo credit: Nomada On March 4, 2019, the Ancestral Plurinational Government of the Akateo, Chuj, Popti, and Q'anjob'al Original Nations released a statement expressing their outrage regarding a recent violent incident. The violence was committed against Plurinational Government delegate, Julio Gómez, [...]

2019-12-25T00:43:09+00:00March 7th, 2019|Defense of life and territory|

Solidarity Update: February 2019

News recap: Join NISGUA- as staff or as an accompanier!; Survivors Respond as Guatemalan Congress Threatens Amnesty; Sign On in Solidarity with Cross-Border Indigenous Organizing for Self-Determination; Plurinational Government, Omaha Nation Hold Summit in Q’anjob’al territory, Huehuetenango; International Mayan League Holds Vigil Demanding Justice for Youth Killed by U.S. Immigration System; International Organizations [...]

Solidarity Update: January 2019

News recap: NISGUA is hiring!; Civil society reacts as political crisis escalates to a technical coup; Stand with Indigenous and campesino communities' right to self-determination; Pan American buys Tahoe Resources, inheriting Escobal Mine's legacy of human rights abuses; Court delays justice, but Maya Achí sexual violence survivors continue in struggle; Become an international accompanier [...]

International Organizations Publish Statement in Solidarity with La Puya

NISGUA joins 10 international organizations who stand in solidarity with the communities of the Peaceful Resistance “La Puya” impacted by the international arbitration claim filed against the state of Guatemala by US mining company, Kappes, Cassiday & Associates. Community members from San José del Golfo and San Pedro Ayampuc [...]

2019-12-25T00:43:58+00:00February 1st, 2019|Defense of life and territory|

Solidarity Update: December 2018

News recap: Organizations demand justice in wake of assassinations and ongoing violence in Ixquisis, TAKE ACTION to stand with communities working to protect community consultations, NISGUA Speaking Tour shares lessons from successful organizing in Chixoy-Copón Rivers Watershed, KCA sues Guatemalan State in international court, survivors of sexual violence in Military Zone [...]

Media Advisory: Social movements at risk as technical coup unfolds in Guatemala

For a downloadable version of this media advisory, click here. For nearly a year and a half, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has repeatedly defied the rule of law by attacking the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). On January 7, Morales announced that his administration would [...]

Political Crisis Continues in Guatemala: A Timeline

For nearly a year and a half, the Jimmy Morales administration has repeatedly defied the rule of law in its attacks on the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).The situation reached another climax when CICIG researcher, Yilen Osorio, was detained and denied entry to the country at the [...]

More than 100 Organizations Denounce Murders, Violence against Peaceful Resistance of Ixquisis

Statement on the double assassination, physical aggression, and the dangerous situation faced by communities in the Ixquisis region, Guatemala We, the below signed organizations, collectives, and people, express our deep concern about the dangerous situation faced by the communities and human rights defenders of the Ixquisis region, San [...]

2019-12-25T00:45:32+00:00December 21st, 2018|Defense of life and territory|

2018 Tour Speaker Participates in “Indigenous Symposium: Water Protection”

As part of its visit to Las Cruces, New Mexico, NISGUA's fall 2018 speaking tour, "How to Stop a Dam with Indigenous Resistance," participated in a four-day symposium of events dedicated to facilitating direct exchange between Indigenous water protectors. NISGUA tour partner, Maya Mam community leader José Gómez of [...]

2019-12-25T00:46:17+00:00December 19th, 2018|Defense of life and territory, Tour|

NISGUA’s 2018 speaking tour builds connection between Indigenous water protectors in the US and Guatemala

This November, NISGUA partnered with the Association of Communities for Development and the Defense of Land and Natural Resources (ACODET) for a 14-day speaking tour, “How to Stop a Dam with Indigenous Resistance.” ACODET representative and Maya Mam leader, José Gómez García, visited Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, lifting [...]

2019-12-25T00:46:53+00:00December 11th, 2018|Defense of life and territory, Tour|

Four lessons on human rights that we’ve learned from defenders of life

On International Human Rights Day, we recognize that the language of human rights has not always served to advance social justice. In many cases, it has functioned as a smoke screen for imperial institutions to validate or obscure their violence. The U.S. government used the rhetoric of human rights [...]

Solidarity Update: November 2018

News recap: NISGUA celebrates a successful fall speaking tour; Communities celebrate another year of resistance; Take action to stand with Indigenous Peoples to demand respect for Indigenous self-determination in Guatemala; ACODET releases statement in the face of attacks against water defenders; 2018: a year of horizontal exchange - a [...]

Displacement in Guatemala and How Transnational Solidarity Must Impact our Local Organizing for Housing and Land Rights

Washington, D.C. local, Clara Lincoln is a recent NISGUA accompanier through the Guatemala Accompaniment Program. She spent ten months accompanying land and human rights defenders in Guatemala. Since returning, she has collaborated with ONE DC, an organization fighting for the rights to housing, wellness, and economic equity for low-income [...]

Statement by the Mesoamerican Movement in Resistance to the Extractivist Model (M4) on state-regulated consultations

Español abajo.  The peoples that form part of M4 who resist the capitalist and extractive model and are working towards social transformation DECLARE In Guatemala City’s historic center, on November 15, 16 and 17, we met to discuss and analyze current efforts to regulate prior consultation of our [...]

2019-12-25T00:47:39+00:00November 29th, 2018|Defense of life and territory|

Municipality of Mataquescuintla celebrates over six years of mining resistance

On November 11, 2018, six years after the municipality of Mataquescuintla voted “NO” in a referendum on mining, thousands of community members marched to uphold the results and re-affirm their resistance. The 2012 referendum, which saw 98.42% of participants reject mining, is one of several that have taken place [...]

2019-12-25T00:48:05+00:00November 28th, 2018|Defense of life and territory|

Xinka Parliament denounces illegalities as court-ordered consultation process begins

The following article was co-written by the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network, Earthworks, and NISGUA. On November 19, 2018, the Xinka Parliament held a press conference to denounce the malicious behaviour of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), and [...]

2019-12-25T00:48:22+00:00November 20th, 2018|Defense of life and territory|

Rivers for Life: ACODET Denounces Criminalization and Attacks on Water Defenders

In the past few weeks, water defenders in Guatemala have faced growing threats. Last Friday, Q'eqchi' community leader Bernardo Caal Xol was unjustly sentenced to seven years and four months in prison in Cobán. He was convicted of illegal detention and aggravated robbery, despite contradictory and insufficient evidence presented by the [...]

2019-12-25T00:49:06+00:00November 13th, 2018|Defense of life and territory|

Open for signatures: International statement of Indigenous Peoples on the right to self-determination

Español abajo. The following statement was written by Indigenous communities in the Ixcán, Cobán, and Uspantán regions of Guatemala. At the request of the authors, NISGUA invites Indigenous and Indigenous-descendent individuals and Indigenous-led organizations to add their signatures. To sign on, please email NISGUA's Guatemala Programs Coordinator, Becky Kaump, [...]

2019-12-25T00:49:28+00:00November 9th, 2018|Defense of life and territory|

Solidarity Update: October 2018

Solidarity Update news recap: NISGUA’s Fall Speaking Tour Kicks Off in November; AJR President, Edwin Canil, speaks on the fight for justice for genocide in "Learning From Survivors" talk;  NISGUA welcomes a new GAP cohort; Former accompanier and NISGUA fellow Claire Bransky holds "500 Years Screening: Life in Resistance from Guatemala [...]

“So much to learn” – Meet the Organizers of Our Fall Speaking Tour

For decades, NISGUA has used grassroots speaking tours as a tool to build cross-border, people-to-people connections between social movements in the U.S. and Guatemala. With the support of scores of volunteers, activists, and organizers, NISGUA speaking tours have cultivated deeper understandings of the common forces our communities are up [...]

2019-12-25T00:49:48+00:00October 24th, 2018|Defense of life and territory, Tour|

Maya Mam environmental activist José Gómez of ACODET to tour the U.S.

MEDIA ADVISORY Contact: David Imhoff, (510) 763-1403, david@nisgua.org Event Details: Maya Mam Indigenous Water Defender to visit Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico & Washington (Guatemala City/Oakland, CA): José Gómez, Maya Mam community leader and co-coordinator of the Association of Communities for Development and the Defense of Land and Natural Resources [...]

2019-12-25T00:49:57+00:00October 19th, 2018|Defense of life and territory, Tour|

Solidarity Update: September 2018

News recap: Court affirms that the state enacted genocide, but finds Rodríguez Sánchez not guilty in a split decision; Constitutional Court upholds temporary suspension of Escoal mine and calls on the State to consult impacted Xinka communities. This and more in this month's solidarity update. [...]

“They’ll be met with massive organization and struggle” – NISGUA interviews Maya Mam community leader José Gómez of ACODET

In the lead-up to our fall speaking tour, "How to Stop a Dam with Indigenous Resistance,"  NISGUA sat down with José Gómez, Maya Mam community leader and member of the Association of Communities for Development and the Defense of Land and Natural Resources (ACODET), to discuss the importance of [...]

2019-12-25T00:57:30+00:00September 24th, 2018|Defense of life and territory, Tour|

Political Crisis Unfolds in Guatemala: A timeline

Featured photo credit: La Hora GT For weeks, Guatemala has made international headlines after President Jimmy Morales announced his government will not renew the mandate for the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), an independent anti-corruption body that has had significant impact in the country since [...]

Guatemala’s Highest Court Orders Tahoe’s Escobal Mine to Remain Suspended

Press Release September 4, 2018 Earthworks * MiningWatch Canada * Projet Accompagnement Québec-Guatemala * Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala * Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network Late Monday night, the Guatemalan Constitutional Court ruled that [US-Canadian owned] Tahoe Resources’ Escobal mine will remain suspended while the Ministry [...]

2019-12-27T18:38:56+00:00September 5th, 2018|Defense of life and territory, Escobal|

Solidarity Update: August 2018

News recap: Communities in Huehuetenango call out the Inter-American Development Bank for human rights and environmental violations in Ixquisis; Over 60 international organizations call for an investigation into the murder of environmental activist Estuardo Quevedo; Join NISGUA as an intern in our Bay Area office. This and more in [...]

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