Life is difficult for the rural campesinos of Guatemala, but a set of neoliberal laws working its way through the Guatemalan congress will make life far more difficult. However, the coalition that defeated the Monsanto Law in the country has taken on this fight, and organized protests to demand for laws that assist rural farmers, not hurt them.
The Indigenous people of Guatemala have just lived through another massacre in their territories, which has led to the declaration of another state of emergency by the government of Otto Pérez Molina. The acts of violence started on the evening of September 19th, when, according to the communities, armed actors entered their territories and identified themselves as workers with Cementos Progreso, they opened fire and killed a member of the community delegation that was in the area, killing him.
“The government has declared us terrorists, but we’re not the terrorists,” said Telma Cabrera, a Committee for Campesino Development representative. “When they (the government) responds to the demands of the people, they respond with violence. And what peace is there when the government responds with violence?”
On September 4th, after ten days of widespread street protests against the biotech giant Monsanto’s expansion into Guatemalan territory, groups of indigenous people joined by social movements, trade unions and farmer and women’s organizations won a victory when congress finally repealed the legislation that had been approved in June.
Francisca was an eye-witness to and survivor of the Chixoy Dam/ Rio Negro massacres, while Brenda was a child of survivors. The Guatemalan military massacred over 440 villagers from the Mayan Achi village of Rio Negro in 1982. Thirty-two years later, two more Mayan Achi women from Rio Negro were brutally killed, caused indirectly, but in effect by the violently imposed Chixoy hydro-electric dam project.
We must unmask false development and challenge the world powers involved … We are under occupation right now. We have been through many types of invasions but this is one where the main actors are transnational corporations.
If former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt’s trial for genocide symbolized an opportunity for the courts in Guatemala to rid themselves of their history of gag rules and the annulment of proceedings, then the virtual dismissal of Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz was the old order putting its collective foot down and demanding a return to power.
On July 18, 2014, members of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) returned to family members the positively identified remains of ten wartime victims exhumed from the former Military Garrison in San Juan Comalapa between 2003 and 2005. All ten victims, Kakchiquel Mayans whose DNA matched that of living family members, were buried in the municipal cemetery the following day.
A Guatemalan court ruled in favor of the indigenous people of the municipality of Sipacapa over transnational mining in the area. The court says the Guatemalan government must respect the right to information and consultation with the local population before granting any kind of mining permits. […]
Current migration trends are inextricably linked to the legacy of Guatemala’s internal armed conflict. The long-term legacy of state-sponsored violence has contributed to family and community disintegration, high rates of generalized violence, out-migration, and a myriad of related social problems.
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