From January 16-18, 2016, Cultural Survival in partnership with Sobrevivencia Cultural, AMARC, Voces Indigenas Panama, and Fundacion Comunicandonos will host the first ever Central American Indigenous Community Radio Conference in Narganá, Comarca Guna Yala, Panamá. The conference will gather over 40 Indigenous community radio volunteers from all over Central America to discuss and share their experience with community media in their respective countries.

On December 15, 2015 Naleb, a well recognized Indigenous group, gathered over 30 Guatemalan Indigenous organizations for their 10th workshop in Antigua, Guatemala. The previous nine workshops have focused on drafting a document of demands and recommendations from Indigenous Peoples to their government in order to bring to light these ongoing issues to the newly elected president. This last gathering brought to the table the ambassadors of Spain and Canada to discuss their role in Guatemala.

On November 20 and 21, 2015, Cultural Survival Executive Director Suzanne Benally visited three Indigenous community radio stations in Guatemala. After participating in several panels during the VII Continental Meeting of Indigenous Women of the Americas, Benally traveled to three Indigenous communities to learn about the efforts and initiatives they are undertaking in maintaining their community radios.

On November 3, 2015 Radio Juventud staff, legal defense and supporters attended the hearing scheduled by the Sololá District Court to determine the legality of the radio. Last December 2014, Radio Juventud was raided by representatives of the Public Ministry and National Police which resulted in confiscation of all equipment and the community radio temporary shut down.

November 3rd, 2015-   Cultural Survival congratulates Lorenzo Mateo Francisco as he received an award on behalf of the independent media site Prensa Comunitaria, a small independent news collective covering grassroots social movements and Indigenous Peoples rights in Guatemala.

The Washington DC-based non-profit Guatemala Human Rights Commission presented the award, reporting:

Saul Mendez with his family at a peaceful demonstration in Barillas in 2013. 

Two Q’anjobal Maya community leaders who were imprisoned in Guatemala for the past two years, have finally been declared innocent and released. A regional criminal court in Guatemala found the two men to be absolved of all charges on October 28, 2015. 

On October 13, 2015 leading Indigenous organizations organized a meeting with the two aspiring vice-president candidates of Guatemala. The meeting had as a goal the discussion of the Indigenous Political Agenda and the work still to be done to improve the situation of over 40% of the population. The candidates are Mario Leal Castillo, vice-president candidate for the left-wing political party UNE and Jafeth Cabrera vice-president candidate for the right-wing political party FCN.

From October 4th to the 11th 2015, Teresita Mendoza, Cultural Survival’s Indigenous Community Radio Regional Promotor, began her visits through Central America to meet with Indigenous Radios across all seven countries. Her mission is to contact, invite and coordinate Indigenous Community Radios in Central America to unite and create an International Indigenous Community Radio Network. The initiative is in collaboration with various Indigenous rights and communications organizations in Latin America.

By The Guatemalan Human Rights Commission

The 2015 Alice Zachmann Human Rights Award will be presented to the community media group Prensa Comunitaria (Community Press) by the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission (GHRC).