Past events
Criminalization Threatens Struggles for Justice in Guatemala
Over the past decade in Guatemala, criminalization has increasingly served as a strategy to stifle public participation in civic life. In most cases, Guatemalan authorities have collaborated with both business and military interests to criminalize those who seek justice and fight against impunity. Unending criminalization of Indigenous land defenders Early [...]
Violent Eviction of Xinka Community, Nueva Jerusalen
Nueva Jerusalen homes burned in violent eviction, photo credit: CCDA On the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples - Wednesday, August 9th - police and private security forces attacked the Xinka community of Nueva Jerusalen and ruthlessly burnt people's homes and possessions. Located in Escuintla, the sugar-cane [...]
Cooperant Update: Elections and Land Defense in the Face of Evictions
By Raphael Freston Water is ubiquitous this time of year in San Lucas Tolimán. Streets become streams; fields become swamps. The sky, the silvery sky, feels ever closer and heavier. Fog creeps into every corner, burying San Lucas in one vast cloud. You can see no more than an arm’s [...]
Day 6 & 7 of the Rancho Bejuco Trial: Presentation of witnesses for the defence
The day started with Maya Kaqchikel researcher Aura Cumes' presentation of her expert report on Harassment, Persecution and Displacement in Xesiguan, Rabinal. The report examined the Achi people’s experience of Guatemalan military control during the Internal Armed Conflict. Cumes found that the army used the Achi people themselves against their [...]
Xinka Parliament Recognized with Prestigious Human Rights Award
The Xinka Parliament accepts the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation's Human Rights Award, photo credit: Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation On June 6, the Xinka Parliament was awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation's annual Human Rights Award. The award honors human rights defenders who face oppression [...]
Guatemala Votes with Memory: Surprising Outcomes in First Round of Presidential Elections
Guatemalan presidential elections took place on Sunday. Hopes were low in the lead-up given a slate of far-right candidates backed by the Pacto de Corruptos (Covenant of the Corrupt), high-level bribery accusations, months of rival presidential candidates’ exclusions from the race, and a context of ever-increasing repression and criminalization. But [...]