On June 23, 2014, 7 Toj in the Mayan calendar, Indigenous groups from all over Guatemala took part in national protests and roadblocks to bring attention to the continued discrimination and injustice faced by the Indigenous Peoples of Guatemala. Among the main priorities on the list of grievances were the discriminatory telecommunications laws and the mining and hydroelectric companies exploiting Indigenous territories.

Through a generous donation by the Swift Foundation, Cultural Survival had the pleasure of providing equipment to eight Guatemalan community radios in need. On May 3^rd and 4^th, our entire community radio program team went on a journey to the first four community radios in the south west part of the country to deliver computers and consoles to radios most in need. 

On May 10, 2013, Guatemalan ex-dictator Jose Efraín Rios Montt was sentenced to 80 years in prison for genocide and crimes against humanity in an historic case. This victory occurred after an unwarranted suspension of the trial and many other delay tactics utilized by Montt’s representation.

The following is an intervention by Alma Temaj and Alberto Recinos of Guatemala at the 13^th Session of the UN  Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Version en espanol

By Ishmael Hope, Sealaska Heritage Institute

“Át Khuwaháa haa yoo xh’atángi wutusaneixhí.” “The moment has come for us to save our language.”–  Joe Hotch, Gooxh Daakashú

By Ava Berinstein

When I first began my journey, it was 36 years ago. There, in the highlands of Guatemala, in the region of Alta Verapaz where Q’eqchi’ is spoken and traditional Maya ways are (still) practiced, and the mountains are alive...there, in the “land of the true peace,” (Jessup and Simpson, 1936); that is where my journey began.