The original content of this program is licensed under a. So, during the pandemic, as I said, the country was militarized. Stay safe. The national strike was called by Indigenous leaders, who vowed they wont stop until theres radical change in Guatemala. Communities confronting the long-term effects of the hurricanes, which damaged roads and destroyed crops, are at greater risk of hunger. These mobilizations amid the COVID-19 pandemic are not unusual in the region. COVID-19 cases continue to skyrocket, with hospitals collapsing or on the verge. The urban region has to learn from collectivity, because individuality is only going to make our situation worse. She gained political asylum in the United States in 2020. So, when the people says that Indigenous communities are blocking the roads, we said, No, we are mobilizing for a life in dignity, where we can have deep political changes in the way that our country is organized, because the ones that have been blocking the road for develop and life in dignity are the crime elites that refuses to make changes and that are [inaudible] Guatemalan state. For his part, the former official accused after his departure that Porras obstructed his work to investigate high-ranking officials of the Giammattei government, congress and courts. And they are basically undermining the state, the government. Their demands range from calls for the resignation of Giammattei and Porras to structural changes that include a plurinational constituent assembly. In 2015, mass protests over the La Linea corruption scandal led to the resignation of former president Otto Perez Molina, who is currently on trial, along with other former high-level government officials, for racketeering, fraud, and illicit enrichment. Please check your inbox to confirm. And the health crisis is not only a problem with the vaccines, with the vaccination. In November 2020, the Guatemalan Congress voted to decrease funding for human rights and health programs, such as fighting malnutrition, and increase funds for lawmakers meals and expenses. Even the Guatemalan consulate in Los Angeles has been implicated in corruption; Consul General Tekandi Paniagua was removed in June 2021 for mismanagement of aid for hurricane victims and profiting from selling Covid-19 tests. The Indigenous communities, ancestral authorities, and campesinos that have historically resisted state violence again have been at the forefront of these protests, as they have been the primary forces organizing strikes and blockades throughout the country. CACIF has labelled the blockades as illegal and criminalizes protesters. Guatemalan physician and member of the Guatemalan Congress with the political party Movimiento Semilla. In August 2020, with the need for medical doctors more urgent than ever amid the ongoing Covid-19 emergency, one member of Congress advocated for the expulsion of Cuban doctors from Guatemala. So its suspicious, these kind of meetings that the special prosecutor anti-corruption was investigating against the president when he was removed from his position. As the Americas stand at a crossroads, NACLA's research and analysis remains as important as ever. It was the first known state-sponsored massacre since the end of the war in 1996. In 2015, we saw, with the CICIG, the International Commission Against Impunity, we saw cases that revealed the participation of the vice president and the president involved in corruption. And right now hospitals, public and private, are just full. However, this commission was unilaterally terminated when then-Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, alluding to the CICIG's participation in illegal acts and abuse of power. All Rights Reserved. Tweets by @NACLA These conditions continue today. And we see that they have also used the public institutions to pursue independent judges, political opposition, journalists, civil society leaders, activists with various actions, like smear campaigns, troll factories, threats, harassments, criminal complaints or accusations. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. In response to the protests, Giammattei has militarized the country by declaring multiple states of prevention and states of calamities, which restrict public gatherings and civil liberties, often using the pandemic as the justification and excuse. Porras said she fired him because his investigations were ideologically biased. In front of the presidential offices, Daniel Pascual, director of the Farmworker Unity Committee, said that protests had been registered in at least 90 sites around the country. The North American Congress on Latin America is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. Subsequently, the colonial armed forces were sent in to end the movement, the communities were repressed, and Tzul and others were imprisoned. AMY GOODMAN: And this is a student movement leader speaking from a roadblock in Guatemala City. Instead, Guatemala has relied on donated vaccines, but they have not been enough as only 4.5 percent of the population (mostly concentrated in urban centers) has been fully vaccinated. And finally, the FECI, Juan Francisco Sandoval is ousted by the attorney general. MARA CAAL XOL: [translated] We have been resisting, and we will continue to resist against these injustices that have Indigenous communities on our knees. Recently Cuba, Colombia, Chile, the United States, among other countries, have taken to the streets in search of changes. People here in Guatemala are just outraged. Indigenous governments and people across Guatemala united in leading the call for the mass mobilization, adds Andrea Ixchu, Maya Kiche leader, journalist and human rights defender in Totonicapn, Guatemala. Well, for more, we go to Guatemala City, where were joined by Lucrecia Hernndez Mack, Guatemalan physician and a member of the Guatemalan Congress with the political party Movimiento Semilla. In 2019, the Morales forced out the United Nations anti-corruption mission, which had worked closely with Sandovals office to dismantle graft networks. And the government is very reluctant and resisting to take measures in order to control the pandemic. And they are basically undermining the democracy and the justice system. After repeated stalling, the case crawled forward on September 3 when a judge sent a colonel and eight soldiers involved to trial for extrajudicial executions. Major highways were blocked for hours as protesters marched through Guatemala City and in rural communities denouncing corruption, a worsening economic crisis and the governments catastrophic mishandling of the pandemic. According to the protesters, this measure by Giammattei is one more example of irregularities that have been taking place in his government. This is Indigenous rights defender Mara Caal Xol, speaking Thursday from the region Alta Verapaz. GUATEMALA CITY (AP) Thousands of Guatemalans took to the streets in protest Thursday, blocking highways and calling for a national strike over the governments apparent unwillingness to tackle corruption. In 2019, the Morales forced out the United Nations anti-corruption mission, which had worked closely with Sandovals office to dismantle graft networks. And we saw many demonstrations. ANDREA IXCHU: Well, the Mayan, Xinca and Garfuna Indigenous authorities propose a route to a new political pact, because we know that its not going to be easy. Also during the pandemic, starvation led many to beg on the streets and wave white flags to ask for help. Despite CICIGs gains in combatting impunity, structural change was not achieved, and there was swift backlash from the Guatemalan State. AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. NACLA | c/o NYU CLACS, 53 WASHINGTON SQ. In April 2021, Congress prevented Gloria Porras, a judge known for fighting corruption, from taking her position within the Constitutional Court. The move also prompted the U.S. government to suspend some of its cooperation with Guatemalas attorney general. Is Bukele the key to greater Central American integration. Shes the daughter of the late Guatemalan anthropologist Myrna Mack, who was assassinated by U.S.-backed security forces in the early '90s. What does that mean? Thats the seed movement. In 2016, she became the first woman to lead the Ministry of Health in Guatemala. These dominant powers include capitalist business interests, represented by CACIF (Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial, and Financial Associations), government officials, the military, and foreign corporations, among others. This is a rush transcript. AMY GOODMAN: And, Lucrecia Mack, in this last minute, you were the first woman minister of health of Guatemala, before you became a congressmember. largest concentrations took place in Totonicapn, gained political asylum in the United States in 2020, 1,000 bags of rice being sent to the presidents Vamos, expulsion of Cuban doctors from Guatemala, Martin Toc Sic, the President of the 48 Cantones stated. Mayan indigenous people block a road as they take part in a protest demanding the resignation of Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei and Attorney General Maria Porras, in San Cristobal Totonicapan, Guatemala July 29, 2021. to your inbox each morning. Please do your part today. But right now we are in the third wave. The move, which came amid the Covid-19 pandemic and in the wake of two destructive hurricanes, triggered new protests against the government. We propose a process of a Constituent Assembly, that the peoples be represented through a Plurinational State, with autonomy and representation of all the peoples that inhabit Guatemala. Through the protests, she says, the people rise up in the face of a system that oppresses us and that excludes us, exploits us, murders and imprisons us.. Tzuls chair is a symbol of intergenerational struggle and resistance, and hope for a better future. Washington even informed the Central American country that it will stop cooperation programs with the Guatemalan Public Ministry. Porras said she fired him because his investigations were ideologically biased. Well continue to follow the situation. He also complained that Giammattei had not followed through on promised structural improvements in the country. Guatemalans begin with blockades this Thursday the National Strike that seeks the resignation of the Government and of the Attorney General Consuelo Porras. Copyright NACLA 2019 A Los Angeles Times report found that more than $100,000 in masks, food, medical supplies and personal hygiene items collected in Los Angeles, in November 2020, to help those affected by hurricanes Iota and Eta did not leave for the affected communities in Guatemala; instead, they had begun to be distributed by Consul Paniagua to local entities. The consulate in Los Angeles was also implicated in a scheme that saw Guatemalan immigrants charged up to $175 to take a Covid-19 test (which are free at the consulate) and not provided with a receipt. Mario Mench, president of the 14 Communities of San Cristbal Totonicapn, said protesters demanded Porras resignation. We dont want this anymore. And interestingly enough, this is a movement that has been led by ancestral authorities. Sign up for our Daily News Digest today! On Thursday, Giammattei expressed his concern that the suspension in U.S. cooperation would be counterproductive because it would affect the countries common goals of fighting organized crime and corruption. While global media coverage of protests in Guatemala often centers Guatemala City, Indigenous and rural communities have often been in active resistance. Thelma Cabrera, a member of CODECA, which has led calls for a plurinational state, explains that resignations alone are not enough. Guatemalans begin with blockades this Thursday the National Strike that seeks the resignation of the Government and of the Attorney General Consuelo Porras. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/guatemalans-protest-president-attorney-general, WATCH: Harris says leaders need to restore hope in Guatemala, WATCH: Harris hosts Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei for virtual bilateral meeting, Guatemalan deportees from U.S. test positive for virus. Despite the threat of violence, the communities of Totonicapn, and other Indigenous and campesino communities, continue to resist. Manifestantes reunidos en Calle Mart, zona 2 de la capital.#ReginMsNoticias pic.twitter.com/JhUZEtFtkf. Describe the COVID situation right now. Some business associations condemned the blockades as illegal. So, a lot of Indigenous communities have been militarized during the pandemic. There was multiple violent evictions, where a lot of Indigenous communities were expelled from their lands, from their communities. Now. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. So, this is the moment where we have united political parties with social movements, with ancestral authorities, communities, rural communities, citizens from the urban areas, students, motor taxis, think tanks, NGOs, activists, everybody is coming together to say, No more. LUCRECIA HERNNDEZ MACK: Well, we could say that these manifestations and demonstrations are sort of like the third chapter of our history in the fight against corruption that started in 2015. LUCRECIA HERNNDEZ MACK: Yes. He also complained that Giammattei had not followed through on promised structural improvements in the country. This, added to an economy in crisis that has worsened since the beginning of the pandemic and with more than half of its 16 million inhabitants living in poverty. Thank you for this space. FECI worked alongside CICIG in investigating government officials and corruption, and it has continued to do this work since CICIGs expulsion. The cases slow progress is a reminder that even though the war ended, the violence continues, and while peace was declared, there remains no justice for victims or accountability for the perpetrators of human rights crimes, who continue to hold considerable power in Guatemala. Democracy Now! So, as Indigenous peoples=, we have always been organizing against the exploitation of the land, the defense of the water, the defense of the territories. GUATEMALA CITY (AP) Thousands of Guatemalans took to the streets in protest Thursday, blocking highways and calling for a national strike over the governments apparent unwillingness to tackle corruption. Why the discontent? Meanwhile, less than 2% of the population of Guatemala has been vaccinated. Sandoval's dismissal was carried out by the Attorney General of the Nation, Consuelo Porras, who argued that the former anti-corruption prosecutor exercised a "selective and ideological" justice. Hundreds of unaccompanied minors and children have been placed in harsh living conditions without their parents as family separations are used as a cruel form of deterrence. is a 501(c)3 non-profit news organization. Eleven opposition lawmakers sent a letter to Porras asking her to resign over Sandovals firing. The [return of the] chair was an obligation of the state [and] today we take it with the commitment to continue doing our job well, ad honorem, because that is how our parents taught us to work without receiving anything in return and that is how it will always continue. This act was condemned by the international community, at the head of the UN, and national bodies, which ended in a political crisis, affecting the last years of the Morales government. They created their own government that lasted nearly a month under the leadership of Atanasio Tzul, who was named governor. The end of the war also signaled an increasing invasion of extractivist industries, with the support of the oligarchs, and further displacement of Indigenous peoples from their ancestral territories. The Biden administrations refusal to eliminate Title 42a provision that uses the risk of contagion to justify the rapid expulsion of migrants from the United States, placing migrants in a vulnerable position in Mexicodespite knowledge of its ill effects demonstrates their cruel position towards migrants fleeing Guatemala and elsewhere. Copyright 2016 Global Mass Media All Rights Reserved, The Central American country takes to the streets calling for the resignation of President Alejandro Giammattei and the Attorney General. //-->. Structural inequalities and violence in Guatemala have been the leading factors forcing thousands to migrate and live in exile abroad since the 1970s. This was an Indigenous-led mass protest. Support our work. Sandovals dismissal triggered national protests and a national strike that has again placed Guatemala at a political and social crossroads. And that means sitting down and speaking with the politicians, sitting down and speaking with the people organized all over Guatemala. The latest protests in Guatemala build on years of popular struggle and deepen demands for a plurinational state. AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you both for being with us. So, we are saying that that needs to change, that we need a country where the people can live in dignity and in respect. These dominant and repressive powers have come to be known as the Pact of the Corrupt (Pacto de Corruptos). At the same time, border militarization, and the dehumanization and criminalization of migrants also negatively impact Indigenous peoples and Guatemalans who face human rights violations by U.S. and Mexican government officials. Laura Aguiar, secretary general of the Oliverio Castaeda de Len Students Association at San Carlos University, said her group demanded that both Porras and the president resign, accusing officials of failing to call out corruption. Covid-19, Natural Disasters, and Displacement. And what we see is that we are just fed up with corruption. The recent wave of protests and national strikes continues those that began years ago. Meanwhile, the governments Covid-19 response has raised suspicions of corruption. Thank you. !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)? As a people, we have been excluded, discriminated against, exploited, impoverished, she says. Laura Aguiar, secretary general of the Oliverio Castaeda de Len Students Association at San Carlos University, said her group demanded that both Porras and the president resign, accusing officials of failing to call out corruption. Two weeks before the firing of Sandoval, the representatives from Totonicapn travelled to the National Palace of Culture in Guatemala City to recover Tzuls chair, which had been confiscated and housed by the government in a museum. Sandoval said after his firing that as his investigations got closer to Giammattei and members of his cabinet, Porras made efforts to block him. LAURA AGUIAR: [translated] We must learn that we, the students, have to be part of the change. In exile, Sandoval claimed that the Guatemalan justice system has been overtaken by the mafias in power, and that Porras was a friend of the president who obstructed FECIs investigations into Giammattei and other government officials. Their legacy is often erased within official historical narratives that center Eurocentric and non-Indigenous histories. We end todays show in Guatemala, where thousands took to the streets across the country Thursday for a massive national strike demanding the resignation of the right-wing President Alejandro Giammattei, as well as other government officials. The international response was immediate , both the United States and the United Nations expressed their concern over the removal of Sandoval. CACIF in particular wields considerable power. The Giammattei administration purchased 16 million vaccines for $80 million, but the doses never appeared. The health workers are just burned out. Protests were taking place across Guatemala, including outside the Attorney Generals Office, which issued a statement saying it respects the right to protest and the right of freedom of expression.. Structural inequalities and violence in Guatemala have been the leading factors forcing thousands to migrate and live in exile abroad since the 1970s. The military and the police, sent in to brutally end the protests, fired on unarmed people at the Cumbre de Alaska, killing six and injuring over 40. Please do your part today. Para leer este artculo en espaol, haz clic aqu. Giovanni Batz holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin and is currently a Presidents Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Native American Studies at the University of California, Davis. The convening movements have also been joined by other social groups, such as doctors, according to Prensa Libre . Did you know that you can get Democracy Now! And what we see is that this is the alignment of economic elite, politicians, even drug traffickers here in Guatemala, as well, that have links to politicians.