In October, I visited the the Q’eqchi’ community of Nimlajacoc to support them in their application for funds from Cultural Survival’s Community Media Grants Project, what I found was an organized community who are a model of Indigenous resilience.
By Anna Hernandez
As recent high profile corruption cases continue to bring worldwide attention to Guatemala’s government and military institutions, other, less-known human rights cases have been overlooked.
Rigoberto Juarez Mateo, a long-time Indigenous community activist from Santa Eulalia, Guatemala was arbitrarily arrested on March 24, 2015 in Guatemala City, while he was denouncing human rights violations against himself and his community. Rigoberto Juarez is a representative of the Pluri-national Government of the Q’anjob’al, Chuj, Akateka, Popti and Mestizo peoples, of Huehuetenango.
Yesterday, on Wednesday, April 20, another community radio, Radio Esperanza: La Vos de lo Nuestro was raided by the public ministry and the Guatemalan national police, who seized all of the radio’s equipment. Radio Esperanza of La Esperanza, Quetzaltenango, member of the network of Asociación Mujb’ ab’l yol: Encuentro de Expresiones, served its community for 14 years, with educational and cultural programs.
The Central American Network of Indigenous Community Radios, which is made up of Indigenous community radio stations from each of the seven countries of Central America (Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama) on March 1, 2016 pronounced their support for Bill 4087, Community Media Law in Guatemala. In a powerful letter, they urge the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala to pass this law in order to fulfill their obligation as a democratic State.
On March 13th to 15th, 2016, Edison Lanza, a journalist and lawyer from Uruguay and now the Organization of American States Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression visited Guatemala where he learned more information on the political situation regarding the legalization of community radio.
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.