Category: Social Justice

In Guatemala, five years ago, on March 8, 2017, on International Women’s Day, 41 girls and adolescents died from burns in a fire in the Virgen de la Asunción Safe Home, and another 15 survived this state femicide.

Five years have passed without the Guatemalan government responding to the cries for justice from the families of the 56 girls and adolescents, despite the efforts of family members and organizations adhering to the courts to expedite the trials being conducted against the officials who at various levels were responsible for this unfortunate event that took the innocent lives of 41 young women.
On the contrary, not only have they not received government support, but they have been subjected to various acts of repression to intimidate them, force them to remain silent, and cease their attempts to achieve justice.

On February 21, 2021, María Elizabeth Ramírez was murdered in the municipality of Esquipulas, department of Chiquimula. María Ramírez was the mother of Wendy Vividor Ramírez, one of the girls who died in the fire at the Hogar Virgen de la Asunción. On several occasions other mothers and relatives have been threatened and persecuted.
Faced with this situation, we demand that the Government of Guatemala not hinder this process, and we urge the Public Ministry and the Judicial Branch to accelerate the judicial processes, not to continue postponing the hearings, and to determine the responsibility of the different public authorities involved, with objectivity, independence, and impartiality, and not to allow this abominable event to go unpunished.

We demand that the Guatemalan government stop the threats and intimidation towards the families of the girls and adolescents who are victims of the tragedy in the Virgen de la Asunción Safe Home; and that the physical and mental integrity of family members, complainants and companions be guaranteed and the right to effective justice in this process be respected.

We express our solidarity and support to the families of the girls; we tell them that they are not alone and that we will accompany them until justice is achieved.
In the same way, we express our support for the 8 Tijax Collective, human rights activists and organizations that everyday maintain the memory of the 56 girls and adolescents, by supporting families in their daily struggle to achieve justice.
The children and young people of Guatemala deserve something better, a secure future. That is why we call on all personalities, social and human rights organizations in Guatemala and internationally to strengthen their efforts of solidarity and support to the families of the victims of the fire of the Virgen de la Asunción Safe Home, to Collective 8 Tijax, to the complainants, and to all those who accompany the relatives of the girls who were victims of the fire in the Virgen de la Asunción Safe Home.

May the memory of Las Muñequitas motivate us to continue fighting for Justice and against impunity in Guatemala.

Canada, March 2022

Todos Por Guatemala – Canada, Tzijolaj, Plataforma Canada Guatemaltecxs Exiliadxs por Terrorismo de Estado, Latin America & Caribbean Solidarity Network-Toronto, Waterloo Region Mayan Project, Elders for Environmental Justice-Montreal, Older Women Live (OWL) Collective-Montreal, Amandla CKUT 90.3 FM-Montreal, Projet Accompagnement Québec-Guatemala (PAQG), Comité pour les droits humains en Amérique latine (CDHAL), Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network, Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), KAIROS Canada, Organización Amancio Samuel Villatoro, Collectif Guatemala, Red Europea de apoyo Caso Diario Militar, Australian Solidarity with Latin America, La Liga Internacional de la Lucha de los Pueblos-Guatemala

Justice for Tata (Elder) Domingo Choc Che

All for Guatemala, the signatory organizations and individuals below, to the national and international community, condemn the brutal and senseless murder of Maya-Kek’chi spiritual guide, sage and defender of mother earth, Domingo Choc Che, which occurred in the village of Chimay, San Luis municipality, department of Petén, Guatemala, on June 6 this year, by a group of people who detained and tortured him for several hours, then covered him with gasoline and burned him alive.

Domingo Choc Che was Ajq’ij, Aj ilonel, very knowledgeable about traditional Mayan medicine, a member of the Releb’aal Saq’e’ Council of Spiritual Guides, based in Poptún, Petén; he was a member of an interdisciplinary team of scientists – Mayan, Guatemalan and European – associated with the University of Zurich in Switzerland, University College London in England, and the Medical Anthropology Unit of del Valle University in Guatemala.

This criminal act is not isolated, and forms part of the systemic racism embedded in the structures of Guatemalan society for hundreds of years, since the time of Spanish colonization, which has raged against the indigenous peoples, satanizing all aspects of our culture and identity. This racism has permeated Guatemalan society at every socioeconomic level as a result of the racist and discriminatory policies that the Guatemalan State has pursued through the various governments of the time, linked to business sectors organized in CACIF (Comité Coordinador de Asociaciones Agrícolas, Comerciales, Industriales y Financieras), institutions in charge of civil security, such as the national police and army, the communications media controlled by the same sectors associated with CACIF, and the activities of certain religious denominations.

Well recognized is the role of ideological transmission that the churches, in the majority evangelical, have played in various governments, including the present, since the period of the internal armed conflict. Neo-Pentecostal Protestantism, in particular, is an agent that inculcates in its believers negative beliefs and ignorance concerning Mayan knowledge and cosmology. It also instills hatred and a racist attitude toward their leaders, elder sages and defenders of mother earth in Guatemala.

Unfortunately, this crime is not the only one, as is reflected in the following occurrences:

• Murder of spiritual leaders: during the past 16 years about 20 Mayan spiritual leaders have been killed in different parts of the country; José Andrés López in San Juan Atitán, 23/01/2020; Bernardino Solval Morales, El Progreso village, San Bernardino Suchitepéquez, 13/06/2017; Sebastián Sajic Córdova, San Juan Cotzal, Quiché, 15/09/2015; Lisandro Guarcax, El Tablón, Sololá, 26/08/2010, and others.

• Murder, persecution and imprisonment of dozens of community leaders and land defenders: to mention a few; Alberto Cucul, forest steward of Lake Lachuá, Petén, killed on June 8, 2020; José Xol Can, Mateo Chamán Paau and Ramón, Choc Scrab, members of CCDA (Comité Campesino del Altiplano) in the Verapaces, killed in May, 2020; seven leaders of CODECA (Comité de Desarrollo Campesino), killed in the last few months in different regions of Guatemala.

• Death threats and racist attacks against cultural personalities, journalists and human rights leaders: racist attacks against Maya-Kaqchikel singer and activist Sara Curruchich; a break-in at the home of human rights defender Tania Palencia; recurring death threats against journalists Carlos Ernesto Choc y Baudilio Choc by personnel of the mining company that operates in Estor, Izabal; death threats this past June 11 against journalist and correspondent of the Prensa Communitaria news agency, Elías Caal Oxom, due to his family’s practice of Mayan medicine; arbitrary detention of journalist Francisco Chox of APECCOS (Asociación de Periodistas y Comunicadores Sociales) in Sololá.

• Criminalization of peasant organizations defending the rights of farm workers, amongst others.

Because of what is stated above, we demand:

That the Public Ministry: act and investigate such that those responsible for the death of Domingo Choc Che and other crimes be submitted to justice, and that these crimes do not remain in impunity.

That the Guatemalan government:

End the militarization of Guatemalan society through establishing states of exception in areas of social conflict, and seek other mechanisms within the framework of the law to resolve the conflicts present there.

Cease the policy of criminalization of Mayan community and spiritual leaders, defenders of mother earth, journalists, activists and human rights defenders, as well as the organizations representing those communities.

Create the conditions to change this endemic racist environment which permeates Guatemalan society.

Respect Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO), as well as the Accord on the Identity and Rights of the Indigenous Peoples.

To national and international public opinion, we ask for your solidarity and to speak out against this wave of violence, racism and discrimination against the Mayan peoples of Guatemala.

June 2020

TODOS POR GUATEMALA/ALL FOR GUATEMALA, KITCHENER, HAMILTON, LONDON, TORONTO, OTTAWA, MONTREAL – CANADA
AGRUPACION VICTOR JARA, TORONTO – CANADA
ALBA SUIZA – SWITZERLAND
ALTERNATIVA LATINOAMERICANA, UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH RADIO – CANADA
AMANDLA RADIO PROGRAM CKUT, MONTREAL- CANADA
AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE, OFICINA REGIONAL PARA AMERICA LATINA Y EL CARIBE (AFSC) – GUATEMALA
ASOCIACION ARNATIVAS – GUATEMALA
ASOCIACION COMUNICARTE – GUATEMALA
ASOCIACION COMUNITARIA MULTISECTORIAL DE MONITOREO COMUNITARIO EN SALUD Y APOYO A MIGRANTES (ACOMUMSAM) – GUATEMALA
ASOCIACION CONSEJERIA OXLAJUJ IX PARA CENTROAMERICA Y MEXICO (CAMEX) – GUATEMALA
ASOCIACION COORDINADORA COMUNITARIA DE SERVICIOS PARA LA SALUD-GUATEMALA (ACCSS) – GUATEMALA
ASOCIACION DE DESARROLLO SOCIAL DE IXCAN (ADESI) – GUATEMALA
ASOCIACION DE FAMILIARES DE MIGRANTES DESAPARECIDOS DE GUATEMALA (AFAMIDEG) – GUATEMALA
ASOCIACION DE MUJERES DE GUATEMALA (AMG) – SPAIN
ASOCIACION LAMBDA – GUATEMALA
ASOCIACION POP NO’J- GUATEMALA
ASOCIACION SALVADORENA CANADIENSE (ASALCA) – CANADA
ASSOCIATION DES GUATEMALTEQUES DU QUEBEC – CANADA
BC CASA/CAFÉ JUSTICIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA – CANADA
CENTRO DE DERECHOS HUMANOS ORALIA MORALES – MEXICO
CENTRO DE DERECHOS HUMANOS FRAY MATIAS DE CORDOVA – MEXICO
CHE PROJECTS – CANTABAL HEALTH AND EDUCATION PROJECTS, HAMILTON – CANADA
CIPREVICA – GUATEMALA
CIRCULO BOLIVARIANO LOUIS RIEL, TORONTO – CANADA
CIRCULO SAGRADO DE ABUELAS Y ABUELOS DE GUATEMAYA – GUATEMALA
COALICION INDIGENA DE MIGRANTES DE CHIAPAS (CIMCH) – MEXICO
COMITÉ DE DERECHOS HUMANOS FRAY PEDRO LORENZO DE LA NADA A.C. – MEXICO
CLAVEL ROJO – GUATEMALA
COLECTIVO GUATEMALTECO EN LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA – UNITED STATES
COLECTIVO MADRESELVA – GUATEMALA
COLECTIVO MIRADAS EN RESISTENCIA – GUATEMALA
COLOMBIAN ACTION SOLIDARITY ALLIANCE, TORONTO – CANADA
COMISION DE MIGRANTES – GUATEMALA
COMITÉ MUNICIPAL DE MIGRACION – GUATEMALA
COMITÉ POR LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS DE AMERICA LATINA (CDHAL) – MONTREAL, CANADA
COMUNIDADES ECLESIALES DE BASE DE GUATEMALA
CONSEJO DE JUVENTUD PARA EL DESARROLLO IXCOYENSE (COJDI) – GUATEMALA
CONSEJO NACIONAL DE AJQ’IJAB’ OXLAJUJ AJPOP – GUATEMALA
CONSEJO OXLAJUJ IMOX, CHUARRANCHO – GUATEMALA
CONSEJO PRO-BOLIVIA – EUROPE
CRAIG M. COGUT, PROFESSORSHIP, LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY– UNITED STATES
DESPERTAR MAYA, LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA – UNITED STATES
EQUIPO DE ESTUDIOS COMUNITARIOS Y ACCION PSICOSOCIAL (ECAP) – GUATEMALA
EDWARD LAROQUE TINKER PROFESSORSHIP, CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES, STANDFORD UNIVERSITY– UNITED STATES
FEDERACION GUATEMALTECA DE ESCUELAS RADIOFONICAS (FGER) – GUATEMALA
FESTIVALES SOLIDARIOS/PANAL – GUATEMALA
FORMACION Y CAPACITACION A.C. (FOCA) – MEXICO
FUNDACION CULTURAL LA NAVE DE PAPEL – COLOMBIA
FUNDACIÓN RIGOBERTA MENCHU TUM (RMT) – REPRESENTACION CANADA
GOBIERNO ANCESTRAL – GUATEMALA
GUATEMALA COMMUNITY NETWOK, TORONTO – CANADA
INICIATIVA CIUDADANA PARA LA PROMOCION DE LA CULTURA DEL DIALOGO, A.C. – MEXICO
INICIATIVAS PARA EL DESARROLLO HUMANO A.C. – MEXICO
INSTITUTO MEXICANO PARA EL DESARROLLO COMUNITARIO (IMDEC) – MEXICO
INSTITUTO PARA LAS MUJERES EN LA MIGRACION A.C. (IMUMI) – MEXICO
JOVENES POR EL CAMBIO – GUATEMALA
KAIROS CANADA
KITCHENER-WATERLOO MAYAN PROJECT – CANADA
LATIN AMERICA WORKING GROUP, WASHINGTON DC. – UNITED STATES
LA 72, HOGAR -REFUGIO PARA PERSONAS MIGRANTES – MEXICO
MAMA MAQUIN – GUATEMALA
MEDICOS DEL MUNDO FRANCE – SPAIN – MEXICO
MELLON VISITING PROFESSORSHIP, CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN STUDIES, DUKE UNIVERSITY, UNITED STATES
MESA NACIONAL PARA LAS MIGRACIONES EN GUATEMALA (MENAMIG) – GUATEMALA
MESA TECNICA DE MIGRACION, IXCAN – GUATEMALA
MOLANIL K’INAL B’E – GUATEMALA
MONTREAL ELDERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE – CANADA
MOVIMIENTO DE ORGANIZACIONES SOCIALES Y CAMPESINAS DE PETEN – GUATEMALA
OLDER WOMAN LIVE (OWL) COLLECTIVE – CANADA
ORGANIZACIONES LIBRES DEL PUEBLO-RESISTIR Y LUCHAR (OLP-RL) -ARGENTINA
PARROQUIA DE FRONTERA COMALAPA – MEXICO
PARTITO OPERAIO E POPOLARE – TICINO, SWITZERLAND
PASTORAL DE MIGRANTES – MEXICO
PASTORAL SOCIAL LA LIBERTAD CRISTO DE ESQUIPULAS – GUATEMALA
PERIODICO RESUMEN LATINOAMERICANO (ARGENTINA, CUBA, VENEZUELA, PERU)
PLANTONES POR LA DIGNIDAD – GUATEMALA
PLATAFORMA 51 – GUATEMALA
PLATAFORMA CANADA – CANADA
PROGRAMA LA ESQUINA, RADIO VOCES LATINAS, TORONTO- CANADA
RED DE INTELECTUALES ARTISTAS Y MOVIMIENTOS SOCIALES EN DEFENSA DE LA HUMANIDAD
RED JUVENIL AK’MOLAM – GUATEMALA
RED LATINOAMERICANA Y DEL CARIBE DE SOLIDARIDAD, TORONTO – CANADA
MARITIMES-GUATEMALA BREAKING THE SILENCE NETWORK – CANADA
RESUMEN LATINOAMERCIANO – ARGENTINA
SECRETARIADO INTERNACIONAL POR EUROPA DEL CONAICOP
SERVICIO JESUITA A MIGRANTES (SJM) – MEXICO
SERVICIO JESUITA A REFUGIADOS (SJR) – MEXICO
SERVICIO PASTORAL A MIGRANTES SAN MARTIN DE PORRES (SEPAMI-SMP) – MEXICO
SERVICIO INTERNACIONAL CRISTIANO DE SOLIDARIDAD CON LOS PUEBLOS DE AMERICA LATINA: OSCAR ROMERO (SICSAL) – CANADA
SOCIEDAD CIVIL – GUATEMALA
TINKER PROFESSORSHIP, TERESA LOZANO LONG INSTITUTE OF LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS – AUSTIN, UNITED STATES
TZIJOLAJ, OTTAWA – CANADA
UNA AYUDA PARA TI MUJER MIGRANTE A.C. – MEXICO
VOCES MESOAMERICANAS, ACCION CON PUEBLOS MIGRANTES, A.C. – MEXICO
WOMAN BUILDING FUTURES – CANADA

Allen Gunderson, Canada
Amable Fernandez, writer, Venezuela
Ana Lucia Ramazzini, Guatemala
Ana Silvia Monzon, Guatemala
Anne Schlenker, Canada
Carlos Anárez, journalist, Argentina
Carlos Angulo-Rivas, Poetas por la Paz, Canada
Carlos Ixquiac, United States
Carlos Mario Uribe, Colombia
Carlos Roberto Martínez, union leader
Carlos Valero, Venezuela
David Heap, Associate Professor, University of Western Ontario, Canada
Diana Cameros, Guatemala
Dr. Francisco Dominguez, Middlesex University, United Kingdom
Emma López Penados, Guatemala
Florinda González, Guatemala
Franklin Ledezma, Panama
Geraldina Colotti, journalist, Italy
Giordana Garcia Sojo, editor, professor, activist, Venezuela
Guy Quinn, Canada
Irma A. Velásquez Nimatuj, PhD, antropologist Maya K’iche’, Guatemala
Jesús Mujica Rojas, Venezuela
Jorge Falcone, documentary filmmaker, Argentina
José Hurtado Paz y Paz, Guatemala
Julio Ceren, Canada
Laura Asturias, Guatemala
Lesvia Vela, ajq’ij Maya, Canada
Lisseth Castro, Guatemala
Luz Marina Ramírez, Guatemala
María Torrellas, documentary filmmaker, Argentina
Margarito Hernández, Petén, Guatemala
Maricruz Figueroa Portillo, Guatemala
Marylena Bustamante
Miguel Antonio Guevara, Venezuela
Monica Berger González, Guatemala
Nery R. Villatoro Robledo, Guatemala
Norman Briski, actor, dramatist, Argentina
Oswaldo Jansenio Juaréz Castellanos, Guatemala
Otto Mora, singer, Guatemala
Patricia Cabrera, Guatemala
Robert McBryde, Canada
Roberto Perdia, lawyer, Argentina
Ronny Velásquez, anthropologist and Doctor of Social Sciences, Professor, Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV)
Ruth del Valle, Guatemala
Sergio Valdéz Pedroni, Guatemala
Shirley Pettifer, Canada
Tito Medina, singer-songwriter, Guatemala-Canada
Valério De Patta Pillar, Brazil
Ximena Calanchina, Switzerland

CC.
Ministry of the Interior, Guatemala
Attorney General’s Office, Guatemala
Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office (PDH), Guatemala
Comité de Desarrollo Campesino -CODECA
Comité Campesino del Altiplano -CCDA
Canadian Embassy in Guatemala
Guatemalan Embassy in Canada
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Amnesty International
Impunity Watch
National and International media