Guatemala

2019 Latin America In Review: Year Of The Revolt of the Dispossessed

December 15, 2019 Roger Harris, Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) Educate! Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Latin America, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Venezuela

A year ago, John Bolton, Trump’s short-lived national security advisor, invoked the 1823 Monroe Doctrine making explicit what has long been painfully implicit: the dominions south of the Rio Grande are the empire’s “backyard.” Yet 2019 was a year best characterized as the revolt of the dispossessed for a better world against the barbarism of neoliberalism. As Rafael Correa points out, Latin America today is in dispute. What follows is a briefing on this crossroads.

Opposition To Trump’s Migration Deal Has Sparked A Growing Student Occupation In Guatemala

August 8, 2019 Jeff Abbott, Wagingnonviolence.org Resist! Guatemala, Higher Education, Immigration, Student Activism, Trump Administration

Late in the afternoon on July 29, students from Guatemala’s only public university, the University of San Carlos, took control of the university’s museum in Guatemala City’s historic center. Their goal was to block the country’s congress from holding sessions there, as the congressional building undergoes remodeling. “The facilities of the university are part of our heritage. Here great thinkers were formed,” said Lenina García, the general secretary of the Association of University Students Oliverio Castañeda de León, or AEU.

Will Elliott Abrams, “Abettor of Genocide,” Do To Venezuela What He Did To Guatemala?

January 30, 2019 Staff, Accuracy.org Educate! Guatemala, Latin America, US Imperialism, Venezuela

On Friday afternoon, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo named Elliott Abrams to “lead our efforts on Venezuela” as that country is threatened by civil war. On Saturday, after making remarks to the UN Security Council about Venezuela, Pompeo vacated his chair and Elliott Abrams took over as representing the U.S. government, sparring with the Russian representative and others. (Partial text; full video). Among the highlights of Abrams’ career: He was found guilty in the Iran-Contra scandal, and then got what prosecutor Lawrence Walsh called a “cover-up” pardon from George H.W. Bush. The pardon was approved by Bush’s attorney general, William Barr (who is also Trump’s current nominee for attorney general).

Seven Guilty Berta Caceres Murder Court Signals Others Still at Large

November 30, 2018 Staff, The Guatemala Human Rights Commission Educate! Berta Caceres, Guatemala, Human Rights

A Honduran Criminal Court with National Jurisdiction found an active military officer, hitmen and current and former employees of the DESA hydroelectric company guilty of the murder of indigenous rights defender Berta Caceres. Judges found DESA executives planned the March 2, 2016 murder and indicated that others involved remain at large.

International Day Of The Disappeared

August 30, 2018 School of Americas Watch. Resist! Disappearances, Drug War, Guatemala, Mexico

This August 30th marks the International Day of the Disappeared, initiated by the Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of the Detained-Disappeared, FEDEFAM, an organization founded in 1981 at the height of US-backed state terrorism throughout Latin America. On this day, SOA Watch salutes the thousands of families who continue their unwavering search for their disappeared and celebrates the trials that continue to take place in spite of a legacy of terror and impunity that seeks to silence the demands for justice.

Guatemalans Protest President Morales After Murder Of Social Leader

May 15, 2018 Staff, Telesurtv.net Resist! Electoral Politics, Guatemala, Protests

Guatemalans are yet again protesting President Jimmy Morales, demanding his resignation and justice for social leaders that have been murdered or arrested in the past months. Luis Arturo Marroquin, one of the leaders of Guatemala's Campesino Development Committee (Codeca), was shot dead in a bookshop in San Luis Jilotepeque, east of Guatemala City, by two men covering their faces. Marroquin was a social leader and human rights defender, and his involvement with the Codeca, a group antagonistic to the government, is raising suspicions that his murder might have been politically motivated. In a public statement, Codeca noted that Marroquin was a human rights defender and member of the committee's leadership. They called his murder “cowardly,” as he was found “with several bullet wounds in the back."

Victory Against Ecocide In Guatemala

March 10, 2018 Jeff Abbott, Towardfreedom.com Resist! Activists, Guatemala, Nestle, Palm Oil

Nestlé, the world’s largest food and beverage company, announced last month that they would stop purchasing palm oil from a Guatemalan producer tied to human rights violations, environmental destruction, and corruption. The move was the result of years of pressure from Guatemalan and international activists. Nestlé’s decision to end relations with Reforestadora de Palmas de El Peten S.A. (REPSA), stems from the company’s role in the contamination of the Río Pasión river in northern Guatemala, and the corruption and impunity that followed. “Nestlé’s decision to cut ties with REPSA is a step in the right direction and a victory for all the activists who have fought for years to bring REPSA’s actions to light,” Jeff Conant, Senior International Forests Program Director at Friends of the Earth, wrote in a press statement.

Guatemala Rises Up Against Institutionalized Corruption

September 27, 2017 Jeff Abbott, www.wagingnonviolence.org Resist! Corruption, Guatemala, Uprising

By Jeff Abbott for Waging Nonviolence - On Sept. 20, hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans demonstrated across the country against President Jimmy Morales and Congress. The protesters demanded the resignation of the president and congressional members, following new accusations of corruption and the repeal of anti-corruption laws passed in 2015. “We are demanding that the president and the majority of Congress resign, and that they pass laws that modify the laws that govern political parties,” said Tomás Solaj, the indigenous mayor of Sololá. “We have the advantage right now.” In Guatemala City, student groups and organizations that began during the 2015 corruption crisis marched from different points of the city to the Central Plaza in protest of the president and Congress. “To President Morales and his friends in Congress, we the Guatemalan people have something to tell you: We are here, we see you, and we won’t rest until our government is freed from the powerful criminal groups that have hijacked it,” wrote members of the movement Justicia Ya in a press release on the protest. “We, Guatemalans, will no longer stand in fear. We are ready to build a peaceful, prosperous and transparent Guatemala.”

Guatemala’s Indigenous Campesinos Occupy Capital To Protest Land Conflicts

August 30, 2017 Jeff Abbott, www.towardfreedom.com Resist! Guatemala, Indigenous Peoples, Land, Land conflict, Occupation

By Jeff Abbott for Towards Freedom - On August 8, one hundred Q’eqchi Maya families from the Department of Alta Verapaz arrived to the historic center of Guatemala City, the nation’s capital, to establish a permanent presence in an encampment near the Presidential Palace. They have announced that they will remain there until the administration fulfills the agreement between the campesino communities and the government established in April 2015 to end agrarian conflicts within the department. “We are here in front of the National Palace because of the failure of the state to comply with the accords that came after many dialogues with state officials on the land conflicts in Alta Verapaz,” said Carlos Choc, a member of a Q’eqchi community within the Municipality of Coban, Alta Verapaz, and a representative from the Comité Campesino de Altiplano(CCDA), the organization that coordinated the occupation. “To this date, we do not have a response that is the benefit of the Q’eqchi communities,” Choc told Toward Freedom. “Because of this, our Q’eqchi communities have risen up to demand that [President Jimmy Morales] comply and give us a favorable response. We do not want any more dialogues on the conflict over land.” Black plastic tarps hang from ropes tied to the Guatemalan National Palace, creating a series of makeshift tents that have become the home for these families.

Guatemala’s Indigenous Campesinos Occupy Capitol Over Land Conflicts

August 19, 2017 Jeff Abbott, www.towardfreedom.com Resist! Guatemala, Indigenous Peoples, Land, Occupation

By Jeff Abbott for Toward Freedom. On August 8, one hundred Q’eqchi Maya families from the Department of Alta Verapaz arrived to the historic center of Guatemala City, the nation’s capital, to establish a permanent presence in an encampment near the Presidential Palace. They have announced that they will remain there until the administration fulfills the agreement between the campesino communities and the government established in April 2015 to end agrarian conflicts within the department. “We are here in front of the National Palace because of the failure of the state to comply with the accords that came after many dialogues with state officials on the land conflicts in Alta Verapaz,” said Carlos Choc, a member of a Q’eqchi community within the Municipality of Coban, Alta Verapaz, and a representative from the Comité Campesino de Altiplano(CCDA), the organization that coordinated the occupation.

Guatemala’s Indigenous Water Protectors Organize To Challenge Hydroelectric Projects

December 3, 2016 Jeff Abbott, www.wagingnonviolence.org Resist! Guatemala, Indigenous Activist, Indigenous Peoples, Water

By Jeff Abbott for Waging Nonviolence - Thousands of indigenous Q’eqchi, Achí and Pomcomchí Mayas took part in a series of protests on October 17 against hydroelectric projects along the Cahabón River in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz. The simultaneous protests, which took place in Guatemala City and the municipality of San Pedro Carcha, aimed to force the government’s hand over a delayed consultation on the project in Santa María Cahabón. “[The company] entered [our community] without advising anyone,” said Bernado Caal Xol, one of the organizers of the movement against the hydro project.

Witness To A War Crimes Trial: My Heart Is Sepur Zarco

March 31, 2016 Lawrence Reichard, www.counterpunch.org Resist! Guatemala, Indigenous Peoples, War crimes

By Lawrence Reichard for Counter Punch - A frail, elderly woman, covered from head to toe in bright, colorful clothing approaches the witness chair. Her face is almost entirely covered. She is no more than five feet tall, and under all that clothing she can’t weigh more than 100 pounds. She sits next to her translator. She speaks only Q’eqchi, one of Guatemala’s 24 officially recognized languages – no Spanish. The witness speaks quietly into a microphone, and her testimony is harrowing.

18 US Trained Military Arrested In Guatemala

January 16, 2016 Linda Cooper and James Hodge, www.ncronline.org Resist! Disappearances, Guatemala, Massacres, School of Americas, SOA Watch, Torture

By Linda Cooper and James Hodge for NCR - In a daring and historic move just one week before a new president takes office, Guatemalan authorities arrested 18 former high-ranking military men Jan. 6 for massacres and forced disappearances during the bloodiest years of the dirty war that particularly targeted indigenous populations. Most of the arrests resulted from an investigation that exhumed the remains of 558 people -- 90 of them children -- buried in clandestine mass graves on a military base in Cobán, formerly known as Military Zone 21. DNA testing identified victims who were killed or disappeared by the military in the 1980s.

Court Upholds Rules Against Palm Oil Company For ‘Ecocide’

December 28, 2015 Staff, www.telesurtv.net Resist! Environment, Guatemala

By Staff of Tele Sur - The Spanish African palm oil company Repsa is accused of contaminating the La Pasion river, killing thousands of fish and impacting over 22,000 residents. A Guatemalan regional appellate court has upheld a ruling against the Spanish company Reforestadora De Palma Del Peten S.A., or Repsa, which is accused of “ecocide” for contaminating the La Pasion river in the northern department of Peten. In its decision, the court rejected an appeal presented by a small group of residents, who were looking to overturn a decision issued against Repsa on Sept. 17 for contaminating the river and affecting over 22,000 people.

Mayan People’s Movement Defeats Monsanto Law In Guatemala

September 23, 2015 Christin Sandberg, www.intercontinentalcry.org Resist! Food and Agriculture, Guatemala, Indigenous Peoples, Law, Monsanto, Social Movements

By Christin Sandberg in Intercontinental Cry - 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. The demonstrations were concentrated outside the Congress and Constitutional Court in Guatemala City during more than a week, and coincided with several Mayan communities and organizations defending food sovereignty through court injunctions in order to stop the Congress and the President, Otto Perez Molina, from letting the new law on protection of plant varieties, known as the “Monsanto Law”, take effect.

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