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: 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 [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]

Smear campaign launched against opponents to Tahoe Resources’ Escobal project, after mine licenses suspended

The following article was co-written by MiningWatch Canada and the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA).  Following the suspension of two of Tahoe Resources’ mine licenses in Guatemala on July 5, Tahoe Resources’ suppliers, workers and the Guatemalan Industrial Association have engaged in a smear campaign [...]

2017-12-08T21:14:48+00:00July 18th, 2017|Defense of life and territory, Escobal|

Solidarity Update: May 2017

News recap: Motions filed against former Constitutional Court judges for breach of duty in overturning the genocide verdict; Ríos Montt to stand trial for genocide for his role in the Dos Erres massacre; Accompanier perspective: "As You Come Home: Immigration, Reunion, and the Continuity of Power"; Thousands respond to action [...]

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, [...]

Repression of communities defending their rights in the Ixquisis Region, San Mateo Ixtatán, Huehuetenango

On January 17, 2017, community members from the Ixquisis region, located in northern Huehuetenango, held a demonstration against the construction of three hydroelectric projects by the company Promoción y Desarrollos Hídricos, Sociedad Anónima (PDH, SA). That afternoon, representatives of the National Civil Police, PDH S.A.'s private security, and forest rangers, all armed, [...]

2019-12-27T17:18:13+00:00January 17th, 2017|Defense of life and territory, Huehuetenango|

Murder of Young Assistant from Guatemalan Environmental Organization is Evidence of Escalating Risk to Human Rights Defenders

November 16, 2016 (Ottawa/Toronto/Vancouver/Reno/Washington/Guatemala) North American organizations are dismayed and deeply troubled by the execution-style murder of 22 year-old Jeremy Abraham Barrios Lima, assistant to the director of the Guatemalan Centre for Legal, Environmental and Social Action (CALAS), on Saturday in Guatemala City. A group of Canadian and US [...]

2019-12-27T18:39:20+00:00November 16th, 2016|Defense of life and territory, Escobal|

Hundreds sign on to Solidarity Statement with Women Defenders and All Defending Water, Land, Life and Territory

International Solidarity with Women Defenders and All Defending Water, Land, Life and Territory September 29, 2016 We, the undersigned, express our solidarity with Angelica Choc and family after gunshots were fired against her home on Friday, September 16, 2016. The attack occurred just after midnight. Four bullets impacted the walls [...]

2019-12-27T18:44:23+00:00September 26th, 2016|Defense of life and territory|

Organizations call for full investigation into murder of Daniel Choc Pop (CCDA)

Jimmy Morales Cabrera, President of the Republic of Guatemala, Thelma Aldana, Attorney General and Head of the Public Prosecutor's Office Carlos Moran, Secretary for Agrarian Affairs - SAA Mario Estuardo Mendez Cobar, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food - MAGA Francisco Rivas Lara, Minister of the Interior General Manager, [...]

2019-12-27T18:44:33+00:00July 7th, 2016|Defense of life and territory|

Shooting attack in Mataquescuintla, Jalapa, against opponents of Tahoe Resources’ Escobal mine

Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) – Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network (BTS) – MiningWatch Canada – Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) – Projet Accompagnement Québec Guatemala (PAQG) (Guatemala/Ottawa/Washington/Tatamagouche) Fifty-five international organizations are calling for an investigation into the second armed attack in as many years [...]

2019-12-27T18:40:48+00:00November 2nd, 2015|Defense of life and territory, Escobal|

Take Action: Anti-mining activist shot for the second time

On Saturday, October 17, armed assailants shot at six people in Mataquescuintla, Jalapa, Guatemala, where communities have organized in peaceful resistance to Tahoe Resources’ Escobal mine project. Among those injured was Alex Reynoso, an environmental defender and member of the Mataquescuintla mining resistance movement in southeastern Guatemala. Alex remains [...]

2019-12-27T18:48:54+00:00November 2nd, 2015|Defense of life and territory, Escobal|

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|

Guatemalan organizations respond to the expulsion of two volunteers with Peace Brigades International (PBI)

On July 1, 2014, Guatemalan officials revoked the temporary residence permits of two human rights accompaniers with Peace Brigades International. In response to their expulsion, the Convergence for Human Rights (Convergencia por los Derechos Humanos), a network of Guatemalan social, environmental, human rights, feminist, campesino and territorial defense organizations [...]

Sixteen-year old girl murdered in continued violence associated with Tahoe Resources’ mine, Canada Pension Plan urged to divest

(Ottawa/Toronto) A sixteen year old Guatemalan girl, Topacio Reynoso, was murdered on April 13, 2014 near her home town of Mataquescuintla, Guatemala where she was head of a youth movement against mining. Her father, a leader in organizing a municipal vote on the mine, was shot in the same [...]

2019-12-27T18:42:19+00:00May 8th, 2014|Defense of life and territory, Escobal|

Urgent communique denouncing assassination of Santos Fidel Ajau Suret, member of La Puya encampment

On Tuesday, July 9, Santos Fidel Ajau Suret, a member of the ongoing peaceful resistance at La Puya, was assassinated. The MadreSelva Collective released the following communique denouncing his assassination. Translation by NISGUA, in Spanish here.  Urgent Communique We denounce the cowardly assassination of Santos Fidel Ajau Suret, activist [...]

2019-12-27T18:29:26+00:00July 12th, 2013|Defense of life and territory, La Puya|
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