Guatemala's growing palm oil industry fuels Indigenous land fight

[Judi Lynn]

The Guatemalan palm oil industry, world’s six largest, faces resistance from Indigenous people demanding land rights.



With nowhere left to farm or build a home in Chinebal, a Maya Q'eqchi' community in eastern Guatemala, some residents reclaimed land amid an oil palm plantation. [Sandra Cuffe/Al Jazeera]

By Sandra Cuffe
15 Oct 2021

Chinebal, Guatemala – Anibal Agurtia blows into the conch shell tied to a red string around his hand, calling people to the clearing.

Already, a few dozen members of the Indigenous Maya Q’eqchi’ community of Chinebal have gathered to discuss an escalating land struggle in this remote area of eastern Guatemala.

Community members accuse a Guatemalan company of planting oil palm on their traditional lands, and they have built homes to reclaim the disputed tract – spurring an eviction notice, several police operations, and a day of deadly violence that remains ever-present in the memory of the settlement’s more than 500 residents.

“[Police] just killed him and took him away,” Matilde Ac told Al Jazeera about her husband, Jose Chaman, who was killed last year during a police operation related to the conflict with the palm oil company, NaturAceites. “I want it to be investigated.”

More:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/15/guatemala-growing-palm-oil-industry-fuels-indigenous-land-fight