Women-Led Resistance Against False Development in Guatemala
Women-Led Resistance Against False Development in Guatemala
DetailsWritten by Deepa Panchang, Jessica Hsu and Aura Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic
Published: 26 August 2014
An Interview with Aura Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic, Maya K’iche from the Mayan Women’s Movement, Guatemala
As a member of the Mayan Women’s Movement which is a part of the Council of K’iche People, we have joined forces to generate action from the people, the community. We are in the midst of change where we are defining our needs, what actions we need to take, what power we have, what our way of looking at the world is. And to say no to corporations, while saying yes to life.
I am from the Western region of Guatemala, called Iximuleu in Mayan, in the department called K’iche. I am the spokesperson [of the Mayan Women’s Movement] and was elected at an assembly process where 87 communities and six rural and urban areas were involved. I have a mandate from the people, and explain the feelings of the women, the men, and the children. We must unmask false development and challenge the world powers involved, even though they might be Guatemala’s millionaires or the army. I have done so in political councils and they don’t like that. I have 21 charges against me where I am accused of just about everything: being noisy, conflictive, and much more. The latest is that I am a threat to national security, a terrorist of sorts. I was recently sent a report saying that I’m under an injunction from Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. They want to take away my protective measures (IACHR Precautionary Measures) and send me to jail.
We have had huge mobilizations and have made decisions to not allow mining here. The companies are upset and they have done all kinds of things. But, still to this day they have not entered. We have stopped mining and hydroelectric licenses.
They want to exterminate us, but they will not be able to achieve it. We have a lot of energy, a lot of strength.
We are under occupation right now. We have been through many types of invasions but this is one where the main actors are transnational corporations. The world powers, in complicity with the national oligarchies, with the government, with the army, are like occult powers or organized crime. What is happening is that they are allowing transnational corporations to go in everywhere. These corporations include mining, hydroelectric, monoculture, megatourism, and infrastructure-building. These openings are like extended highways which allow the plundering and looting of our natural assets, including the water, the soil, the mountains, and the forests.
More:
http://www.towardfreedom.com/38-archives/women/3647-women-led-resistance-against-false-development-in-guatemala
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