Results of Road Blocks in Guatemala

As I walked down the dirt road with hundreds of community leaders toward the post-action meeting spot, it began to rain. I found myself walking with a group of four people. Three were leaders from nearby Cubilguitz (see www.guatemalasolidarityproject.com/cubilguitz.htm for partial information on the community). The other was Hermelindo Cux Choc, a member of the Committee for Peasant Unity (CUC) National Committee. We had just blocked the intersection for 10 hours, one of 14 roadblocks around the country that reminded the multinational corporations and Guatemalan government that the peasant majority has the power to shut them down. Yet it was hard to call the day a success after one nonviolent protestor had been shot dead and two others were hospitalized.

The rain intensified and Hermelindo and I made light of the fact we were about to get drenched and had no other clothes.

¨I don´t even have rubber boots!¨ he said and flashed his big grin. Then he pointed to one of the protestors from Cubilguitz. ¨Look! Only one of us has rubber boots on, there is only one real peasant among us!¨ The mud splashed up his leg as we picked up the pace.

I was at the last CUC national assembly in May 2007 when countless leaders from Mayan Qeqchi communities rose to their feet to nominate Hermelindo to the CUC National Committee. He won and became the youngest member of one of the most powerful leadership bodies in the country.

¨They killed one of our comrades today,¨ Hermelindo said to me as we neared the meeting spot. ¨He was from San Juan. He was organizing against the cement factory. He was one of us. I can´t express how it feels, how much it hurts, that they have again killed someone so close.¨

As one of the protest slogans, ¨To Great Repression: Greater Organization,¨ suggests, Hermelindo is at the forefront of a growing movement throughout the country to resist the escalating violence and theft of multinational corporations attempting to loot all of Guatemala.

The corporations have the potential to destroy the rainforests, contaminate all of the rivers and mountains, cause the extinction of countless species, subject millions of Guatemalans to modern slavery, torture and kill leaders of the resistance, and shatter Mayan culture. The movement has the potential to put the land into the hands of the peasants, save the rivers, forests and animals of Guatemala, keep millions of children from suffering chronic malnutrition, defend Mayan culture, and build a sustainable alternative way of life. The roadblock was a step in the right direction. Below is a summary of the outcomes of the roadblock.

WHY ROADBLOCKS?

In a word? Effective. The US and Guatemalan governments are focused on helping corporations steal gold, nickel, uranium, bananas, coffee, hydroelectric power and other riches of the country`s vast human and natural resources. Blocking roads immediately pauses much of this theft and cuts into corporate profit margins.

Road blocks are also high risk actions. Monday was not the first time a CUC leader has been killed at a roadblock. But CUC has the ability to turn out thousands of people throughout the country, blocking major roadways in the capitol, northern mountains, Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean coasts, and at the borders with Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras.

CUC`s indigenous and peasant leaders have refused to respond with guns to the assassinations and tortures they are facing. Instead they demand that the US and Guatemalan governments and corporations act in a civilized way.

WHY OCTOBER 12?

In this case there are two reasons. For those of us ¨educated¨ in the US, it is Columbus Day. In Guatemala and the United States there is a celebration of ¨Christopher Columbus´ discovery of America.¨ For CUC and many others it is a day to mark 517 years of indigenous resistance against imperialism.

The other significance of the date is from the July 14 actions. CUC blocked major highways on this date as well, forcing President Alvaro Colom to agree to take action on eight issues within 90 days. The deadline has passed and the President did not do as promised.

WHAT ARE CUC´S DEMANDS?

CUC has demanded the government take action on eight issues:

1. Integral Agrarian Reform

CUC has a well developed proposal for redistributing land in a just way, including returning land to indigenous and ladino (people of European and mixed ancestry) peasants with technical support. In the 1996 Peace Accords that ended nearly four decades of violence, the government agreed to give landless peasants access to land. With support from the US, this ¨help¨ came in the form of ¨capitalist development¨ in which a limited number of families were offered land if they accepted loans they would probably never be able to pay back. Corporations were able to take full advantage of the ¨market opportunity,¨ and inequality and hunger increased. CUC has the audacity to want to redistribute the land and place families and the environment over corporate profits.

2. Cancel mining concessions

The Guatemalan government has concessioned massive areas of land to corporations, giving them the right to the minerals underneath peasant communities and large biodiverse forests and mountains. The government has placed corporate profits over the survival of families, entire species, unique biodiverse regions, and the planet itself. Large expansions of forests are being clearcut, water basins are decreasing rapidly and oil is extracted to run cars in wealthy nations. CUC is demanding an immediate halt to this destruction.

3. Remove various corporations

Several particular corporations, such as the Guatemala Nickel Company (subsidiary of a Canadian nickel company), Montana Corporation and Gold Corp, have acted in an especially repulsive manner. They have killed and tortured community leaders who organized against their exploitation, and CUC demands that they leave.

4. End repression against indigenous communities and leaders

The government has helped orchestrate a wave of repression in the countryside to help corporations steal from indigenous communities. CUC is demanding an immediate end to the assassinations, tortures and terrorism.

5. Investigate and punish those responsible for the assassinations of community leaders

No one has been punished for the numerous murders of community leaders. In some cases there were many witnesses, such as in the murder and mutilation of leader Alfredo Ich. In other cases the government itself has admitted partial guilt, such as the government report declaring that leader Mario Caal Bolom was tortured and murdered by police. But the government has refused to hold anyone responsible for these and numerous other murders of community leaders.

6. Release community leaders from San Juan Sacatepequez and Izabal who are being held as political prisoners

Over one hundred leaders from San Juan have been arrested for organizing against the construction of a cement factory that would pollute their air, water and land. Dozens of them are suing the government for having tortured them while in custody.

Numerous leaders in the department of Izabal have also been arrested for demanding that their rights be respected. Most prominent among them is organizer Ramiro Choc, who has spent nearly two years in prison.

7. Remove the military base from San Juan Sacatepequez

The government has used the military to terrorize the population of San Juan from opposing the cement factory. In violation of the Peace Accords, the military fills the streets and enforces curfews. The military must leave San Juan and respect its civilian population.

8. Have CICIG investigate private and armed groups which have participated in violent evictions of communities and repression of community leaders

CICIG, the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, is a recently formed United Nations agency investigating clandestine armed groups and their connections to the Guatemalan government. The government is using these armed groups to repress and evict indigenous and peasant communities in order to steal their land. A recent example comes from Sunday, September 27. Department of Izabal Governor Luz Maribel Ramos Peña visited the community of Barrio La Union and illegally told residents that they must leave their homes. They refused to leave and instead told her that she is not the ruler of the land and although she is Governor she too must follow the law. A few hours later a private security force entered the community, shooting at children and adults, gravely injuring numerous residents and killing community leader Alfredo Ich.

WHAT WAS THE FINAL OUTCOME OF THE ROADBLOCK?

CUC removed the barricades in the early afternoon when representatives of the President agreed to meet and negotiate with a delegation of CUC leaders in the Presidential Building. But when the negotiations didn`t go well, the group declared that they would go on hunger strike and occupy the building indefinitely. Thousands of supporters gathered outside as CUC threatened more roadblocks. Finally at 11:40pm, the government agreed to take action on CUC´s demands and that President Colom would meet with CUC leaders this Thursday to work out details. CUC promised to suspend future roadblocks but added that they would not oppose roadblocks being considered in opposition to the visit of Colombian President, who recently signed an agreement to build US military bases throughout Colombia.