José Efraín Ríos Montt, the “born-again” evangelical Protestant responsible for killing some 70,000 Mayan peasants and political dissidents between 1982-83… is once again running for president.

In 1999 he was charged with crimes of genocide, state terrorism and other crimes against humanity; and in 2006, a Spanish court issued an international arrest warrant for him, seeking his extradition. He is also facing legal action in two Guatemalan courts for crimes he committed when he was in power.

Activists have been working to block the candidacy of this former dictator, as …

BELOW: a press release of the Ixcán Community Development Council after a legally binding municipal referendum voted 90% ‘NO’ to big business hydro-electric dam and oil “development” projects. From Rights Action.

IXCÁN VOTES TO REJECT XALALA DAM AND OIL EXPLORATION
(translation by www.nisgua.org)

On April 20, 2007, the people of Ixcán, Quiché overwhelmingly rejected two types of proposed projects in their municipality. In 144 communities, 21,155 people – adults as well as children aged 7-17 – participated in the community consultation. They voted to approve or reject 1) the construction of the Xalalá …

GUATEMALA: no justice for genocide and state terrorism of recent past from www.rightsaction.org, April 1, 2007

Below, a Prensa Libre article about the genocide and state terrorism of the past.

No justice has been done for the genocide and terrorism of the past, that left over 250,000 (mainly impoverished and Mayan) people dead; that forcibly displaced 1,000,000.

BUSINESS AS USUAL: The “international community” (notably: governments of USA and Canada, World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank, global resource extraction companies, …, that all had extensive relations with the genocidal regimes of the past) have extensive on-going economic and military-security dealings with the …

Western Shoshone Nation Attends Historic Indigenous Gathering
Continental Indigenous Summit Abya Yala
March 28, 2007

Iximche, Guatemala

Arriving this morning (Wednesday) in Guatemala City to attend the III Continental Indigenous Summit in Iximche, Western Shoshone National Council member Joe Kennedy established diplomatic precedent for the hemisphere by entering the Maya Territories on his Western Shoshone passport. The continental summit of Nations and Pueblos of the Indigenous Peoples of the continent Abya Yala (the Americas) is now taking place at the sacred ceremonial precinct of Iximche, some 80 kilometers from Guatemala City. The event is being attended by indigenous delegations from Alaska to Argentina with …

Press Release and Declaration by the Communities in Resistance in San Migual Ixtahuacan, San Marcos, Guatemala In the municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacan, San Marcos, on March 7, 2007

TO NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC OPINION

We, members of the indigenous communities that live around the Marlin mine, owned by Montana Exploradora de Guatemala, a subsidiary of the Canadian multinational corporation GOLDCORP, declare as follows:

When the company arrived in our communities, they tricked us, taking advantage of our illiteracy and poverty. They promised us a variety of things: construction of health clinics in the communities, animal farms, small irrigation projects, houses, compensation for …

Canadian Ambassador to Guatemala Spreads Misinformation About Mining Conflict
Written by Rights Action
Wednesday, 28 February 2007

A Public Letter To:

Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs, MacKay.P@parl.gc.ca

James Lambert, Director General, Latin America and Caribbean Bureau, DFAIT, james.lambert@international.gc.ca

Kenneth Cook, Canadian Ambassador to Guatemala, kenneth.cook@international.gc.ca

RE: Canadian ambassador to Guatemala spreads misinformation about film documenting indigenous Mayan Q’eqchi’ communities forcibly evicted on behalf of nickel mining company Skye Resources

Dear Sirs,

We, the undersigned, write with deep concern over the recent conduct of Canadian ambassador to Guatemala, Kenneth Cook. Ambassador Cook has been misinforming people about the work of Canadian doctoral student Steven …

Dear rebellions and movements against neoliberalism all over the world!

We are sending you laud and screaming warning, red alert for Guatemala. We are talking from our personal experiences of incredible brave and resistant society of San José las Légrimas we would like to encourage you to support their struggle and prevent more victims inside the peasant movement!

We are doing research militancy for several years, from Baghdad, Balkan, to Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. We were collecting and sharing alternative practices, actions and theories with the movements and inside the movements all over the Planet. We are …

2,000 indigenous leaders register for third American indigenous peoples’ summit - February 19, 2007

Some 2,000 indigenous people’s leaders across the Americas have registered for the third Continental Summit for Indigenous People slated for March 26-30 in Guatemala’s Tecpan, according to reports on Sunday.

Domingo Hernandez, a leader of the National Maya Convergence Waq’ib Kiej and a member of the organizing committee, told media in Guatemala City that the main topics for the conference would be globalization and indigenous peoples’ political participation.

The meeting would discuss how to recover indigenous peoples’ autonomy and rights over natural resources, he said.

Bolivian President Evo Morales and …

Guatemala and Honduras - a Global Investors “Oasis”
from Rights Action, www.rightsaction.org

It has been said that “the problems of the South are the demands of the North,” and Central America is rife with poverty and exploitation and environmental destruction due in (large) part to “development” economic policies imposed by and beneficial to the global north.

On-going militarism in Central America - including the physical presence of American soldiers - facilitates mainly North American efforts to secure access to resources for North American investors and business interests, in
particular minerals, petroleum, land, water, coffee and cheap labour.

“Free” trade agreements, including DR-CAFTA (Dominican Republic …

received via www.rightsaction.org: Please re-distribute this info all around. If you want on-off this e-list, or for more info about North American nickel and gold companies in Guatemala and Central America: info@rightsaction.org.

For detailed background information on the recent evictions in Guatemala, please see this post

Guatemala: Open Letter by Victoria Henderson to Ian Austin, CEO of Sky Resource Mining Company

[PLEASE NOTE: I would like to encourage those interested in this case to review my initial letter to Skye Resources, of 28 September 2006, and Mr. Austin’s response of 9 October 2006, both of which Mr. …