In a regional international court on Monday, October 23rd, 2017 Maya leaders attested there has been a “complete failure” by the government of Belize to abide by the court order to identify and protect the proprietary rights of the Maya Peoples to their customary lands.
Statement by the Maya Leaders Alliance
Children pump water in Maya village of Conejo in Southern Belize. Photo by Danielle DeLuca
In Punta Gorda, Belize, charges of assault against two of thirteen Maya leaders were dropped on April 1, 2016, during a hearing for members of the Maya Leaders Alliance (MLA) on charges that were brought against them 10 months ago.
Thirteen Maya villagers will be standing trial in Belize on March 30th, 2016, under fabricated charges. Like many Indigenous leaders fighting to protect their lands, they are being criminalized for these actions, and may face prison time.
On the early morning of June 24th, 2015, traditional leaders of the Maya people of Southern Belize were violently awoken in their homes by police. Charges were brought against 13 people, including 10 farmers, two traditional Maya leaders, and Q’eqchi community spokesperson Cristina Coc, advisor to the traditional leaders and mother of two.
Press Release
GENEVA (7 July 2015) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, today urged the Government of Belize to ensure respect for the rights of the country’s Maya people to non-discrimination and traditional property.
“Under international human rights standards, indigenous peoples have the right to use, develop and also to control the lands, territories and resources that they possess by reason of traditional ownership,” Ms. Tauli-Corpuz emphasized.
An incident on Maya land in southern Belize has sparked a passionate national debate in Belize over the role of race, ethnicity, and democracy in Belizean society.
Photos: 1. Cristina Coc, addressing the United Nations on the recent land rights case at the Caribbean Court of Justice. 2. Caracol temple in Belize, by Dennis Jarvis. 3. Uxebnka Archeological Site, by Elelicht.
International human rights organizations Cultural Survival and Rainforest Foundation US stand behind Maya Leaders as they Peacefully Protect their Lands.
Joint Statement by Cultural Survival, the Rainforest Foundation, and First Peoples Worldwide.
Statement by the Maya Leaders Alliance
April 21st, 2015 – The Caribbean Court of Justice, Belize’s highest appellant court, yesterday reaffirmed the unbroken chain of lower court affirmations that the Maya Indigenous People of southern Belize have rights to lands they have customarily used and occupied. The Court affirmed that these traditional land rights constitute property within the meaning of the provisions of the Belize Constitution that generally protect property free from discrimination.
Maya Leaders Alliance
Punta Gorda Town, Monday, September 29th, 2014.
A delegation of Maya Leaders, headed by President of the Toledo Alcaldes Association, Mr. Alfonso Cal, has been commissioned by the Alcaldes’ assembly to deliver a letter to the Prime Minister. Consequently, on September 25th, 2014, the Maya Leaders Alliance and Toledo Alcaldes Association met with the Honourable Prime Minister, Dean Barrow, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Belmopan.
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.