Thousands of Indigenous activists and small growers demonstrated in Guatemala on Sept. 15 against President Alejandro Giammattei's administration and the country's legacy of colonialism and. The .gov means its official. A good example is the Rocj Pontil Project of the Hidro Energa S.A. company on Qeqchi territory in the Alta Verapaz department. USAID seeks to empower Indigenous Peoples, enabling them to participate in key decision-making spaces at the community, municipal, regional, and national levels. The experts also expressed concerns that Mr. Caal Xl's health has deteriorated since he was imprisoned in 2018. The military government replaced him and took back his legislature. No Indigenous persons or Afro-Guatemalans hold cabinet-level positions. Written on 25 November 2020. Moreover, a 2018 investigation by the Guatemalan daily newspaper Prensa Libre showed that, in recent years, the largely Indigenous departments of San Marcos and Huehuetenango have registered more than 50 percent of all abandoned public works projects. They built temples and religious centers, and developed writing, mathematics, and astronomy long before Western society did. This research was part of a . INTRODUCTION. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is the leading United Nations entity in the field of human rights, with a unique mandate to promote and protect all human rights for all people. These elements need to be addressed in order to tackle the social determinants of health. Plantain (Plantago major), known for its expectorant properties, is also drawn up. "Hii3oobeiseihii (True Voices)" is the last First Sundays event of the winter. More recent reforms to the Guatemalan Penal Code (such as the Law against Sexual Violence, Exploitation and Human Trafficking in 2009, and in 2017 the banning of marriage of minors, without exceptions) have represented important advances in the recognition of the rights of women, young women and girls. "Mr. Bernardo Caal Xl has been criminalised because he, on behalf of his community, took a case all the way to the Supreme Court to try to halt the Oxec hydroelectric project," the experts said. 75% of Guatemalas indigenous population lives in rural areas areas that are harder to reach and more difficult to support from a distance. Indigenous People Could Lead the Way. The rights of indigenous people to make decisions about their cultural heritage and traditional way of life is being recognized in a United Nations photo exhibition. First, they were sick with coughs, they suffered from nose bleeds and urinary infections. Get the latest from our news, events and meetings. In the 1970s and 1980s, the economic elite and the government supported counterinsurgency policies, called by the Catholic church-backed Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH) acts of genocide against the Mayan populations, who made up 83 percent of all victims of the war. MARTIN: "We have a health care system that's precarious and ignored, with a budget that's truly embarrassing," says Alicia Samuc. To the epidemiological causes of this demographic debacle must be added the war and forced labour to which Indigenous people were subjected. USAID also provides professional development opportunities to the indigenous leaders with an emphasis on youth and women. Encanto, a 2021 film from Disney, can give children a sense of Latin American culture.A reviewer writes, "As a component of many Latin American books, magic realism has been a key component of the Latin literary writing style since the 20th century. Learn more. 1945-, Healey, Joseph F. (2018-03-02). We systematically reviewed findings of the frequency of vision impairment and blindness and/or frequency of ocular findings in Indigenous groups. This growth however, also widened the gap between Guatemalas elite and poorer indigenous communities. MARTIN: According to one study, for the first four months of Guatemala's vaccine rollout, which began in late February, most people who received injections lived in urban areas like Guatemala City, were university educated and identified ethnically as Ladino - that is, not Indigenous. For the Indigenous peoples, there is nothing to celebrate.. "The Government of Guatemala should take immediate and effective measures to protect the health and safety of Mr. Caal Xl while he is incarcerated," the experts said, "and to guarantee his personal, physical and mental integrity, especially during the pandemic.". Indigenous peoples are not important to them. Structural racism has further manifested itself in the failure to include Indigenous therapies and healers in prevention and treatment programmes. At the same time, the countrys health ministry has cut funding for addressing malnutrition. In October and November 2020, the Central American region was devastated by hurricanes Eta and Iota, wreaking havoc on the people and their livelihoods, especially the Indigenous Peoples of the Atlantic Coast or Northern Lowlands. On June 18, Guatemalan exiles who were armed and trained by the CIA and U.S. Marine Corps officers invaded Guatemala. For five centuries, a systematic attack has persisted, in a bid to bring an end to the creation, conservation and transmission of the knowledge of native peoples. "We urge Mr. Caal Xl to be given a fair trial by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal without further delay," they said. Guatemala is home to 24 principal ethnic groups. [13] The government suppressed these protests, resulting in deaths, injuries and arrests. October 26, 2021 A Call to Action to Stop Repression against Q'eqchi Peoples in Guatemala En espaol On October 24, 2021, Guatemala's President Alejandro Giammattei declared a state of siege (martial law) in the town of El Estor, Izabal, in response to clashes between Indigenous Q'eqchi land defenders and the State police. [Guatemala suffering 61% multidimensional poverty] El Economista, 26 November 2019. https://www.eleconomista.net/actualidad/Guatemala-afronta-una-pobreza-multidimensional-del-61-20191126-0028.html, [7] Montepeque, Ferdy. [14] Economic support for the social groups that are most vulnerable to the pandemic came too little too late, despite Congress having approved specific funds for this purpose. Across the Navajo reservation, these emergencies have motivated Din communities to step up and help their people as quickly as possible by distributing care packages to families; providing computers, laptops, free internet access, and food packages; or contributing . Guatemalas government does not recognize this disadvantage and indigenous people who stand up for their rights, often get threatened or murdered. A lock () or https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely. Some evangelical congregations, she says, direct people not to get vaccinated or wear masks. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal government site. All rights reserved. treatment of indigenous peoples in guatemala 2021. treatment of indigenous peoples in guatemala 2021. by . Pionero Philanthropy Inc. is a s501(c)3Florida registered nonprofit EIN 37-1910514. The few hospitals and health centres operational were already on their knees before the pandemic and, although the government boasted of its investment in their improvement, in reality this related only to a few temporary centres with makeshift equipment that did not live up to the needs of the situation. Guatemala is formed by diverse ethnic groups, especially those of Mayan descent, and the State recognizes, promotes and respects their ways of life, customs, traditions, and ways of social organization.. Until today, indingeous communities are still marked by the horrific acts that took place against them during this 36 year war. Sign-up for our free weekly e-mail newsletter. Jeff Abbott is an independent journalist currently based out of Guatemala. Both of these departments have high rates of migration. We need to fight against the lack of recognition of indigenous peoples in Guatemala, as well as to protect and conserve our natural resources, which are so important to our way of life. The most notable candidate was Telma Cabrera who came in fourth, the highest place achieved by an indigenous leader so far. In recent decades, religious fundamentalism has rebooted this symbolic violence to divide Indigenous communities and benefit from the installation of extractive projects and large-scale agricultural monocultures. Despite representing more than half of the population and participating actively in the countrys economy, their political participation is not equitably reflected. Samuc blames a lack of leadership for the COVID crisis in Indigenous communities like Santiago, beginning with Guatemala's President Alejandro Giammattei and the three health ministers he's appointed in less than two years. Written on 11 May 2020. While this recognizes the countrys indigenous communities and their rights, in reality, the government still fails to do this. [7] The pandemic has shed light on the neglect of the health system generally as a result of privatisation policies. This includes a diverse array of communities and different ethnic groups including the Maya (representing the largest indigenous community in the country), Garifuna, and Xinka Peoples. Despite the severity of this burden, little research has been carried out to explain why IPV presents such a major problem in Guatemala. One of the reasons for the lack of trust, according to Indigenous advocates, is that it took so long for information about COVID to reach these communities. . Indigenous and social organizations expressed their opposition. These include: a denial of their right to control their own development based on their own values,. Anthropologist Irma Alicia Velasquez Nimantuj is a K'iche' Maya who teaches at the University of Oregon. As of June 2020, 62 percent of returned unaccompanied migrant children (UAC) self-identified as indigenous. In the city of Solol, Indigenous people blocked the Inter-American highway in protest at the government's restriction on the transportation of local products while large companies were exempt. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. The impacts on Indigenous women emerged in the additional workload they had to endure in relation to household tasks and the impossibility of carrying out their economic activities. A ruling was expected in 15 days but it has yet to be issued. The Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN human rights system, is the general name for the Council's independent investigative and monitoring mechanisms that deal with specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Editorial Piedra Santa. In fact, human rights activists all over Guatemala, but mostly in the highlands, face danger and threats everyday. [8], In the midst of the pandemic, in an act not seen since the end of the civil war, the President of the Republic, Alejandro Gammattei, publicly humiliated the Indigenous mayor of the Kaqchikel people of Comalapa, Chimaltenango. Abelino Zacarias, who filed an injunction against the project, mysteriously disappeared. "Sadly, this is not an isolated case; too often in Guatemala those who defend land and the environment are considered criminals.". Meanwhile, remarks about the incident by Guatemala's president did little to help the situation. For the Indigenous communities, the pandemic has resulted in a re-evaluation of traditional medicine and of healthy eating based on native products and has reaffirmed the need to strengthen the bonds of solidarity and to defend their ancestral territories. The Indigenous people have another way to think. Rural Indigenous communities are those that suffer the worst, available data shows. ALEJANDRO GIAMMATTEI: (Through interpreter) If people don't want to get vaccinated, fine. For example: the state invests USD0.4 per day in each Indigenous person and USD0.9 per day in each non-indigenous person;[1] poverty affects 75% of Indigenous people and 36% of non-indigenous people;[2] chronic malnutrition affects 58% of Indigenous people and 38% of non-indigenous people;[3] and, in terms of political participation, Indigenous individuals represent no more than 15% of parliamentarians and high-ranking public officials. Others try to flee the country to find economic and educational opportunities they simply cant obtain in Guatemala. [17], The following individuals were also murdered over the year: Alberto Cucul Cho (Qeqch park ranger), Medardo Alonzo (Chort leader), Fidel Lpez (peasant leader), Abel Raymundo (Chort leader), Benot Maria (French citizen dedicated to defending Indigenous Peoples), Misael Lpez Cataln (community leader), Carlos Muc Pop (Qeqch leader) and an Indigenous leader from Purulha, Baja Verapaz, among others. 2022 The Progressive Inc. 931 E. Main Street, Suite 10 Madison, Wisconsin 53703 (608) 257-4626, The Other Americans: Guatemalas Indigenous Communities Are Still Fighting for Their Rights. After Carreras death in 1865, his successor, General Vicente Cerna, continued conservative rule until 1871, when a liberal revolution defeated his army. An indigenous woman in Guatemala is more likely than all her fellow citizens to be sick, illiterate, poor and overwhelmed by too many unplanned children. The UN Human Rights Office and the mechanisms we support work on a wide range of human rights topics. 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