Monday, June 12, 2023 Written by María Photos of the victims from the massacre of Rancho Bejuco posted on the wall surrounding the cemetery in Rabinal, BV. (Photo Credits: Verdad y Justicia) First Expert Witness Describes Military Structure, Campaigns and Chain of Command On the second day of [...]
Wednesday, June 7, 2023 Written by Lisa A monument at the Rabinal cemetery honors the Rancho Bejuco massacre victims. Photo credit: Lisa Rankin Today, the High Risk Court D's three judge panel opened the trial for the Rancho Bejuco case in Guatemala City. The trial is for the [...]
The Rabinal Community Legal Clinic (ABJP). Photo credit: Sabrina Jeria By: Sabrina Jeria, a cooperant with the Rabinal Community Legal Clinic Ongoing Threats to the Struggle for Justice Almost every day, a new headline demonstrates the ongoing dismantling of the rule of law and the erosion of Guatemala’s [...]
Members of the CCDA and BTS travel to Macho Creek to learn community members' ties to the land. Photo credit: Raphael Freston By: Raphael Freston, a cooperant with the Highlands Small Farmers Committee (CCDA) Shifting Seasons Come April, fireflies flit through San Lucas Tolimán at dawn. Community members [...]
By Jim Hodgson After a drenching ride along Guatemala’s Atlantic coast from the city of Livingston, our boat approached Macho Creek. It’s a small, mangrove-lined river that leads inland to the Indigenous Q’eqchi’ community also known as Macho Creek. This day, March 21, the river was overflowing its banks [...]
By Jim Hodgson For someone who thinks of coffee stains as what you get because of a loose lid at Tim’s, the night we joined coffee farmers near Lake Atitlán to unload their truckload of freshly-picked and still very fleshy coffee was novel. The fruit at this stage is like [...]
Guatemala will hold presidential, congressional, and municipal elections on Sunday, June 25. The outgoing administration, led by President Alejandro Giammattei, has been marked by corruption scandals, the dismantling of judicial and accountability systems, the criminal prosecution of judges, prosecutors, and journalists, and the ever-increasing criminalization of land defenders and entire [...]
photo credit: RudaGT Former anti-corruption prosecutor Virginia Laparra Rivas faced another hearing date today. The court was considering Laparra's release from detention. Laparra, who formerly worked with the Special Prosecutor's Office against Impunity (FECI), has been arbitrarily detained since February 2022. For the sixth time, court magistrates dismissed [...]
The Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network (BTS) invites you to attend our 2023 Annual Gathering, Solidarity in a Time of Crisis. We are so pleased that we are now able to reconnect in person with a BTS partner, Jesús Tecú Osorio, founder of the Rabinal Community Legal Clinic and the New Hope [...]
By Jim Hodgson An Indigenous Xinca community on the Pacific coast, south of the Guatemalan capital, has the support of a Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking The Silence Network (BTS) partner in its effort to remain on their land. The 53 families of Nueva Jerusalén (New Jerusalem) have the backing of the Comité [...]
