On July 22nd, Rubén’s life partner, feminist leader Alba Cecilia, launched Rubén’s second book, ¿Cómo olvidar a las memorias olvidadas? or How to forget the forgotten memories? You can watch the livestream of the launch in Spanish at www.facebok.com/MadreSelvaColectivo. [Español abajo] Dear NISGUA community, In moments of grief, as in [...]
Three hundred community members organized by the ADH took over the Mesiilla check point on the Guatemala-Mexico border on August 9, protesting the "third safe country" agreement, systemic impunity & the invasion of their territories by extractive industry. Photo Credit: Departmental Assembly of Peoples of Huehuetenango (ADH) [...]
Rubén walks between a line of police and protestors outside the Huehuetenango city government building. On this day, Rubén and the ADH led a march against the ACAs and the militarization of Huehuetenango by the U.S. military. [español abajo] NISGUA joins comrades across Guatemala and the [...]
Original article posted on CMI-Guatemala in Spanish on August 11, 2015. Written by Alba Cecilia Mérida Translation by NISGUA On August 8, beneath the energy and protection of Kawok - symbolizing the strength of unity and wisdom - hundreds of women, men, boys, girls, youth, and the elderly gathered [...]
Last month, Los Angeles communities kicked off our summer of grassroots organizing and celebration with the first “house party” of the season hosted by the inspiring collective and cultural space, Eastside Cáfe in El Sereno. Local organizers came together with LA cultural performers and families to celebrate the 10-year [...]
"This is all of our struggle. Who doesn't breathe this air? Who doesn't drink this water? Who doesn't feel the rays of the shining sun on their face? Standing up for life - this is my husband's crime. How many of our brothers and sisters have given their lives [...]
Last month, Cecilia Mérida testified at the World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C. about the damage being inflicted by the Bank's financing of the Cambalam hydroelectric dam in the municipality of Barillas, Huehuetenango. She testified to the strategies of criminalization being employed by the Guatemalan government and the [...]
Since 2011, communities in northern Huehuetenango have organized more than 50 peaceful protests and dozens of community referenda in which they have actively expressed their opposition to the expansion of hydroelectric dams and other megaprojects in their territories. This demonstration of community strength and self-determination has been met with [...]
Posted on March 2, 2015 by ACOGUATE Translation by NISGUA Detained and awaiting trial since August 27, 2013, natural resource defenders Saúl Méndez and Antonio Rogelio Velásquez of Santa Cruz Barillas were recently sentenced to 33 years and four months in prison. They were found guilty of being accomplices [...]
Tired of being ignored and disrespected by the Guatemalan government, and determined to halt a hydroelectric project approved without their free, prior and informed consent, the men and women of Santa Cruz Barillas founded the peaceful blockade, Nuevo Amanecer on April 6, 2013. Nuevo Amanecer, or New Dawn, is [...]
On Tuesday, August 27, Saúl Aurelio Méndez Muñoz and Antonio Rogelio Velásquez López, community leaders opposed to the imposition of the Cambalam hydroelectric project, operated by Hidro Santa Cruz, property of Spanish company Hidralia S.A., were arrested outside of a Guatemala City courthouse. Saúl and Antonio had traveled to [...]
Rubén Herrera and Cecilia Mérida moments after Rubén was liberated. Yesterday, Rubén Herrera, unjustly imprisoned since March 15 for his resistance to the Cambalam hydro-electric project, was released from custody and cleared of all charges in one of two legal processes against him. The second process (176-2011) dating back [...]
Rubén Herrera of the ADH Photo: James Rodríguez, mimundo.orgSign the petition condemning the capture of Rubén Herrera and calling for his immediate release. Since Friday, March 15, human rights defender and member of the Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango for the Defense of Natural Resources (ADH), Rubén Herrera, has been unjustly [...]
URGENT COMMUNIQUE from the Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango in Defense of Territory (ADH) *Official Translation by NISGUA Spanish below It is with great concern that we share the unfortunate news that today, March 15, at 7:30 in the morning, Rubén Herrera, a member of the coordination of the ADH, [...]