After almost a decade of resistance, a cautious victory has been declared for a Maya community in Guatemala in their fight against a Spanish hydroelectric company attempting to install a dam on their sacred river.
After almost a decade of resistance, a cautious victory has been declared for a Maya community in Guatemala in their fight against a Spanish hydroelectric company attempting to install a dam on their sacred river.
Cultural Survival joins PAYXAIL YAJAWKONOB' CHUJ, AKATEKO, Q'ANJOB'AL, POPTI' (the traditional government of the Chuj, Akateko, Q’anjob’al, and Popti’ Nations) as well as the International Maya League and E
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.
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.
