Luis Pacheco and Hectór Chaclán criminalized for their role in protecting democracy. Photo credit: Meme Solano via Prensa Comunitaria

In its latest attack on Indigenous Peoples’ collective organizing and democracy itself, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) unjustly arrested Luis Pacheco and Héctor Chaclán, the former president and former treasurer of the 48 Cantones of Totonicapán. The MP has also tried to remove immunity from Sololá governor, Edgar Tuy, former Ancestral Authority of Sololá, in order to pursue a case against him. In a sealed case, the MP has accused Pacheco, Chaclán, and other Indigenous Authorities of serious charges including terrorism, sedition, and illicit association (a charge which is meant to be used against organized crime).

In 2023, the Pact of the Corrupt attempted to steal the election from current president Bernardo Arévalo through threats and criminalization. Indigenous communities from across the country came together to reject election theft. They organized months of tireless protests and peaceful encampments, refusing to allow political, military, and economic elites to use a corrupted justice system to subvert the will of the people.

Now, more than a year and a half after Indigenous Authorities successfully began the mass mobilization that allowed for a peaceful transition of power, the MP is exacting revenge against Indigenous communities for their collective organization. While criminalization of Indigenous community leaders and rights defenders is nothing new for the MP under current Public Prosecutor Consuelo Porras, the use of terrorism charges to criminalize leaders ratchets up the attacks against peaceful, democratic expression. Furthermore, the ongoing use of sealed cases subverts leaders’ abilities to defend themselves against spurious charges.

In light of the above, BTS:

  1. Expresses solidarity with all of the Indigenous Authorities and communities who showed up day after day and put their bodies and their lives on the line to protect democracy.
  2. Condemns the ongoing cooptation of the justice system and the use of criminalization to silence dissent. 
  3. Calls on the Guatemalan government and the international community to take immediate action to protect the rights of Indigenous Authorities and communities defending democracy and individual and collective rights.