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 [...]
Seven lay catechists and three priests murdered four decades ago in Quiché were beatified by the Roman Catholic Church on April 21, 2021. Among them was Fr. Juan Alonso (right), a Spanish missionary priest who served the parish in Lancetillo. Second in a series by Jim Hodgson Read [...]
President Arbenz achieves: ‘Farmer, here is your land. Defend it, care for it, cultivate it.’” (C.P.R. Urbana from LIFE magazine). President Jacobo Arbenz (Cubadebate). Bitter Fruit tells the story of the 1954 coup. Tanks in front of the National Palace after the coup (TeleSUR). Seventy years after land reform promise, [...]
By Laura Robinson and María Reyes The court room in Puerto Barrios where Maria Cuc Choc's trial was held. Photo Credits: Laura Robinson On April 21st, 2022, BTS accompanied María Cuc Choc, who for the past 16 years has dedicated her life to defending the land and [...]
During the first quarter of 2022, several former justice officials have been arrested, including Leyly Santizo, former employee of the International Commission Against Impunity (CICIG), and Siomara Sosa, former prosecutor of the Special Prosecutor's Office against Impunity (FECI). According to the Attorney General’s Office (MP), this is part of an [...]
The Canada brand has a human rights problem For years, Canadian multinationals have been implicated in serious human rights abuses and environmental damage around the globe. The communities and workers who suffer these harms are often unable to access justice or remedy, while human rights and environmental defenders [...]
Abner Peréz giving certificates of appreciation to organizations and individuals who have supported the CCDA during the past four decades. On March 1st, 2022, the Highland Committee of Small Farmers (CCDA) held a National Assembly to celebrate their 40th anniversary. To commemorate four decades of fighting [...]
(Street art depicting the violent reprisal against the Maya Q’eqchi’ communities of El Estor. Including the peaceful Indigenous mining resistance who faced violent reprisal of state forces, including the use of tear gas and the Maya Q’eqchi’ community of Chinebal, El Estor, who experienced the theft of their ancestral [...]
Meeting at the CCDA's office, holding publications of the CCDA's 2nd national agrarian congress. By: Lisa Rankin Last week, I had the opportunity to travel to Lake Atitlan and visit BTS’s partners, the Highland Small Farmers Committee (CCDA) and the Mesoamerican Institute for Permaculture (IMAP). One of [...]
Leocadio Jurcan of the CCDA, the Xinka Parliament, congress representative Aldo Davila of the Semilla bank, and students, before the Presidential Home in Guatemala City at a press conference to call upon Indigenous peoples from across the Guatemalan territory to join the National Strike July 26th and demand the resignation [...]
