For Immediate Release

On September 28^th and 29^th, 2015 FundaMaya and Rights and Resources Initiative hosted the first International Workshop in Guatemala City addressing the opportunities available to Indigenous communities in their constitutional courts and the International Court of Human Rights. The workshop was a debate and reflection from various experiences in Latin America that analyzed and provided lessons learned on the social, political, and strategic use of constitutional courts and the International Court of Human Rights.

On Thursday September 10, 2015 the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and CONNECTAS in collaboration with Asociacion Sobrevivencia Cultural began a three-day Investigative Journalism training workshop in Guatemala City. The project is part of an ICFJ initiative to foster investigative journalism in Latin America. Guatemala is one of three countries in Central America to benefit from the training workshops Honduras and El Salvador have already hosted similar events.

The year 2015 was an eventful year for politics in Guatemala. In a report released on April 25, 2015 by the International Center Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), several high-ranking government officials were involved in customs fraud. The report pointed directly to the now ex-president and ex-vicepresident of the country as leading a secret group that stole millions from the country by negotiating customs taxes for various customers.

On August 22, 2015 Asociacion Mujb’ abl ‘yol celebrated the closure of a 9-month series of workshops and trainings for 40 community radio volunteers on “Democracy, Development and Community Media.” The project was partially funded by DEMOS Guatemala and the Inter-American Foundation (IAF) to benefit community journalists in Guatemala. It is the first time a project of its kind has been launched and has achieved 100% graduation rate. 40 participants proudly received their recognitions on Saturday in hopes of improving community media in their communities.

On August 17, 2015 Jose Mujica the ex-president of Uruguay visited Guatemala during the VI Esquipulas Forum where he spoke on  “Moral Imperatives of Human Beings Before The Politics and Economics of Globalization”. The Forum took place in Guatemala City with the participation of various Human Rights entities and Latin America political leaders from Cuba, Argentina, Ecuador, etc.  The ex-president was received warmly and with much anticipation given the current political state of the country.

As part of an ongoing initiative to include Indigenous youth voices in petitions put forward by Indigenous organizations and groups, the first national Indigenous youth political discussion was held in Guatemala City on July 17, 2015. Youth representatives of all three linguistic groups in Guatemala: Mayan, Xinca and Garifuna, were present during the meeting. Previous regional meetings were held earlier during the year throughout Guatemala where a political agenda was developed from the various work-groups.

Translated as “Young lady of Sololá” or “Beauty of Sololá”, Q’opoj Tz’olojyá is a tradition that has been maintained for over 40 years in the department of Sololá, Guatemala. It is not a beauty contest rather a competitive recognition of the strongest and well-rounded Indigenous women of Sololá.

Rigoberto Juárez, detained in March, 2015 for his activism in opposition to a proposed dam of a sacred river in Santa Cruz Barillas, Guatemala by the Spanish corporation, Hidro Santa Cruz, remains unjustly imprisoned in Guatemala City.

On July 10 Asociacion Sobriviviencia Cultural brought to a close several fruitful days of radio-to-radio exchange in Alta Verapaz. This project was carried out with the generous support of the Swift Foundation and with volunteers from Radio Planeta in San Marcos, Guatemala. An experienced team of the radio program staff and volunteers collaborated to visit Radio Kamalb’e located in the rural community of Chantaca, Radio Nimlajacoc from the community of Nimlajacoc and Radio Tzuu Talq’a in the community of Chisec.