Statement from gathering of land defenders from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras

Organizers from the Departmental Assembly of the Peoples of Huehuetenango (ADH) attended a gathering of land defenders from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Read their shared statement demanding protection of water, land, and communities, as well as a reflection from a NISGUA Internacionalista: Watching the U.S. election results come [...]

Accompanier perspectives: Exile & Mountain

Ethan, Internacionalista 2024, wrote this letter on October 9th, 2024 after a visit to ex-political prisoners in Huehuetenango. The Cuchumatanes mountains stretch 400 kilometers across the departments of Huehuetenango and Quiché in northwest Guatemala, the tallest non-volcanic mountain range in all of Central America. The name might [...]

2024-11-18T23:25:09+00:00November 18th, 2024|Accompanier Perspectives|

COMUNICADO PÚBLICO DE LOS PUEBLOS ORIGINARIOS DE HUEHUETENANGO

De manera urgente, La Asamblea Departamental de los Pueblos de Huehuetenango ADH, nos hemos declarado en sesión permanente; analizando la situación preocupante de la Comunidad de Triunfo de Champerico Retalhuleu. En este momento la comunidad está bajo atropellos, amenazas de Energuate y luego coordinado con las fuerzas represivas del [...]

THE ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT AND THE DEFENSE OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES – ACODET- IN ITS THIRTEENTH REGULAR GENERAL ASSEMBLE, BEFORE THE PUBLIC OPINION

WE EXPRESS: We, the indigenous authorities, the ancestral cocodes authorities, women’s committees from the different indigenous communities of Ixcan, Cobán and Uspantan that compose the Association of Communities for Development and the Defense of Land and Natural Resources – ACODET- assembled today in the Q’eqchi Xalala indigenous community [...]

Plurinational Government clarifies facts of February 2020 incidents in Ixquisis

Dams already under construction in Ixquisis are visible from the river bank despite the communities' ongoing resistance against the imposition of mega-projects in their territories. Note of clarification: We reject all attempts to link us to supposed criminal acts On February 29, 2020, certain corporate communications media, [...]

2020-04-23T17:06:28+00:00April 22nd, 2020|Defense of life and territory, Huehuetenango|

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: 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 [...]

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|

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 [...]

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 [...]

Boletín de ACOGUATE: julio-agosto 2018

En este boletín el equipo de ACOGUATE hace un análisis histórico del caso Las Dos Erres y da actualizaciones sobre un caso por violencia sexual, el estatus de defensorxs criminalizadxs en Huehuetenango y la lucha del pueblo Ch’orti’ de Morola. ¡Haz clic en la foto abajo para leer más! [...]

2018-12-25T18:25:46+00:00September 1st, 2018|Boletín de ACOGUATE|

2018 Speaking Tour: How to Stop a Dam with Indigenous Resistance

In these times of intensifying repression and political upheaval, our social movements urgently need to share concrete lessons and strategies for organizing to defend land and life. The Latin American solidarity movement has a powerful contribution to make in strengthening global justice struggles by facilitating direct exchange between leaders [...]

2018-10-31T21:46:26+00:00July 29th, 2018|Defense of life and territory, Tour, Xalalá Dam|

Boletín de ACOGUATE: mayo-junio 2018

En este boletín el equipo de ACOGUATE da actualizaciones sobre las luchas de la resistencia pacífica en Ixquisis, FAMDEGUA y CONAVIGUA. También cuenta sobre la visita de la relatora especial de las Naciones Unidas sobre los Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas en Guatemala. ¡Haz clic en la foto abajo [...]

2018-12-25T18:21:00+00:00July 1st, 2018|Boletín de ACOGUATE|

Solidarity Update: January 2018

News recap: We're ready for 2018 with a new cohort of GAP volunteers; NISGUA Local: Building connections between global movements to defend life and territory;  Members of the AJR denounce ongoing racism as they continue their search for justice for genocide; plaintiff organizations to take Military Zone 21 case [...]

Movements resisting resource extraction are being met with targeted violence

Over the last several decades, transnational resource extraction companies have flocked to Central America. Licenses to construct hydroelectric dams, exploit minerals, or build the necessary infrastructure to make these types of projects possible are being granted by national governments in the region at an alarming rate. With little transparency, [...]

Caravan traveling to Huehuetenango celebrates the freedom of ancestral and community authorities

On July 30, 2016, seven ancestral and community authorities from northern Huehuetenango began their journey back home after being held as political prisoners. All of the men were held for over a year – one for over three – on charges related to community protests opposing hydroelectric dams imposed [...]

2019-12-27T18:15:09+00:00August 26th, 2016|Defense of life and territory, Huehuetenango|

“Caravan for Dignity” testifies to human rights violations in Huehuetenango

The following is a press release issued by the Departmental Assembly of the Peoples of Huehuetenango (ADH), together with other organizations who accompanied the "Caravan for dignity, resistance, and freedom for political prisoners from northern Huehuetenango." NISGUA joined the Caravan as international observers, documenting testimony of communities in the [...]

2019-12-27T18:58:44+00:00April 26th, 2016|Defense of life and territory, Huehuetenango|

Caravan for Dignity: for the resistance and freedom of political prisoners from northern Huehuetenango

This article was written by Gustavo Illescas and originally posted in Spanish on CMI-Guatemala. Translation by NISGUA.  Under the motto “We are all northern Huehuetenango,” the Departmental Assembly of the Peoples of Huehuetenango (ADH) joined civil society organizations and community authorities on a caravan that left the municipality of Huehuetenango [...]

2020-01-01T21:26:48+00:00April 7th, 2016|Defense of life and territory, Huehuetenango|

Civil society organisations in America and Europe condemn the murder of Berta Cáceres, Lenca indigenous leader and human rights defender

March 4, 2016. The signatory networks and organisations who support the defence of human rights in Honduras, condemn the murder of Lenca indigenous leader Berta Cáceres, coordinator of the Civic Council of Grassroots and Indigenous Organisations in Honduras (Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras – COPINH), [...]

2019-12-27T18:45:04+00:00March 4th, 2016|Defense of life and territory|

Political prisoners Saúl Méndez and Rogelio Velásquez finally released!

We celebrate the release yesterday of Saúl Méndez and Rogelio Velásquez, two community leaders wrongly convicted of homicide in a 2014 trial plagued with irregularities. Saúl and Rogelio were sentenced to 33 years in prison, despite major holes in the prosecution's evidence linking them to the murder. After winning a [...]

2019-12-27T18:16:47+00:00January 15th, 2016|Defense of life and territory, Huehuetenango|

“We know this will come to an end” – Interview with the son of a political prisoner

Original interview posted on CMI-Guatemala and written by Gustavo Illescas. Translated and edited for clarity by NISGUA.  Bernardo López Samayoa talks about the strength of his mother, Priscila Samayoa, and the role that Bernardo Ermitaño López Reyes - better known as Don Taño - has played as his father. Don Taño [...]

2019-12-25T01:17:05+00:00January 14th, 2016|Defense of life and territory|

Land defenders Saúl Méndez and Rogelio Velásquez absolved of all charges but remain in prison

On October 28, 2015, a Quetzaltenango Femicide Tribunal unanimously voted to absolve political prisoners Saúl Méndez and Rogelio Velásquez of the crimes of femicide and homicide. The Tribunal rejected every single witness presented by the prosecution and questioned the political motives behind the Public Prosecutor's decision to begin investigation [...]

2019-12-27T18:16:59+00:00November 25th, 2015|Defense of life and territory, Huehuetenango|

Take Action: Call on the U.S. Embassy to stand up for political prisoners Saúl and Rogelio

On September 1, Barillas land defenders Saúl Méndez and Rogelio Velásquez will stand trial again for accessory to murder. Citing serious irregularities and major errors in the initial trial earlier this year that condemned both men to 33 years and 4 months in prison, a Special Appeals court ruled [...]

2019-12-27T18:17:16+00:00August 19th, 2015|Defense of life and territory, Huehuetenango|

Civil Society Organizations Speak Out on US Central America Plan

Honorable: President Barack Obama, President Otto Pérez Molina President Juan Orlando Hernández President Salvador Sánchez Cerén, President Enrique Peña Nieto We, the undersigned civil society organizations and groups, wish to address you as your meetings begin at the Summit of the Americas in Panama to express our urgent concerns about [...]

2019-12-27T18:45:41+00:00April 10th, 2015|Defense of life and territory|

One more political prisoner: Rigoberto Juárez, land defender

Written by Nelton Rivera Translated by NISGUA Read original piece in Spanish here. [Yesterday] Rigoberto Juárez Mateo was arbitrarily detained and became another political prisoner held by the state of Guatemala. Rigoberto Juárez is a representative of the Plurinational Government (Gobierno Plurinacional) of the Q'anjob'al, Chuj, [...]

2019-12-27T18:19:49+00:00March 25th, 2015|Defense of life and territory, Huehuetenango|

Uncertainty around the Xalalá Hydroelectric Project

Posted on February 28, 2015 by ACOGUATE Translation by NISGUA On November 7, 2013, the National Electrification Institute (Instituto Nacional de Electrificación, INDE) signed an Emergency Purchase contract with the Brazilian company Intertechne Consultores, S.A. to conduct the geotechnical, seismic, geological and geophysical feasibility studies for the Xalalá dam, [...]

2019-12-27T18:59:20+00:00March 17th, 2015|Defense of life and territory, Xalalá Dam|

Reflections on the “Rivers for Life: Cultural Resistance to the Xalalá Dam” fall speaking tour

Tour speaker, Víctor Caal Tzuy, shows NISGUA's Rivers for Life solidarity banner to ACODET members from Las Margaritas Copón. The goals for the 2014 NISGUA speaking tour were much like those which have guided us during our 33 years as a human rights, solidarity organization: amplify Guatemalan voices and [...]

2017-12-08T22:13:43+00:00November 3rd, 2014|Defense of life and territory, Tour|

NISGUA Fall Tour 2014

FULL ITINERARY: SEATTLE, WA.; OCTOBER 2-6 Area Contact Phil Neff: phil.neff@gmail.com OCTOBER 2 Seattle University, 1:30-2:30pm 901 12th Avenue Bannan Building, Room 102 Seattle, WA 98122 Traditions Fair Trade Café; 7-8:30pm $5-15 Sliding Donation 300 5th Avenue SW Olympia, WA 98501 OCTOBER 3 Duwamish Longhouse & Cultural Center, 5:00pm [...]

2018-01-11T20:14:15+00:00September 18th, 2014|Tour, Xalalá Dam|

Center for Independent Media denounces attacks following its coverage of violence in Alta Verapaz

Below is NISGUA's translation of a press release by Guatemala's Center for Independent Media (CMI-G) regarding attacks suffered as a result of its coverage of the violent eviction of communities opposing the imposition of mega-projects in Alta Verapaz. For the original version in Spanish click here. CMI denounces attacks [...]

2019-12-27T19:01:50+00:00September 1st, 2014|Defense of life and territory, Xalalá Dam|

Accusations of anomalies and corruption place contract for Xalalá Dam studies in question

Following the "emergency contract" for geological feasibility studies signed between Guatemala's National Electrification Institute (INDE) and Brazilian company Intertechne Consultores S.A. last November, communities organized against the Xalalá Dam publicized the controversial transaction and undertook strategic meetings in Guatemala City to draw attention to the contract. One Congressman and [...]

2018-01-12T08:51:59+00:00April 11th, 2014|Xalalá Dam|
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