Activism in the face of repression

Three months have passed since I came to Guatemala to work as a peace observer, and it has been two months since I updated this blog. In this entry I will fill you in on some of the things I have experienced lately. All names that are used are faked for the safety of the people mentioned.

Criminality - a threat to human rights defenders

The two departments that I mainly work in, Huehuetenango and San Marcos, belong to the Guatemalan highlands and are adjacent to the Mexican state of Chiapas. Both departments are rich in natural resources and the proximity to the boarder lead to the presence of organized crime and smuggling of weapons, narcotics, people, gasoline, eggs and other consumer products. The high level of criminality also means an ever increasing violence, which is a threat to human rights defenders in the region because an attack against them can easily be disguised as common delinquency. 

One such example is the sociologist Emilia Quan Stackmaan who was kidnapped on December 7 2010 and was found dead the next day. On June 6 this year one of the persons indicted for the crime was sentenced to six years of imprisonment. According to the court her murder was executed by a gang that specialized in robbing motorists, but we will probably never find out if there were other motives.

Disease and violence in the wake of the gold mine

The region's wealth of natural resources is a blessing and a curse. There are vast possibilities to extract precious metals and to construct hydroelectric power plants, but unfortunately this wealth is not distributed to the local people. Those living in the proximity of these installations, called mega projects, feel that they have to suffer the negative consequences of the exploitation whereas the benefits end up elsewhere. For this reason the resistance is strong.

An example is the gold mine Marlin in northern San Marcos, which is operated by the Canadian company Goldcorp. According to international law (ILO convention 169), the state of Guatemala has the responsibility to consult indigenous population prior to the exploitation of their land. In spite of this no such consultation was arranged and the gold mine was commissioned in 2005. Since then the mine has been heavily criticized by both national and international environmental and human rights organizations. The pollution of freshwater has lead to serious disease in the affected areas and there have been reports on severe damages to houses as a result of the mining.

Because of the mine, there is a strongly polarized conflict between those who are in favor of the mine and those who work against it. Carlos, who work for an organization that try to raise the awareness of the effects of the mine and defend the rights of those damaged by it, says that he expects that intimidation and harassment will increase in relation to their activity. For safety reasons he has been advised to not go out alone and especially not after dark. Nevertheless, he continues his work.

State of emergency and resistance

Demonstration against the state of emergency in Santa Cruz
Barillas. Photo: Stephan Tschirren.

When I was in Huehuetenango in early May the situation suddenly got tense. Three community leaders who oppose the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in Santa Cruz Barillas were attacked. One of them died as a result of his injuries and the two other were brought to hospital. According to eye-witnesses the perpetrators traveled in vehicles that looked like those belonging to the private security forces employed by the company Hídro Santa Cruz.

The events lead to strong reactions in the city of Barillas that degenerated into vandalism. On the evening of the first of May a state of emergency was issued which made it illegal to meet in groups larger than three persons. In the meantime, arrests and search warrants were conducted. In the city of Huehuetenango, the departmental capital, you could feel the preocupation of the civil society.

Nevertheless, the civil society continue its work and has publicized several press releases that heavily criticize both the company and the actions of the authorities. On May 15, a demonstration was held in Huehuetenango against the state of emergency in Santa Cruz Barillas. Approximately 5 000 people participated and the state of emergency was withdrawn three days later.

Miguel works as communicator and told me jokingly that he only is 21 years old and already has made powerful enemies. However, his smile did not reach his eyes and he is well aware that it may be dangerous to keep such a high profile.

Criminalization is a method used to prevent human rights defenders from doing their work. Basically it means that a human rights defenders get indicted for having committed a crime, for example incitement, and can be subject to arrest warrants and a lengthy legal process – even though there may not exist any evidence supporting the case. According to a report from among others Peace Brigades International criminalization increases in Latin America and especially in cases where economic interests are at stake.

Unhealed wounds from the past

Monument in honor of the victims of the
massacre. Photo: Pernilla Nordvall.

On January 26 this year the ex-dictator Efraín Ríos Montt was accused for genocide and crimes against humanity. We accompany witnesses in a community in northern Huehuetenango who saw how the Guatemalan army murdered their families and burned their homes. Their testimonies, along with many others, may be enough to send the ex-dictator to jail.

Although 30 years have passed since the massacre the wounds are still unhealed. Doña Elena lives in one of the nine houses of the community that a Canadian organization has helped rebuild. I met her when she was out collecting manure and she asked me if I knew when she would get to testify. On that day she lost her husband and her two sons. She is convinced that Ríos Montt is responsible and demands justice.

Redress is not only important for the people who witnessed their family members getting shot, burned and raped. My personal opinion is that Guatemala needs to come to terms with its past in order to move forward. The same system of repression against civil society activists is still in place, even though it applies more modern methods.

In spite of these difficulties and in spite of the repression civil society activists continue their work here in Guatemala. Their courage is inspiring and gives me hope for a more just society.

State of seige in western Guatemala

This article was orginially posted in Swedish by my collegue Tamara Vocar.

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Tamara Vocar

On Tuesday afternoon Guatemala's Home Secretary, Mauricio López Bonilla, declared a state of seige in Santa Cruz Barillas, in the western province of Huehuetenango, after nearly 200 armed men took a military base and demanded justice for a local leader's death, and two others who were injured, earlier that day. 

During the afternoon of May 1st three local civil society leaders were subject to an ambush as they were returning to their village near Posa Verde, where the company Hidro Santa Cruz is planning to construct a hydroelectric power plant. One person died as a result of the attack and two were injured. One of the surviving men have previously refused to sell their land to the company, something for which he has faced legal harassment. The two survivors report that their attacker drove vehicles similar to those owned by the company Hidro Santa Cruz, so it is assumed that the attack was carried out by persons associated with the company.

It was this event that triggered the rancorous atmosphere that led to 200 men armed with handguns and machetes seizing the local military base. According to Rony Urizar, a spokesman for the Department of Defense, several soldiers were beaten and wounded, one seriously. Afterwards, the men set fire to several buildings in the city. Guatemalan President and former General Otto Pérez Molina called the conduct of the rebels an attack on the military, and accused the participants in the riot of collaborating with drug cartels. According to reports, the Home Secretary López Bonilla in addition to the state of emergency also ordered the strengthening of military and police forces from Guatemala City to restore order in the province.

The events mark the culmination of a conflict between local people who oppose the construction of a hydroelectric power plant near Posa Verde. The company Hidro Santa Cruz has begun construction with approval from the government despite the fact that the municipal council took a vote on the construction of the power plant in 2007 which rendered a Nay.

Several human rights defenders in the area have been subjected to persecution and harassment, including threatening phone messages, because of their resistance to the hydroelectric power plant. As recently as two weeks ago, residents discovered that the company possessed homemade explosives and a report was filed against the company.

The local civil society condemned the violence in a statement, but says that it is necessary to see the riots in their context, something that Guatemalan media have so far turned a blind eye to, considering the one-sided reporting of the event.

The conflict in Santa Cruz Barillas is one of several which have arisen in relation to the exploitation of natural resources in Guatemala.

Tamara Vocar, Peace observer for SweFOR 2012-2013