Guatemalan presidential elections Sunday: Social movements confront militarism & neoliberalism
Solidarity Update: July 2019
News Recap: Huehuetenango communities march against militarization, Escalation of tension, threats and defamation against the peaceful resistance to mining in Mataquescuintla, NISGUA Oakland takes action for immigrant justice on Amazon Prime Day, Thank you Becky, David, and Martha; welcome Claire, Meredith, Rafael, and Sarasuadi!
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 [...]
CALDH Statement on Arrest of Fugitive Gen. Luis Enrique Mendoza, Accused of Genocide
As Guatemala held its general elections on June 16, the justice system made an important arrest. They captured retired general Luis Enrique Mendoza in Baja Verapaz, as he went to cast his ballot. Mendoza had been on the run for nearly eight years. Mendoza served as Chief of Operations [...]
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 [...]
Maya Achi Women Speak about Fight for Justice to NISGUA, BTS Networks
Maya Achi Survivor Paulina Ixpata Alvarado and Maya Achi lawyer Gloria Pérez speak about their experiences working for justice. On two warm afternoons in Rabinal, Paulina Ixpata Alvarado and Gloria Pérez joined NISGUA, Breaking the Silence Maritimes Network, and a host of callers from the U.S. [...]
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... [...]
Accompanier Perspectives: Women Seek Justice in Maya Achí Sexual Violence Case
Maya Achi women demanding justice for sexual violence enter the court for a trial date in the case's intermediate phase. Photo credit: ACOGUATE Current accompanier, Tal Netter-Sweet, shares their experience of accompanying Maya Achí women who survived sexual violence committed by civil defense patrols, operating [...]
Solidarity Update: March 2019
News recap: Survivors Achieve Tentative Victory against Proposed Amnesty Law; ACODET Leaders, Indigenous Authorities Hold Press Conference in Defense of Community Consultations; NISGUA and New Mexico State University Organize Indigenous Environmental Leadership Delegation to Guatemala
Accompanier Perspectives: Connecting Struggles for Justice Across Borders
Current NISGUA accompanier Meredith Wilkinson shares the journey that brought her to accompaniment and the lessons she'll take away. She invites others to join NISGUA's cross-border work for justice through the Guatemala Accompaniment Program. If you're interested in being a part of our 2019 Accompanier Cohort, we call on [...]
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 [...]
Four lessons from survivors on the Day of Dignification for Victims
In 1999, the UN-sponsored Commission for Historical Clarification presented its report, Guatemala: Memory of Silence, which documented the crimes the Guatemalan state had committed against its own people during the Internal Armed Conflict. Each year, communities around Guatemala remember what they survived and those they lost on the National [...]
Survivors of State Terror, Organizations Reject Amnesty in Guatemala
Guatemalan partner organizations, including CALDH and HIJ@S, published an open letter denouncing Guatemalan congressional attempts to pass amnesty legislation. The proposed legislation could overturn decades of work for justice, allowing those responsible for crimes against humanity to walk free. The letter rejects these latest attempts to legislate impunity, at the expense [...]
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 [...]
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 in Guatemala: Organizations Call on Embassy, State Department to Support CICIG
The Jimmy Morales administration has brought Guatemala to a technical coup, as it ramps up its attack against the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), in an effort to circumvent corruption investigations. In the midst of this political crisis, human rights and solidarity organizations sent a joint letter [...]
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 [...]
Struggle for Justice for Sexual Violence Continues in Military Zone 21 Case
A survivor of sexual violence waits outside the courtroom for the Military Zone 21 case. Photo Credit: CALDH This article is about Indigenous women seeking justice for systematic sexual violence that was used as a tool of war against them. It contains several explicit descriptions of [...]
In Honor of Jakelin: Demand justice for immigrants and environmental defenders
Jakelin Ameí Rosmery Caal Maquin died on December 6 of septic shock, fever, and dehydration while in US Border Patrol custody. Artist credit: Ruben Guadalupe Marquez Like many of you, we have spent this week reeling with pain from the murder of seven-year-old Jakelin Ameí Rosmery [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
NISGUA Event: Learning from Survivors – A Talk with Edwin Canil
Following the recent ruling in the Ixil genocide case late last month, NISGUA invited its base to reflect on the significance of the decision for members of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) with the organization's president, Edwin Canil. Edwin spoke about survivors' long struggle to break [...]
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. [...]
5 takeaways from the recent genocide trial verdict
We will use this genocide verdict to leave a good tree planted, with strong roots -- the fruits of which will be enjoyed by our children. - Edwin Canil, President of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation, survivor and plaintiff organization On September 26, in a split, 2-1 decision, [...]
Building the case: Military Intelligence is a key component in carrying out acts of genocide
Today, the trial against former Head of Military Intelligence José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez is expected to reach a verdict. As a key player under Efraín Ríos Montt’s 1982-1983 dictatorship in Guatemala, Rodríguez Sánchez stands accused of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Ixil people. Over the past year, [...]
New NISGUA report: 18 years seeking justice in the courts
Next week, a verdict is expected in the retrial of José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, former head of military intelligence under General José Efraín Ríos Montt’s 1982-1983 dictatorship in Guatemala. Rodríguez Sánchez faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for the particular role he played in classifying the entire [...]
Survivors of the Internal Armed Conflict Denounce Current Remilitarization
This morning, survivors of the internal armed conflict held a press conference to denounce remilitarization under President Jimmy Morales' government and call for the renewal of the mandate for the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). Since Jimmy Morales, surrounded by soldiers, held a press conference on August [...]
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 [...]
“Any presumption of his innocence has crumbled. I ask the courts to find Rodríguez Sánchez guilty of genocide.” – Edgar Pérez
"We're motivated to come here - come and listen, to see whether or not there will be justice in Guatemala." Today, the genocide retrial against former head of military intelligence José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez moved into powerful closing arguments, where plaintiffs synthesized key points in the [...]
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 [...]
Solidarity Update: July 2018
News recap: Environmental activist Ángel Estuardo Quevedo killed in a wave of assassinations; Accompanier perspectives on violence at the U.S. border; New NISGUA report: Defending an ancestral decision-making process; Maya Achí women from Rabinal call for justice for sexual violence. This and more in this month's solidarity update. [...]
Volcán de Fuego erupts: Ways you can support
On Sunday, June 3, the Volcán de Fuego erupted and has had catastrophic effects. We have been in touch with our partners, none of whom have been directly affected by the eruption. We're saddened by the immense loss of life and displacement that this disaster has caused, and know [...]
Solidarity Update: May 2018
News recap: VICTORY! Four former military officials found guilty in the historic Molina Theissen trial; Host a summertime community screening of 500 YEARS!; Accompanier perspectives on land, genocide, and gentrification in Guatemala and the U.S.; Security measures restored for the Reynoso Pacheco family. This and more in this month's solidarity update. [...]
“Defending Truth and Memory” – Photo exhibit travels to Las Cruces, New Mexico
Documentary photographer Roderico Y. Diaz talks about the exhibit, “Defending Truth and Memory: The Path Towards Justice in Guatemala,” at the University Museum at Kent Hall on Feb. 1. (Photo by Maggie Adams / Kokopelli) The photo exhibit "Defending Truth and Memory: [...]
The search for justice will not end with the death of Ríos Montt
Three Ixil survivors lift up the 2013 sentence in the last day of the retrial against Ríos Montt, following his death. Photo credit: CALDH On April 1, 2018, former Guatemalan dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt died of a heart attack at the age of 91. In his death, [...]
Statement by genocide survivors on the death of Ríos Montt
On April 1, 2018, former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt died from a heart attack at the age of 91. Having initially been convicted in 2013 of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Ixil people, he died under house arrest facing a retrial. Today, survivors organized with the [...]
Statement by CALDH on the death of Ríos Montt
On Sunday, April 1, 2018, former Guatemalan de facto dictator Efraín Ríos Montt died of a heart attack. At the time of his death, he was being retried for genocide and crimes against humanity, after initially being convicted in 2013. Read the following statement by the Center for Human [...]