URGENT ACTION NEEDED: NO MORE MASSACRES OF QEQCHI LEADERS IN GUATEMALA

Please take action to pressure the Guatemalan government to investigate recent violence against Qeqchi leaders in the El Estor region of Guatemala. Alfredo Ich Xamam (above left) was murdered on Sunday. Haroldo Cucul (above left) and at least 20 others received bullet wounds after two separate attacks against leaders in the region who had been resisting efforts by transnational nickel and biofuel companies to rob their lands.

Mourners say goodbye to Alfredo Ich Xamam

Please email the Guatemalan Government Ministry today at neryberto8@yahoo.com - also if you speak Spanish visit http://www.mp.gob.gt/contactenos.html to send email to the Public Ministry. Below is a sample email. (for an excellent photo essay about Alfredo Ich Xamam and the struggle of his community, Barrio La Union, see http://www.mimundo-jamesrodriguez.blogspot.com/ )

To the Government of Guatemala,

My name is ___________ and I am writing to you from ____________. I am extremely concerned about recent attacks against community leaders from El Estor. On September 27 and September 28, armed men attacked leaders who have been organizing in support of indigenous communities' right to their land. I am worried that such attacks will continue if immediate action is not taken to find the intellectual authors of these attacks. Please support an immediate investigation into this violence so that it doesn't happen again. The Government of Guatemala has a history of favoring the interests of the wealthy against those of the indigenous majority. I hope that those times have changed and these attacks will not be allowed to continue with impunity. I will continue to monitor the situation.

Sincerely,

________________

Day 1 in Guatemala: Attack Against Qeqchi Leaders

I am back in Guatemala after a year long hiatus, the longest time I've gone without being in the country since 2001. Im staying at the Casa CPR (Communities of Populations in Resistance) Primavera of Ixcan house in Guatemala City. The story of Primavera will have to wait for another day (or for if you're really curious you can check out http://guatemalasolidarityproject.org/primavera.htm for more info).

It didn't take long to encounter repression against leaders in the Maya community. I went to visit an old friend and fellow organizer Ruben Dominguez who is working for Rights Action (www.rightsaction.org). Rights Action has been working closely with Qeqchi Maya communities in El Estor, a region in eastern Guatemala. These communities are facing an ongoing assault by mining and biofuel corporations which are trying to remove the communities from their ancestral lands so that the corporations can make even greater profit. The corporations have paid off judges to have combined police and army squads forcefully evict communities, often using large amounts of tear gas, burning houses and destroying crops.

This morning a group of leaders from these communities were traveling to a nearbye city to attend meetings about the environmental destruction being caused by the communities. At approximately 2:00am the group was ambushed by men with M-16s and assault rifles. They managed to escape, but only after suffering serious injuries. Raul Caal Coc, who works for Rights Action, was shot in the neck. He is still hospitalized but is in stable condition. Alfredo Ical Ich of the community Barrio Revolucion, was shot in the shoulder and back upper leg. The bullet that hit his leg passed into his stomach and has not been able to be removed - he remains in critical condition. Pablo Vac, also of Barrio Revolucion, was shot in the face and has lost an eye. He is currently being transferred to the Guatemala City hospital and I will interview him in the morning IF he is able.