Accompaniment and Cooperant Program
Since 1990, Breaking the Silence has engaged Maritimers and people across Canada in solidarity work through on-the-ground accompaniment and presence with our partners in Guatemala. Ranging from short and long-term internships, cooperant placements, delegations, human rights accompaniment, and in-country presence of BTS staff, our solidarity efforts support the work of partners in Guatemala while increasing the capacity of Maritimers and other Canadians to become more conscientious and active organizers for social justice at home and abroad.
For several years after the end of our internship programs in 2013, our in-person support to partners in Guatemala took the form of in-country staffing and short-term delegations. In 2019, at the request of our partners, BTS recognized that a fundamental aspect of our solidarity needed to include a significant presence of Canadians in Guatemala. As a response, we launched a two-year pilot Cooperant Program to bring a cohort of highly qualified individuals from across the Maritimes (and across Canada) to Guatemala for short and long-term human rights and community development placements. Under the coordination of a full-time Lead Cooperant, the program brought several Cooperants to Guatemala to support our partners’ work on truth, justice, and impunity, defense of territory, and human security, including mining justice.
In 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, BTS was forced to suspend its Cooperant placements in Guatemala and shifted gears to strengthening virtual solidarity and accompaniment efforts. However, we were pleased to restart the in-person Cooperant Program in Guatemala in January 2023 and look forward to continuing to welcome new Cooperants in alignment with the requests and interest of our partners.
Report-backs from previous accompaniers and cooperants
Cooperant update: A Meditation on Justice and Memory in Rabinal
Cooperant update: A Meditation on Justice and Memory in Rabinal By: Marina Luro, Rabinal Community Legal Clinic Cooperant Since arriving at the Rabinal Community Legal Clinic (ABJP), I have frequently reflected on what justice means. In Canadian law schools, and I imagine law schools in most of the Global North, [...]
Intern update: Finding Justice, Learning Peace.
BTS Intern, Cristi at her "despedida lunch" with the team at the Rabinal Community Legal Clinic (ABJP). Intern update: Finding Justice, Learning Peace. As I transition back to life in Canada after finishing my placement at the Rabinal Community Legal Clinic (ABJP), memories of people, places, and events [...]
Intern update: Reflections on my time at IMAP
BTS Intern, Georgia working at the IMAP offices in San Lucas Tolíman. Intern update: Reflections on my time at IMAP ~ reverse culture shock and how you can get to know a person through translating their words (not in that order) When I began what affectionately became known [...]
An offering to the respected fire and to the ancestors: Honouring the lives of those who came before us
An offering to the respected fire and to the ancestors: Honouring the lives of those who came before us By Javier Every March 13th, in the area called Pak’oxom in the community of Río Negro, community members, students, activists, spiritual leaders known as Ajq’ijab’, and elders gather to commemorate the [...]
Intern update: Río Negro Presente: Honouring the lives of family members lost at the hands of the state
Río Negro Presente: Honouring the lives of family members lost at the hands of the state By: Cristina Jerez, Rabinal Community Legal Clinic Intern On March 13 1982, the Guatemalan army and Civil Defense Patrollers (PAC) murdered 177 innocent people from the community of Río Negro. 43 years later, the [...]
Intern update: We remember so that it does not happen again
We remember so that it does not happen again By: Cristina Jerez, Rabinal Community Legal Clinic Intern In February 1982, a group of armed men set fire to the market in Xococ and killed five people. The Guatemalan army associated this event with the guerrilla and the community of [...]