DOCSLIB.ORG

Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala: Diversity, Inequality

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala: Diversity, Inequality OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 43/15 31 December 2015 Original: Spanish INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGTS Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala: Diversity, Inequality and Exclusion 2015 www.iachr.org OAS Cataloging-in-Publication Data Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Situation Of Human Rights in Guatemala: Diversity, Inequality and Exclusion/ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. v. ; cm. (OAS. Documentos oficiales ; OEA/Ser.L) ISBN I. Title. II. Series. OAS. Documentos oficiales ; OEA/Ser.L. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.Doc. 43/15 INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Members Rose-Marie Belle Antoine James L. Cavallaro José de Jesús Orozco Henríquez Felipe González Rosa María Ortiz Tracy Robinson Paulo Vannuchi Executive Secretary Emilio Álvarez-Icaza Longoria Assistant Executive Secretary Elizabeth Abi-Mershed Approved by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on December 31, 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 11 CHAPTER 1 | BACKGROUND 19 CHAPTER 2 | BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORICAL AND CURRENT TRENDS THAT AFFECT THE ENJOYMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS 23 A. Diversity, inequality and exclusion 23 B. Armed conflict: Repercussions on Guatemalan society 27 C. Guatemalan democracy: Obstacles and challenges 31 1. 2015: Political and institutional crisis 33 CHAPTER 3 | DIVERSITY, INEQUALITY AND EXCLUSION: THE SITUATION OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES 39 A. Structural Discrimination 41 B. Inequality, social exclusion and conditions of poverty 44 1. Right to food and the situation of malnutrition 46 2. Right to education 47 3. Labor rights 49 4. Right to health 51 5. Legal and institutional framework for combating discrimination against indigenous peoples and their main challenges 53 6. Lack of an integral public policy on indigenous peoples and the need to strengthen the indigenous institutional framework 55 CHAPTER 4 | CITIZEN SECURITY 61 A. Violence and insecurity 61 1. Situations that exacerbate the violence and insecurity 66 a. Disappearances 66 b. Lynchings 68 c. Private security 70 2. The State’s response: Security policies, National Civil Police, states of emergency, role of the armed forces and special squads 74 a. Security policies and the National Civil Police 74 b. States of emergency 78 c. Military participation in citizen security and militarization of zones of social unrest 83 d. Special Reserve Army Squads for Citizen Security 88 3. Disproportionate impact of violence on certain groups 88 a. Human rights defenders 89 b. Women 105 c. Children and adolescents 111 d. Journalists and freedom of expression 122 e. Migrants, refugees, internally displaced and trafficking in persons 135 f. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons (LGBT) 144 g. Persons with disabilities 145 h. Persons deprived of their liberty 149 CHAPTER 5 | ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 157 A. Judicial Independence: Judicial officers, selection processes, retaining one’s position 158 B. Access to justice 164 1. Difficulties in effective access to justice and the role of the State institutions 168 2. Right to defense and the use and abuse of procedural motions 172 3. CICIG 173 C. Impunity and the legacy of the internal armed conflict 174 1. Trial for genocide and other crimes against humanity 176 2. Amnesty laws 178 3. State’s position regarding the decisions of the inter-American System - Genocide Denial 180 4. Reparations for violations committed during the armed conflict 183 CHAPTER 6 | RIGHT TO PROPERTY AND CONSULTATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES 187 A. Right to property 187 1. Legal and institutional framework relevant to indigenous property rights in Guatemala 189 2. Failure to recognize historical rights 191 3. Lack of legal certainty, titling, delimitation, and demarcation of indigenous lands and territories 193 4. Forced evictions of indigenous peoples and communities 196 5. Establishment and management of protected natural areas 200 B. Consultation 201 1. Situation of the exploration and exploitation of natural resources that affect indigenous lands and territories, and main concerns in connection with the activity of the Guatemalan State 201 2. Specific guarantees of the consultation 206 3. Community and municipal consultations 211 CHAPTER 7 | CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 215 A. Conclusions 215 B. General Recommendations 215 C. Recommendations with respect to the situation of violence and insecurity 216 D. Recommendations with respect to the administration of justice 217 E. Recommendations with respect to the situation of inequality and exclusion of the indigenous peoples 218 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Executive summary | 11 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. In the present report the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) addresses the situation of human rights in Guatemala, and a number of structural challenges in access to justice and impunity, citizen security, marginalization and discrimination which have affected severely the human rights of its inhabitants. Special attention is given to the situation of human rights defenders, journalists, women and children, LGBTI people, migrant population, among others. In this context, the report also addresses the situation of the indigenous peoples, who has seen their rights to ancestral lands, and to consultation affected due to grave levels of exclusion and inequality with generations of malnutrition due to structural discrimination and racism. 2. The IACHR has focused specific attention on the independence and autonomy of the administration of justice in Guatemala and the selection processes and guarantees of tenure for the positions of justice operators. It has also focused on the need for the State to provide an adequate, efficient, independent, and impartial system for the administration of justice to tackle the persistent structural impunity with respect to severe human rights violations in both the past and the present. 3. The IACHR is especially troubled by the State's failure to comply with the recommendations and judgments of the organs of the inter-American human rights system (IAHRS). Despite the fact that Guatemala accepted the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on March 9, 1987 and undertook to abide by its decisions, under the administration of former president Otto Pérez Molina, in adjudicated cases including those where the State accepted its responsibility, the Government denied its obligation to live up to its commitments questioning the temporal jurisdiction of the Court and stressing the legitimacy of amnesties during the internal armed conflict, including that contained in the National Reconciliation Act of 1996. The IACHR observes with concern that, during the administration of former President Pérez Molina, the government refused to characterize the incidents of the conflict, with its devastating impact on indigenous communities, as genocide. 4. In this regard, in a private hearing to monitor compliance with 11 judgments against Guatemala, the Inter-American Court in its last resolution of August 21, 2014, indicated that the position taken by Guatemala constituted "an act of obvious contempt of State regarding the enforceability of the judgments delivered by the Court, contrary to the international principle conform to its treaty obligations." The Court explained the inapplicability of the Reconciliation Act to the cases subject to the supervision and ordered the State to adopt "all measures necessary to comply promptly with the judgments, and "comply in good faith with their Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR 12 | Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala: Diversity, Inequality and Exclusion treaty obligations and inform the Court1. During a hearing held in the 156 period of session of the Commission, held from October 17 to 28, 2015, the State reiterated to the IACHR its approach as to the scope of the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court; also reiterated its position with regard on the alleged legitimacy of the amnesty as a cause of extinction of criminal responsibility in cases of human rights violations committed during the internal armed conflict. The Commission restates to the Government of Guatemala that this position is contrary to the standards and inter-American jurisprudence and contributes to the prevailing of impunity. 5. Notwithstanding, the IACHR recognizes progress in different areas which has a direct impact on the situation of human rights. The IACHR notes changes in favor of a society committed with human rights, promoted by the work of public officials compromised with justice and human rights defenders as well as social leaders. The support of international human rights agencies, as well as the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG, for its acronym in Spanish), has been critical to those efforts. 6. Throughout this report, the Commission highlights for example reduction of the rate of homicide; and, on indigenous rights, the decision of the Constitutional Court of September 2015 by which for the first time ordered the practice consultation with indigenous communities affected by an investment project. 7. Also in the administration of justice it is worth noting the work of the CICIG and the Public Ministry in the dismantling of criminal networks and the fight against corruption. In this regard the IACHR appreciates that in 2015 the State extended the mandate of the CICIG. Moreover, the Commission appreciates the State's efforts to create a protection program for journalists and the actions taken to prevent and combat human trafficking, and the creation of differentiated statistics on violence against
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Perfil Departamental De El Quiché
    Código PR-GI- 006 Versión 01 Perfil Departamental El Quiché Fecha de Emisión 24/03/17 Página 1 de 27 ESCUDO Y BANDERA MUNICIPAL DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE EL QUICHE Departamento de El Quiché Código PR-GI-006 Versión 01 Perfil Departamental Fecha de El Quiché Emisión 24/03/17 Página 2 de 27 1. Localización El departamento de El Quiché se encuentra situado en la región VII o región sur-occidente, la cabecera departamental es Santa Cruz del Quiché, limita al norte con México; al sur con los departamentos de Chimaltenango y Sololá; al este con los departamentos de Alta Verapaz y Baja Verapaz; y al oeste con los departamentos de Totonicapán y Huehuetenango. Se ubica en la latitud 15° 02' 12" y longitud 91° 07' 00", y cuenta con una extensión territorial de 8,378 kilómetros cuadrados, 15.33% de Valle, 84.67% de Montaña más de 17 nacimientos abastecen de agua para servicio domiciliar. Por la configuración geográfica que es bastante variada, sus alturas oscilan entre los 2,310 y 1,196 metros sobre el nivel del mar, por consiguiente los climas son muy variables, en los que predomina el frío y el templado. 2. Geografía El departamento de El Quiché está bañado por muchos ríos. Entre los principales sobresalen el río Chino o río Negro (que recorre los municipios de Sacapulas, Cunén, San Andrés Sajcabajá, Uspantán y Canillá, y posee la represa hidroeléctrica Chixoy); el río Blanco y el Pajarito (en Sacapulas); el río Azul y el río Los Encuentros (en Uspantán); el río Sibacá y el Cacabaj (en Chinique); y el río Grande o Motagua en Chiché.
    [Show full text]
  • Anti-Imperial World Politics: Race, Class, and Internationalism in the Making of Post-Colonial Order
    P a g e | 1 Anti-imperial World Politics: Race, class, and internationalism in the making of post-colonial order Christopher Patrick Murray London School of Economics and Political Science PhD. International Relations P a g e | 2 I certify that this thesis which I am presenting for examination for the PhD degree in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work. I consider the work submitted to be a complete thesis fit for examination. I authorise that, if a degree is awarded, an electronic copy of my thesis will be deposited in LSE Theses Online (in accordance with the published deposit agreement) held by the British Library of Political and Economic Science and that, except as provided for in regulation 61 it will be made available for public reference. I authorise the School to supply a copy of the abstract of my thesis for inclusion in any published list of theses offered for higher degrees in British universities or in any supplement thereto, or for consultation in any central file of abstracts of such theses. Word count…………………………………….……….. 75, 884 P a g e | 3 ABSTRACT Anti-imperial world politics: Race, class, and internationalism in the making of post-colonial order Christopher Murray, PhD. LSE International Relations Why did many ‘black’ anti-imperial thinkers and leaders articulate projects for colonial freedom based in transnational identities and solidarities? This thesis excavates a discourse of anti-imperial globalism, which helped shape world politics from the early to late 20th century. Although usually reduced to the anticolonial nationalist politics of sovereignty and recognition, this study interprets ‘anti-imperialism globalism from below’ as a transnational counter-discourse, primarily concerned with social justice, social freedom, and equality.
    [Show full text]
  • The Meanings of Marimba Music in Rural Guatemala
    The Meanings of Marimba Music in Rural Guatemala Sergio J. Navarrete Pellicer Ph D Thesis in Social Anthropology University College London University of London October 1999 ProQuest Number: U643819 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest U643819 Published by ProQuest LLC(2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Abstract This thesis investigates the social and ideological process of the marimba musical tradition in rural Guatemalan society. A basic assumption of the thesis is that “making music” and “talking about music” are forms of communication whose meanings arise from the social and cultural context in which they occur. From this point of view the main aim of this investigation is the analysis of the roles played by music within society and the construction of its significance as part of the social and cultural process of adaptation, continuity and change of Achi society. For instance the thesis elucidates how the dynamic of continuity and change affects the transmission of a musical tradition. The influence of the radio and its popular music on the teaching methods, music genres and styles of marimba music is part of a changing Indian society nevertheless it remains an important symbols of locality and ethnic identity.
    [Show full text]
  • Guatemala Timeline
    Guatemala Timeline 1954: The U.S. backs a coup led by Carlos Castillo Armas against Guatemala's president, Jacobo Arbenz, which halts land reforms. Castillo Armas becomes President and takes away voting rights for illiterate Guatemalans. 1957: On July 26, President Armas is killed. 1960: The violent Guatemalan Civil War begins between the government's army and left-wing groups. Thousands of murders, rapes, tortures, and forced disappearances were executed by the Government toward the indigenous peoples. 1971: 12,000 students of the Universidad de San Carlos protest the soaring rate of violent crime. 1980: Maya leaders go to the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala to protest the numerous disappearances and assassinations by the State and to ask that the army be removed from their department, El Quiché. Security forces respond by burning the Embassy, which results in 37 deaths. 1982: Under President/Dictator Ríos Mont, the Scorched Earth policy targeting indigenous groups goes into effect. Over 626 indigenous villages are attacked. The massacre of the Ixil people and the Dos Erres Massacre are two of the most severe genocides during this time. 1985: Guatemala's Constitution includes three articles protecting the indigenous. Article 66 promotes their daily life, including their dress, language, and traditions. Article 67 protects indigenous land, and Article 68 declares that the State will give land to indigenous communities who need it for their development. 1985: The Academy of Mayan Languages of Guatemala (ALMG), which promotes and advocates for the use of the twenty-two Mayan languages in the public and private spheres, is recognized as an autonomous institution funded by the government.
    [Show full text]
  • REPORT No. 28/16 CASE 11.550 REPORT on ADMISSIBILITY and MERITS MAURILIA COC MAX ET AL
    OEA/Ser.L/V/II.158 REPORT No. 28/16 Doc. 32 June 10, 2016 CASE 11.550 Original: Spanish ADMISSIBILITY AND MERITS MAURILIA COC MAX ET AL. (XAMÁN MASSACRE) GUATEMALA Approved by the Commission on June 10, 2016 158 Extraordinary Period of Sessions Cite as: IACHR, Report No. 28/16, Case 11.550, Admissibility and Merits. Maurilia Coc Max et al. (Xamán Massacre), XX. www.cidh.org REPORT No. 28/16 CASE 11.550 REPORT ON ADMISSIBILITY AND MERITS MAURILIA COC MAX ET AL. (XAMÁN MASSACRE) GUATEMALA JUNE 10, 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................................................................... 1 II. PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION ..................................................................................................... 1 III. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES .................................................................................................................................. 2 A. The petitioners .............................................................................................................................................................. 2 B. The State .......................................................................................................................................................................... 3 IV. ANALYSIS OF COMPETENCE AND ADMISSIBILITY ...................................................................................... 4 A. The Commission’s competence ratione personae, ratione
    [Show full text]
  • Isheries Surney
    ISHERIES SURNEY JUAGULTURE WED AQUACULTURES WON 0 0 0 0 LAKE IZABAL FISHERIES SURVEY INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR AQUACULTURE DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES AND ALLIED AQUACULTURES AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION AUBURN UNIVERSITY AUBURN, ALABAMA 36830 Project: AID/cs'd-2-780 Date: September 5, 1973 LAKE JZABAL FISHERIES SURVEY by W.D. Davies Auburn University Auburn, Alabama 36830 Project: AID/csd-2780 Date of Survey: June 11 - 22, 1973 Date: September 5, 1973 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE 1.0 ITINERARY .............................................. 1 2.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................... 2 2.1 Guatemalan Geography and Population ............... 3 2.2 Fish Marketing and Consumption .................... 4 2.3 Government Division Responsible for Fisheries 6 2.4 Lake Izabal, El Golfete and the Rio Dulce Water Resources. ...................................... 7 3.0 THE FISHERIES ........................................... 8 3.1 Lake and River Fisheries ........................... 8 3.2 Fishing Regulations ................................ 10 3.3 Assessment of the Fishery .......................... 10 4.0 RECREATIONAL USE OF LAKE IZABAL, RIO DULCE AND EL GOLFETE......................................... 11 5.0 SUMMARY OF SURVEY AND PROPOSED RECOMMENDATIONS .. 12 5.1 Summary ....................... ................... 12 5.2 Recommended Scope of Work ........................ 13 5.3 Program Requirements .............................. 15 6.0 CONFERENCES ............................................ 17 7.0 LITERATURE CITED .....................................
    [Show full text]
  • LAC Guatemala Education Profiles
    INCREASING EDUCATION ACCESS, QUALITY, AND EQUITY IN GUATEMALA Latin American and Caribbean Education Profiles 1999–2004 PROFILES OF USAID EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS: INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES This publication is one in a series profiling the recent work of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the education sector in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It is intended for all who are interested in learning more about USAID, international development, and education activities in the LAC region.While USAID currently has offices or development activities in 17 countries throughout the region, its education development efforts are concentrated in eight: the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, and Peru. The purpose of the series is to provide information on how the U.S. government is responding to diverse education needs in these countries through a variety of initiatives—ranging from innovative projects that increase educational access for underserved populations to efforts to foster policy dialogue and better decision-making in the sector. Bringing these initiatives to life typically requires coordination with and participa- tion from a variety of international, national, and local partners. The publications highlight USAID efforts in these countries during a five- year period, 1999–2004. Each profile treats one country and includes a succinct analysis of key problems that limit access to quality education there, defining those challenges within historical, political,
    [Show full text]
  • Indigenous Maya Knowledge and the Possibility of Decolonizing Education in Guatemala
    Indigenous Maya Knowledge and the Possibility of Decolonizing Education in Guatemala by Vivian Michelle Jiménez Estrada A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto © Copyright by Vivian Michelle Jiménez Estrada 2012 Indigenous Maya Knowledge and the Possibility of Decolonizing Education in Guatemala Vivian Michelle Jiménez Estrada Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education University of Toronto 2012 Abstract Maya peoples in Guatemala continue to practice their Indigenous knowledge in spite of the violence experienced since the Spanish invasion in 1524. From 1991 until 1996, the state and civil society signed a series of Peace Accords that promised to better meet the needs of the Maya, Xinka, Garífuna and non-Indigenous groups living there. In this context, how does the current educational system meet the varied needs of these groups? My research investigates the philosophy and praxis of Maya Indigenous knowledge (MIK) in broadly defined educational contexts through the stories of 17 diverse Maya professional women and men involved in educational reform that currently live and work in Guatemala City. How do they reclaim and apply their ancestral knowledge daily? What possible applications of MIK can transform society? The findings reveal that MIK promotes social change and healing within and outside institutionalized educational spaces and argues that academia needs to make room for Indigenous theorizing mainly in areas of education, gender, knowledge production, and nation building. I analyze these areas from anticolonial and critical Indigenous standpoints from which gender and Indigenous identities weave through the text.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethnic Images and Strategies in 1944 Ethnic Images and Strategies in 19441
    TEXAS PAPERS ON LATIN AMERICA Pre-publication working papers of the Institute of Latin American Studies University of Texas at Austin ISSN 0892.3507 Ethnic lmages and Strategies in 1944 Richard N. Adams Rapoport Centennial Professor of Liberal Arts University of Texas at Austin Paper No. 88-06 http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/etext/llilas/tpla/8806.pdf Richard N. Adams Ethnic Images and Strategies in 1944 Ethnic Images and Strategies in 19441 by Richard N. Adams Guatemala in 1944 was on the verge of a great transition that was to continue over the next several decades. Since independence it had experienced a long, if irregu- lar, era of liberal expansion, marked most clearly by the adoption of coffee cultivation and its conversion into a country dedicated to the export of that crop. While historian s may disagree on periodization, it is not misleading to see the general society as evolv- ing under a nineteenth-century liberal economic framework that continued up through World War 11.The period from 1944 to 1954 (the tlRevolutiontl) was an era of signifi- cant reform but terrninated in failure and thus marked no significant divergence from the liberal framework. Despite some well-ensconced myths about its love for Indians, the dictatorship of Jorge Ubico (1931-1944) followed the track of the classic liberal state; it did noth- ing to alleviate the economic and social repression of the Indian. Its vagrancy law put an end to debt servitude, but simply took the control exercised by landowners over Indians and placed it more directIy in the hands of the state.
    [Show full text]
  • Download File
    A War of Proper Names: The Politics of Naming, Indigenous Insurrection, and Genocidal Violence During Guatemala’s Civil War. Juan Carlos Mazariegos Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2020 © 2019 Juan Carlos Mazariegos All Rights Reserved Abstract A War of Proper Names: The Politics of Naming, Indigenous Insurrection, and Genocidal Violence During Guatemala’s Civil War During the Guatemalan civil war (1962-1996), different forms of anonymity enabled members of the organizations of the social movement, revolutionary militants, and guerrilla combatants to address the popular classes and rural majorities, against the backdrop of generalized militarization and state repression. Pseudonyms and anonymous collective action, likewise, acquired political centrality for revolutionary politics against a state that sustained and was symbolically co-constituted by forms of proper naming that signify class and racial position, patriarchy, and ethnic difference. Between 1979 and 1981, at the highest peak of mass mobilizations and insurgent military actions, the symbolic constitution of the Guatemalan state was radically challenged and contested. From the perspective of the state’s elites and military high command, that situation was perceived as one of crisis; and between 1981 and 1983, it led to a relatively brief period of massacres against indigenous communities of the central and western highlands, where the guerrillas had been operating since 1973. Despite its long duration, by 1983 the fate of the civil war was sealed with massive violence. Although others have recognized, albeit marginally, the relevance of the politics of naming during Guatemala’s civil war, few have paid attention to the relationship between the state’s symbolic structure of signification and desire, its historical formation, and the dynamics of anonymous collective action and revolutionary pseudonymity during the war.
    [Show full text]
  • Native American Connections, Maya Resistance, and Escape from Guatemala: Jeronimo Camposeco's Autobiography
    Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis Volume 1 Issue 1 Article 3 7-1-2019 Native American Connections, Maya Resistance, and Escape from Guatemala: Jeronimo Camposeco's Autobiography Jeronimo Camposeco Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mayaamerica Part of the Indigenous Studies Commons Recommended Citation Camposeco, Jeronimo (2019) "Native American Connections, Maya Resistance, and Escape from Guatemala: Jeronimo Camposeco's Autobiography," Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis: Vol. 1 : Iss. 1 , Article 3. Available at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mayaamerica/vol1/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Maya Resistance, Native American Connections, and Escape from Guatemala: An Autobiography Jeronimo Camposeco Community Leader Abstract: Jeronimo has been an activist for Maya justice since the 1960s, and a long-time Maya leader in exile. Jeronimo in this essay will discuss his experiences with Maya and U.S. Native American alliances in the 1970s and 1980s, and the beginnings of government violence. Introduction I am from Jacaltenango, a town in Guatemala, located on the slopes of the Cuchumatan Mountains, a branch of the Sierra Madre in the Department of Huehuetenango. My birth year is 1936. Growing up in the 1940s and 1950s, village life included working in our cornfields, and speaking our Maya Jakalteko (Popti’). Thanks to the Maryknoll missionaries, I could go to a seminary; then I got a scholarship to attend a national school, graduating as a schoolteacher.
    [Show full text]
  • Exclusion, Gender and Education
    Indigenous girls in 6 Guatemala: Poverty and location Kelly Hallman and Sara Peracca, with Jennifer Catino and Marta Julia Ruiz lthough enrollment rates are increasing in Guatemala, Aeducational attainment continues to be among the low- est in Latin America as a result of late entry, repetition, and early dropout. Vast inequalities in access and attainment— linked to ethnicity, gender, poverty, and geography—remain. Adult literacy, estimated at 85 percent in Latin America, is just 70 percent in Guatemala (UNDP 2004). While indigenous peoples generally have less school- ing than nonindigenous peoples throughout Latin America, ethnic differences are greatest in Guatemala, where indig- enous adults have less than half the schooling of nonindige- nous adults (2.5 years of education compared with 5.7 years) (Hall and Patrinos 2005). Recent trends show the ethnic gap narrowing among younger people, but large inequalities re- main. Among 10- to 19-year-olds, the indigenous literacy This chapter was commissioned by the Center for Global Development, Washington, D.C. Funding was also provided by the Department for International Development (U.K.), the William and Flora Hewlett Foun- dation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The authors benefited from the comments of participants at the 2004 annual meeting of the Population Association of America, in Boston, and in national forums on “Multisectoral Strategies to Improve the Lives of Vulnerable Adolescents” in Guatemala City, Guatemala, in September 2004 and in Antigua, Gua- temala, in December 2005. They wish to thank Claudia Regina Aguilar for preparing the ENCOVI/LSMS data for analysis; Aimee Lyons for assistance in preparing the manuscript; Maureen Lewis, Cynthia B.
    [Show full text]