Maeve Hammond

Exploring Global Perspectives

Aurlie Roy
15 July 2014
Guatemalan Indigenous Persons and
Their Environment

























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Introduction: Lack of Environmental Protection for Guatemalan Indigenous Communities
Indigenous tribes and communities in Guatemala are currently facing an obstruction to
their fundamental right of environmental protection. This prevailing injustice has occurred due
to the disadvantages and lack of opportunities indigenous communities receive in their homeland.
Socioeconomically, 80.6% of indigenous peoples in Guatemala live under the poverty line,
compared to only 17.9% for non-indigenous persons (United Nations, 1997). Politically, only 12%
of the congressional body includes indigenous persons (Isaacs, 2013), although 60% of the
overall Guatemalan population is indigenous (IWGIA, 2012). Due to this, indigenous
communities cannot strongly advocate for themselves regarding environmental protection.
The issue of lagging environmental protection is a substantial problem: aside from the
destruction of land and pollution, Guatemalan indigenous persons face a threat to their cultural
practices, as well as detrimental impacts to their society and socioeconomic standings. For
example, indigenous groups are denied the ability to fully practice their own environmental
traditions. As other outside entities use the land for development and profit, indigenous
communities are left in poverty because of the lack of resources and land to which they can make
their livelihood. The Guatemalan government, natural resource exploitation companies,
hydroelectric plants, and nature conservation organizations all have played a part in disregarding
the Guatemalan indigenous persons and their fundamental right to environmental protection.
Madre Tierra: Guatemalan Indigenous Groups and Their Relation to the Earth
Guatemalan indigenous groups traditionally have had a deep connection to the earth; this
environmental intimacy is a core construct in the cultural, social, and religious practices of many
Guatemalan indigenous tribes and communities. In the memoir I, Rigoberta Mench, the author,
human rights activist, and Guatemalan indigenous woman Rigoberta Mench describes the
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relationship between her ethnic group, the K'iche', and the earth. The K'iche' indigenous people
practice traditional pre-harvesting ceremonies, during which they pray to nature, the animal
world, and their ancestors (Mench, 65). This is based on the K'iche' principle that we must
only harm the earth when we are in needbefore we sow our maize, we have to ask the earths
permission (Mench, 66). When environmental violation occurs for non-indigenous economic
profit, it is detrimental both to the earth and the cultural practices of the Guatemalan indigenous
peoples. As Mench says, resources of the earth have both cultural and physical
importance: the earth is the mother of man, because she gives him food (Mench, 66) and
water is sacred water is pure, clean, and gives life to man (Mench, 65).
Mining and Natural Resource Exploitation: Environmental and Social Problems
Natural resource exploitation on indigenous land has been an unfortunate occurrence in
Guatemala for the past 40 years (Cherofsky, 2014). Between 1990 and 2000, mining in
Guatemalas indigenous regions grew from 12 to 30 percent (Cordaid, 2009). Specifically, one of
the mines is of greatest controversy: since being introduced to San Miguel Ixtahuacn and
Sipakapa regions of Guatemala through the Montana Exploradora mining company, the Marlin
Mine has violated the human rights and environmental protection of 18 Guatemalan indigenous
communities (FIAN, 2014).
The Marlin Mine extracts gold and silver using a cyanide-vet, which causes tremendous
pollution and water contamination for indigenous communities (Cardaid, 2009). This specific
environmental violation has caused health problems and a depletion of resources for Guatemalan
indigenous persons. Additionally, mine workers excavate five thousand tons of rock each day;
this in turn means the lands and hills that once belonged to the Ajel, Nueva Esperanza, and San
Jose Ixcaniche villages have been transformed into heaps of craters with unlivable conditions
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(Cardaid, 2009). However, with severe poverty, limited opportunities, and no land to claim, the
tribes who originally lived on this these villages still have no other option but to stay in the
destroyed landscape (Cardaid, 2009).
Marlin miners have also socially and physically violated the human rights of Guatemalan
indigenous persons. United Nations Special Rapporteur James Anaya visited the indigenous
peoples who reside along the Marlin Mine and recorded their testimonies. Anaya reported to the
United Nations that the indigenous peoples were victim of physical and mental abuse, rape,
murder, and damage to their homes and property (IWGIA, 2012). In order to stop these
violations of human rights, Anaya strongly suggested that Guatemala and the Montana
Exploradora mining company comply with the recommendations set forth by the Inter-American
Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) regarding the mine. On May 20, 2010, the IACHR
directly asked the Guatemalan government to shut down the Marlin Mine; additionally, it
recommended decontaminating water, addressing health problems, and guaranteeing the health
and life of the indigenous communities affected by the mine (IWGIA, 2012).
The Harm of Hydroelectric Projects
In addition to natural resource extraction and exploitation, hydroelectric energy-fueling
projects are also harmful to Guatemalan indigenous communities. The prospective hydroelectric
plant Hidralia Energa in Santa Cruz Barillas, Huehuetenango has been the subject of many
protests by Guatemalan indigenous persons living in this region. If this hydroelectric plant were
to be built on the Cambalan Rivera large resource for indigenous communities in
HuehuetenangoGuatemalan indigenous society would be hurt economically and
culturally. Not only would the dam for the hydroelectric project encompass land belonging to
tribes, deplete water resources, and add to pollution: it would interfere with the sacred rituals
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performed on the river by the Maya Qanjobal for future generations (Acosta, 2012). In 2009,
the local municipality, with support from indigenous communities nearby the Cambalan River,
proposed a governmental act to prohibit construction on and by the river. However, another
hydroelectric company, Hidro Santa Cruz, interfered with Guatemalan courts and declared that
local communities do not have authority of jurisdiction in construction projects (Acosta, 2012).
In 2011, Hidro Santa Cruz officials took control of the Cambalan River and closed it off
to local farmlands and roads (Acosta, 2012). The plants company-funded security guards were
brought to prevent protests, provoke intimidation, and restrict indigenous persons from accessing
the land and water of the Cambalan River. In January 2013, Hidro Santa Cruz broke land and
began work on a hydroelectric plant. Aside from the environmental issues of this plant, social
violations for indigenous persons ensue. Landmines were installed around the border of the
Cambalan River and military intervention and ambushes have silenced the voices of protesters.
Aftereffects of Nature Conservation for Indigenous Peoples
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have invaded indigenous lands in order to
preserve the land, although indigenous communities have been caretakers of land for thousands
of years. Actually, the expansion and exploitation by industrial nations has done more damage
to the earth in the last one hundred fifty years than all of the indigenous peoples of the earth
since homo sapiens first walked the planet 250,000-500,000 years ago (Alexander, 2009). In
addition to environmental violations, NGOs are detrimentally affecting indigenous communities
specifically: indigenous persons are driven off their land and are forced to live in impoverished
conditions without [financial and social] assistance they were promised by local government
(Alexander, 2009). Additionally, indigenous homes have been destroyed, possessions have been
confiscated, and persons have been killed or held at gunpoint (Alexander, 2009).
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Specifically in Guatemala, the National Association of Municipalities (ANAM) has
declared restrictions for indigenous communities regarding conservation efforts. The ANAM
ruled that the Guatemalan indigenous people cannot live in lands used for NGO conservation,
unless the population of a community lies between 10,000 and 20,000 people (IWGIA, 2012);
this is despite the fact 60% of current Guatemalan municipalities have less than 10,000
inhabitants (IWGIA, 2012). This law forces a majority of indigenous communities to move,
lose their land and communities, and still live without government-funded financial, social, and
health compensation due to nature conservation NGOs.
Conclusion: Policies for Guatemalan Indigenous Rights & Environmental Protection
Although there is great injustice against Guatemalan indigenous rights and environmental
protection, certain organizations and groups are working to provide a means for Guatemalan
indigenous persons to have their voices heard. The CoP16 climate change conference dedicates
a special section for Guatemalan indigenous persons and other indigenous groups from around
the world, in which native persons speak in detail about protecting land naturally and reducing
carbon emissions (IWGIA, 2012). Furthermore, the Guatemalan group 13 Bactn Political
Council schedules meetings for global debate and consensus of indigenous thought, in order to
further indigenous rights and live in harmony with Mother Earth (IWGIA, 2012). Additionally,
Article 29 of the United Nations Declaration of Rights of the Indigenous Peoples sets
international guidelines for the Guatemalan government regarding the environmental protection
of indigenous persons, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights monitors
developments in the rights and violations of Guatemalan indigenous persons. Because the
environment plays such a vital role in the lives of Guatemalan indigenous persons, it is important
communities are allowed autonomy and full fundamental rights for themselves and their land.
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Literature Cited/Works Cited

Alexander. 2009. Wildlife conservation should not disregard the rights of indigenous persons.
General pets. Examiner.com. Received 3 July 2014 from
http://www.examiner.com/article/wildlife-conservation-should-not-disregard-the-rights-
of-indigenous-peoples

Acosta. 2012. Guatemala: Hydroelectric project energizes civil unrest. Politics. Spero
News. Received 3 July 2014 from
http://www.speroforum.com/a/DZVSOOZVXS45/72474-Guatemala-Hydroelectric-
project-energizes-civil-unrest#.U7r2TPldV8F

Cardaid. 2012. Introduction. Mining Conflicts and Indigenous Persons in Guatemala. Received 3
July 2014 from http://www.fian.org/what-we-do/case-work/guatemala-marlin-mine/

Cherofsky, Jessie. 2014. Indigenous Communities Connect Over Land Exploitation at Quechua-
Maya Intercambio. Cultural Survival. Received 3 July 2014 from
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/indigenous-
communities-connect-over-land-exploitation

Isaacs. 2012. Repression, Resistance, and Indigenous Rights in Guatemala. Natural Resource
Extraction in Latin America. Americas Quarterly. Received 3 July 2014 from
http://www.americasquarterly.org/content/repression-resistance-and-indigenous-rights-
guatemala
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IWGIA. 2012. Guatemala. IWGIA The Indigenous World. Received 3 July 2014 from
http://www.iwgia.org/images/stories/sections/regions/latin-
america/documents/IW2011/guatemala_2011.pdf

FIAN. 2014. Guatemala Marlin Mine. FIAN International. Received 3 July 2014 from
http://www.fian.org/what-we-do/case-work/guatemala-marlin-mine/

Mench, igoberta, and lisabeth ebray. .
London: Verso, 1984. Print.

United Nations. 1997. Indigenous people: Challenges facing the international community. DPI
Press Kit. Received 3 July 2014 from http://www.un.org/rights/50/people.htm