Thousands of indigenous farmers protested in Guatemala City on March 30 against the new federal administration whose campaign promises--including land reform, better social services, and equality for the country’s indigenous population--have yet to be addressed. Congress responded to the protesters’ demands with a public statement promising indigenous peoples greater access to land and the creation of an agrarian institution to assure legal protection over communal indigenous land. The protest also served to commemorate the state’s signing of the Global Agreement of Human Rights in 1994 and the Agreement for the Identity and Rights of the Indigenous Communities of Guatemala in 1995.
