URGENT: Q’eqchi Leaders Attacked with Machetes on Eve of Megadam Construction

10th Dec From Guatemala Sol­i­dar­i­ty Project:

Four lead­ers of the Q’eqchi com­mu­ni­ty Monte Oli­vo were attacked and severe­ly injured with machetes by employ­ees of the San­ta Rita hydro­elec­tric com­pa­ny who also car­ried firearms. Police were called but refused to arrest the attack­ers. On Wednes­day the com­pa­ny plans to begin con­struc­tion of a hydro­elec­tric dam that would flood com­mu­ni­ties and destroy the local ecosys­tem. The dam is being con­struct­ed in vio­la­tion of nation­al and inter­na­tion­al law which require con­sul­ta­tion of the com­mu­ni­ties, which strong­ly oppose the project. In August the com­mu­ni­ty was also attacked and two chil­dren were killed in ret­ri­bu­tion to human rights com­plaints filed by the com­mu­ni­ty.

We are extreme­ly con­cerned that fur­ther vio­lence will occur this week in sup­port of the ille­gal dam. The GSP con­demns the attack and calls for the imme­di­ate arrest of those respon­si­ble, includ­ing the intel­lec­tu­al authors of the attack. The GSP calls for the sus­pen­sion of con­struc­tion and imme­di­ate can­cel­la­tion of the ship­ment of machin­ery to the region.

Take Action

1 Call Edgar Vil­lanue­va at the Gutemalan Embassy in the Unit­ed States at (202) 745‑4953 or (202) 745‑3873 and demand the imme­di­ate arrest of those respon­si­ble, includ­ing the intel­lec­tu­al authors of the attack. Also ask for sus­pen­sion of con­struc­tion and imme­di­ate can­cel­la­tion of the ship­ment of machin­ery to the region.

2 Sign our new peti­tion call­ing for jus­tice for Saquimo Setana, a Q’eqchi com­mu­ni­ty locat­ed near­by Monte Oli­vo which has also par­tic­i­pat­ed in mobi­liz­ing against the dam.

3. Sup­port our part­ners through a con­tri­bu­tion to the Guatemala Sol­i­dar­i­ty Project. We are a vol­un­teer run orga­ni­za­tion and all funds go to our part­ners in Guatemala. The best way to donate is to send a check to our fis­cal spon­sor, “UPAVIM Com­mu­ni­ty Devel­op­ment Foun­da­tion” to UPAVIM, PO Box 63, Marsh­field, VT 05658. Please write “GSP” in the notes/memo sec­tion of the check. Or donate online by vis­it­ing http://www.upavim.or/donate Click on the yel­low donate but­ton, then YOU MUST WRITE ‘Guatemala Sol­i­dar­i­ty Project’ for the pur­pose. We thank our fis­cal spon­sor UPAVIM for help­ing us ensure that your con­tri­bu­tions are tax deductible and that all funds (oth­er than bank trans­ac­tion) go to our part­ners in Guatemala.