On the Frontline of the Community's Struggle to Defend Mother Earth

Guatemala’s Indigenous Women in Resistance: On the Frontline of the Community’s Struggle to Defend Mother Earth and her Natural Assets Authors: María Giovanna Teijido and Wiebke Schramm Production: Montserrat García, Kerstin Reemtsma, Eva Scarfe, Estefanía Sarmiento and Cristina Barbeito of the PBI-Guatemala project English translation: Timothy Gilfoil Edited and distributed by: Brigadas de Paz Internacionales (PBI) Photos: PBI, Puente de Paz, Pastoral Social de Ixcán y Municipalidad de Ixcán (El Quiché). Design and layout: El Gos Pigall Printing: Imprenta Romeu, S.L. Printed on 100% recycled and bleach-free paper May 2010 This publication was made possible by funding from the German Peace Service. Content Presentation 6 Methodology and Basic Concepts 8 Objectives and Methodology Clarification of Terms Introduction 10 National and International Policies and the Reality of Guatemalan Indigenous Women 13 1. Indigenous Peoples, Rural Women and Poverty 14 2. Machismo, Feminism and Violence 15 2.1. Patriarchy, Machismo and Racism 15 2.2. Women’s Movements in Guatemala 16 2.3. Structural Violence against Women: Femicide and Domestic Violence 17 3. Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of Indigenous Woman in Guatemala 18 3.1. Access to Land 18 3.2. Access to Education and Health 20 3.3. Access to Employment 21 4. Are the Rights of Indigenous Women Guaranteed in Guatemala? 21 4.1. Political participation and the right to full citizenship 21 4.2. Guatemalan Policies and Institutions 23 4.3. International Instruments for the Protection of Human Rights 25 Xinca, Q’eqchi and Kaqchikel Women Defending Nature’s Assets 27 1. Xinca Women Raise Community Awareness: Ayajli, hurakli xinkali na Xalapán, horo huta naru 29 1.1. Jalapa, the community of Santa María Xalapán and the Xinca people 29 Jalapa and Santa María Xalapán The Xinca People 1.2. AMISMAXAJ defending collective natural assets 30 The creation of the organization: the gender issue Developing a strategy for preserving natural assets 1.3. The Exporlation and Exploitation of Natural Assets 31 The arrival of mining and oil operations Other threats to natural assets 1.4. Demands on the Government 34 1.5. The Association of Indigenous Women of the Xalapán Mountain and PBI 34 2. Community Organization of Q’eqchi Women in Ixcán, Department of El Quiché 35 2.1. El Ixcán: Multicultural Town in El Quiché 35 The Department of El Quiché and the Municipality of Ixcán Historical Information on the Settlement of Ixcán Territorial Conflicts 2.2. The Indigenous Women’s Organizations of the Ixcán 36 Social Web: Indigenous and Mixed Women’s Organizations Confronting the Region’s Problems 2.3. Threats to the Natural Assets and Territory 38 The Xalalá Project The Oil Other Threats to Natural Assets 2.4. Demands Made on the State by the Organizations 44 3. The Opposition of the Kaqchikel Communities of San Juan Sacatepéquez 45 3.1. The Town of San Juan Sacatepéquez , Department of Guatemala 45 3.2. The Kaqchikel and the Cement Plant Project 46 The History of a Social, Environmental, Political and Economic Conflict Good Faith Community Referendum The First Human Rights Violations Linked to the Referendum A Dialog Begins The Conflict Worsens and the State Declares a State of Prevention The Company’s Position Negotiations Break Down Again 3.3. Environmental, Social and Cultural Effects 49 3.4. Kaqchikel Women’s Organizations: The Story of a Community’s Struggle 51 Kaqchikel Women in the Community Opposition Movement San Juan Women’s Association (AGIMS) Association of Autonomous Women of Xenacoj (MAUX) 3.5. Demands of the Communities Affected 53 Demands on government Demands on the private sector On the international community 3.6. PBI Presence and Accompaniment 54 Exploitation of Natural Assets: Policies, Impact and Opposition 55 1. The Situation of the Indigenous Peoples 56 1.1. International Policies 56 1.2. Legislative Reforms 59 1.3. Environmental, Socio-Economic and Cultural Effects of Mining and the Exploitation of Water Sources 59 Environmental Effects Socioeconomic and Cultural Effects 1.4. The Resistance of a Community Echoes Around the World 61 Coalitions for Territorial Coordination Networks, Alliances and Fronts Other Efforts to Coordinate Political and Legal Actions Institutional Support: Using the Institutions Created by the Decentralization Law 2. Indigenous Women Guiding the Ancestral Resistance of their People 63 Obligations and Measures Taken by International Governments and Bodies 65 1. Obligations of the Guatemalan Government 66 To respect the right of indigenous peoples to be freely consulted and informed beforehand Guaranteeing the Performance of Environmental Impact Studies Regulation and oversight of the arrival and the establishment of transnational companies in their territories Guarantee the Right to an Adequate Standard of Living Respect the Right to Housing, Land and Territory 2. Obligations of the Countries of Origin of Transnational Companies Operating in Guatemala 68 To Cooperate and Assist in the Fulfillment of Human Rights To Take Steps to Eliminate Discrimination against Women in Rural Areas To Respect the Right to Health in other Countries To Respect the Right to Potable Water in Other Countries To Promote the Social Responsibility of Their Companies in other Countries 3. The Obligations of International Bodies To Implement ILO Convention 169 in the Internal Policies of International Multilateral Financing Agencies 69 Recommendations to the Private Sector and the International Community 70 To the private sector in general To international companies with subsidiaries or capital investments in Guatemala To private financial entities To the news media To the international community Conclusions 70 Glossary 72 References 74 Annex 1. Methodology – Research Activities 77 Annex 2. List Of Community Referendums Held in Guatemala (As per November 2008) 78 Guatemala’s Indigenous Women in Resistance: On the Frontline of the Community’s Struggle to Defend Mother Earth and her Natural Assets Presentation Peace Brigades International (PBI) is a non-governmental organization that promotes conflict resolution and the defense of human rights by non-violent means. PBI provides protective accompaniment and acts as an international observer to protect the space in which human rights defenders work. These human rights defenders suffer repression for the work they carry out to promote social justice. PBI seeks to deter violence with the presence of international volunteers, advocacy and the dissemination of first-hand information to a large support network in Guatemala and abroad. PBI began working in Guatemala in 1983 by dispatching a team of volunteers in response to petitions for international accompaniment from civil society groups and new- ly formed human rights organizations. In accordance with its mandate, PBI’s mission from the start was to help civil society organizations maintain the spaces they had struggled to open in defense of human rights. At the same time, we kept the international community informed about the sociopolit- ical situation in Guatemala. Adhering to strict principles of non-violence, non-interference and non-partisanship, PBI was one of the first international organizations in the country, bringing a message of peace. Up until the late 1990s, PBI provided protective accompaniment to human rights organizations, unions, indigenous and campesino as well as religious groups, political refugees and internally displaced persons. 6 Then, in 1999, three years after the signing of the Peace Accords (Decem- ber 1996), an extensive internal and external evaluation resulted in a deci- sion to close the project. The Peace Accords led to an opening up of the political space in which civil society organizations and their members were able to act. However, a special PBI committee continued to monitor the situation in the country. In 2000, PBI began receiving new petitions for international accompaniment from Guatemalan civil society organizations. Consequently, the organization began conducting research in Guatemala and learned that there had been setbacks, and in some cases the work space of human rights defenders appeared to be closing. In April 2002, PBI decided to coordinate in Gua- temala with other international organizations that were providing political accompaniment in the country. A year later, the PBI-Guatemala project was reopened. This time the project would focus on accompaniment in three areas of priority: the struggle against impunity, the right to land, and the effects of globalization on human rights. In this respect, PBI accompanies civil society organizations committed to the defense of natural resources and to countering threats to the environment, the fulfillment of the collective rights of indigenous peoples, and the protection of the population’s health. These groups and their members face threats and attacks due to their work. The accompaniment of these organizations and the social processes they promote inspired the publication in 2006 of another monograph by PBI, “Metal Mining and Human Rights in Guatema- la.” Now, four years later, PBI’s intention is to expand on this and deal with the subject of the defense of natural resources, taking into account the par- ticular perspective, experiences and knowledge of indigenous Guatemalan women. Today, Guatemala’s indigenous peoples continue to demand the defense of natural resources, and this has become a priority of the work within and be- tween their communities, and involves many

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