A roundtable has been established by the government of Guatemala to dialogue towards an agreement that would allow for the installation of a hydroelectric dam on the Cambalam river in the town of Santa Cruz Barillas, Huehuetenango.
In early October, the military government of Guatemala’s president Otto Perez Molina massacred a peaceful protest held by Indigenous K’iche protestors from Totonicapán, resulting in the death of seven men and leaving thirty-four others injured. Totonicapán, a department in the western highlands of Guatemala, holds an Indigenous K’iche majority population. Despite being one of the poorest and most malnourished of the departments in Guatemala, it also has been ranked as one of the most peaceful, ranking third to last for rates of violent crime.
On October 12th the government of Guatemala commemorates the Dia de la Hispanidad, the day Colombus arrived to the Americas.
The second annual national conference of community radio stations was held in Guatemala on October 10th-12th with the participation of over 30 community radio stations from around the country. The conference aimed to strengthen the identity of the movement of community radio stations in Guatemala as agents of social change in the face of an increasingly oppressive political regime.
On October 6th and 7th, three volunteers from the community radio station Radio La Voz de Palestina, of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala travelled 30 minutes down the winding highway to the town of San José Caben in San Marcos, Guatemala to visit the community radio station La Radio San José. Accompanied by CS staff, the two radio stations were participating in an exchange ideas, best practices, and community activism.
On Thursday, October 11th, the community radio station Radio Doble Via, of San Mateo, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala was raided by police and equipment confiscated.
Marcos Mateo Miguel was released from jail on September 21st after spending five months incarcerated with no evidence presented against him. Miguel is a community leader that was part of the opposition against the construction of the Cambalam hydroelectric dam in Barillas, Huehuetenango.
The community radio station Snuq' Jolom Konob' is located in the town of Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango, nestled high in the Cuchumatan mountain range. The station was founded 13 years ago, after the signing of the Peace Accords brought an end to the Armed Conflict in Guatemala and guaranteed Indigenous communities the right to their own forms of media.
Hidralia Energia’s actions in Guatemala have drawn attention to the company back in its hometown of Galicia, Spain, where a protest was held on August 30th.
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.
