ACTIVE: Community Consultations

Community Consultations: A model of resistance under attack in Guatemala

A bill currently before Guatemalan Congress seeks to co-opt the consultation process and violate the rights of indigenous communities to free, prior, and informed consent. Add your voice in calling on the Guatemalan government to respect the results of community-organized consultations.

Three ways to take action:

1. Print out the postcard and mail it to NISGUA’s office for delivery

2. Read more about the incredible role that consultations play in community organizing to protect land, life, and self-determination

3. Sign the extended action! Petition available here.

Photo: Graham Hunt

Download a postcard

Additional reading about community consultations

3March, 2014

ACODET denuncia un intento de militarizar las comunidades que resisten la construcción de la represa Xalalá

Según el contrato firmado secretamente entre el Instituto Nacional de Electrificación (INDE) y la empresa brasileña Intertechne Consultores S.A., los estudios de factibilidad para la represa Xalalá debería comenzar en marzo de 2014. Las comunidades organizadas en defensa de su territorio, que por muchos años han luchado en contra [...]

3March, 2014

ACODET denounces attempt to militarize communities opposing Xalalá dam

According to a secret contract signed between Guatemala's National Electrification Institute (INDE) and Brazilian Intertechne Consultores S.A., geological studies necessary to begin construction on the Xalalá dam are to begin in March 2014. Communities organized in defense of territory, who have opposed the dam's construction for years, denounced the [...]

27February, 2014

Guatemala commemorates victims and 15 year anniversary of truth commission

February 25 marks the annual Day of Dignity for Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict in Guatemala. In addition, 15 years ago to the day, the UN-sponsored Historical Clarification Commission presented its "Guatemala: Memory of Silence" report. Twelve volumes in total, the report provides findings from a detailed investigation [...]

20February, 2014

Sipakapa is still not for sale…

Neither are San Rafael Las Flores, Nueva Santa Rosa, Mataquescuintla, Jalapa nor Santa Rosa de Lima. In 2005, the communities of Sipakapa carried out one of the first community consultations on mining in Guatemala, taking a stand against Canadian giant, Goldcorp Inc., and sparking a movement that has resulted [...]

18February, 2014

Pressure to construct Xalalá hydroelectric dam; Local opposition remains strong

The following is a summary of an in-depth report published by ACOGUATE on January 22, 2014 and translated by NISGUA. Read the full report, Pressure to Construct Xalalá Hydroelectric Dam; Local Opposition Remains Strong. Cultivated fields would be flooded by the Xalalá dam. Nearly two years after the Guatemalan [...]

10February, 2014

Organizations denounce high court decision to remove Attorney General Paz y Paz

Guatemalan Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz Photo: Ministerio Público Last week Guatemala's Constitutional Court (CC) emitted a provisional ruling stating that Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz should end her term in May 2014, seven months before schedule. Friday, the CC dismissed an appeal by Paz y Paz [...]