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 [...]

2023-09-25T21:47:20-04:00September 25th, 2023|Current Events in Guate|

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 [...]

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 [...]

2023-06-28T17:19:23-04:00June 28th, 2023|Defense of Territory, General blog|

Cooperant Update: As Seasons Change, the CCDA Builds Soil, Power, and Land Defense Cases

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 [...]

Concerns Abound as Guatemalan Elections Approach

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 [...]

2023-04-15T20:53:38-04:00April 15th, 2023|Current Events in Guate|

Seventy years after land reform promise, Indigenous Guatemalans struggle for land rights

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, [...]

2022-06-17T11:18:15-04:00June 17th, 2022|Defense of Territory, Human security|
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