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The Independent
09-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Mayan people's battle with big companies for land ‘like fighting a monster'
The Mayan people's struggle to keep their ancestral land has been described as 'the fourth conquest' and like 'fighting a monster'. The indigenous community has been through continuous displacement, starting with the Spanish conquests in the 16th century. Now private investors are promising poor and marginalised indigenous communities development and jobs for land in the resource-rich nation. Mayans have shown 'remarkable' resilience in response, said policy adviser with the Irish charity Trocaire Chris O'Connell. 'Some Mayans I've read would talk about what's happening now in the country as the fourth conquest,' the Corkman said. 'There was the original conquest, or what they would call the Spanish invasion; there was the land reforms of the 19th century that displaced huge amounts of Mayan populations from their land; there was the 20th century genocide and armed conflict that saw thousands massacred; and now this current situation with mining, palm oil, hydro power – and rare earth minerals as possibly the next phase of this. 'I think when you live in Ireland, when you live in rich countries, you can close your eyes to your understanding of how wealth is acquired and the cost at which it is acquired. 'It can be quite different when you come to somewhere like this.' In the Qʼeqchi village of Chinebal Palestina, in a region dense with looming palm oil plantations, children chant in Spanish 'the people united will never be defeated'. At a Catholic-Mayan infused ceremony – involving flowers and burning candles representing the earth, air, fire, sun, night and life – a spiritual leader waves a stack of legal documents over the smoke to bless them as they pray for Mother Earth. These documents are described as a 'bombshell' that prove their ancestral land is rightfully theirs, said Esteban Hermelindo Cux Choc, a lawyer with the Committee of Peasant Unity (CUC). The 47-year-old said he began campaigning to keep their land when he was just 17. He has become a national representative for indigenous land rights and said he has come under pressure several times to give up the cause. 'Our slogan is for the big companies to get out of here – sugar cane and palm trees. It's not true that they bring development, they just try to exploit our people.' One of the community leaders Domingo Choc Tiul, 54, said the big companies are affecting their food, water, and animals. Asked what message he would have for people in different countries about palm oil production, he asked them to do their research on the damage they cause. 'If they want palm oil, they can harvest it themselves in their countries.' Just outside the main village stands a white cross surrounded by painted stones bearing the name of Jose Chaman Caal who 'died on October 31, 2020 for Mother Earth'. Locals said the 35-year-old was shot dead at the site of the cross, not far from where his wife and six children live, the youngest of whom was 6 months old when he was killed. His death sparked fear and intimidation among the community. 'If we try to do something, they put us in jail, they burn our houses, we get evicted from our places,' Mr Cux Choc said, describing their battle as 'like fighting a monster'. But they have hope that a legal opinion will clarify that they own their ancestral land. 'We now have papers that state this land is ours. They don't know we have papers like that. 'It's going to be a bombshell for them to know that this land is under our name, not the state.' The Polochic Valley in east Guatemala is home to extremely fertile lands on either side of the Polochic River and Lake Izabal, and where the Mayan Q'eqchi people have lived for centuries. In El Estor, local Mayans are concerned about the effects of mining on their farms, health and Lake Izabal. Mayans who spoke to the PA news agency feel strongly that no US company should be allowed to operate in their area while US President Donald Trump deports Guatemalans. Local Gabriel Xi Pochan said they are 'angry' at the thought of a US company taking minerals out of their area and damaging the environment. 'We worry about our kids, they are suffering from so many diseases because of the water. They're contaminating our waters, our rivers, and the state doesn't pay attention.' Sylvia Patricia Caal, 35, from Rubal Pec said that protecting the water supply was particularly important for her. She asked for authorities to listen to their 'indigenous request' not to mine in the area. 'I worry a lot because a lot of lives will disappear. Not only the forest, not only animals, but water. 'What really concerns me is water. Lately, in our community, it feels fresh, fresh air, we have water. But if they start operations, we'll have problems because of the dust discharge when they are operating. 'Our crops won't grow well and we won't be able to feed our animals,' she said. Gilberto Ichich Quiix of Rio Sauce said they don't want their territory to be 'invaded'. He said that the companies are allowed to 'do whatever they want in our land' and called on the Guatemalan government to consult with Mayans on whether to grant these permissions. 'We don't want any mining, we don't want any palm tree oil palms here, we want them out. We don't want any more damage, we just want to be (left) in peace.'
The Independent
09-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Irish aid for Guatemala more vital after Trump's cuts, says charity
Donald Trump's cuts to US development funds in climate-struck Guatemala make aid from the island of Ireland more vital, an Irish charity has said. The funding cuts would 'skew the playing field even further' and threaten the work of local partners helping with humanitarian projects, aid workers said. In 2023, the US gave more than 60 million dollars in humanitarian assistance to the Central American nation. Now, with more than 90% of USAID contracts expected to be cut, it will create further challenges in a country vulnerable to climate change's extremes. Martin Larrecochea, Trocaire country director for Guatemala, said that this would 'of course' put more pressure on the Irish charity to fill the gap. He said that Guatemala is 'highly dependent' on US aid, meaning projects and programmes on disaster risk reduction and food security 'are going to suffer'. Some of the local partners Trocaire works with on development initiatives have already been affected by the withdrawal of US funding and have asked them for more support. 'Of course there will be a higher demand,' he told the PA news agency. 'The US was one of the big donors for projects in relation to disaster risk reduction and food security… so that space will be empty in some way. 'I think that Trocaire is one of the important players on this, and we hope to be able to continue doing this with the support of people from Ireland.' Chris O'Connell, a policy adviser with Trocaire, said that the US funding cut would have a 'huge impact' on humanitarian work in Guatemala. 'Because of the generalised reduction in funding across the sector, it's going to impact everything, it's going to reduce everything,' he said. 'All of this skews the playing field even further in favour of powerful corporations, in favour of wealthy – and often in places like Guatemala – highly corrupt elites, those are going to be the beneficiaries.' Located on the eastern border of Mexico, Guatemala is suffering from longer dry seasons and heavier rains, affecting the haul of crops grown and sold. The sharp edge of extreme weather events have particularly affected the country's indigenous population, the Mayans, who are among the country's poorest. In central Guatemala, a small remote village of 24 Qʼeqchi Mayan families has had to adapt to shifting weather patterns. Called 'La Paz', meaning peace, it reflects the community's longing for safety after the country's violent conflict 40 years ago. They worry that stronger storms are putting their lives in danger and hotter dry seasons are pushing any opportunities further out of reach. Miriam Estela, 13, has started going to secondary school this year as her family struggles with failed cardamom and maize crops, forcing her father Julio to travel to different parts of Guatemala to look for work. Julio said Miriam, who likes mathematics and to analyse how to reduce climate change, wants to study teaching or engineering. 'Of course,' Miriam told PA when asked whether she wants to keep going to school. 'I like to study and am going to try to move forward according to what I like to study.' Asked whether she thinks it is fair that Guatemala is suffering the brunt of climate change but did not cause it, Miriam's mother, Ilma, said: 'I don't think it's fair. 'It's a problem that is affecting the family, not just mine, but in the community as well, and not just because of a lack of food, but we have diseases, sickness affecting the children such as diarrhoea, fever, coughing.' Miriam's father, Julio, said he worries for his children's future as climate change continues. 'I don't want my daughter to be in the same situation that I'm going through,' he said. 'Sometimes it's hard to distribute the money that I earn, it's not good enough to support my family. Julio Junior is studying in fifth grade. What he wants is for his children to be in a better position, and he's thinking of how to bring money into our house as well. 'Even though they don't know how climate change is coming or when we're going to have sun, when we're going to have rain or a storm, I do worry about the future of my children because they don't know what awaits them in the future.' Leonardo Cajbom, 44, is the Mayan spiritual leader for the village and is angry at how unbearable the heat has become in recent years. Cajbom's father was one of around 200,000 people killed during the country's conflict, where US-backed government forces 'disappeared' and killed Mayans. He was two years old when his father was killed, and it was only in 2014 that his father's body was identified and buried in La Paz. Asked whether he believed an older generation of Mayans fought to stay alive during the brutal genocide in the 1980s while the next generation now battled again for survival amid climate change, he said the difference was that people now had a chance to protect themselves. 'During the conflict, humans suffered more because they were killed,' he said. 'Now with climate change, they can protect themselves. During the conflict, you were not able to protect yourself because they used to hide into caves, and they used to kill you so you were not able to protect yourself.' Several initiatives have been implemented to try to help the community prepare for severe weather events, including mapping the area to see where rivers flood. A bridge across the river built five years ago replaced a wooden boat, and new radio equipment means they can be warned more quickly about a destructive weather event. Dr Conchita Reyes, social coordinator at Caritas Verapaces, said that the earth in La Paz is already cracking and that during the rainy season, the river levels threaten to reach the bridge into the village. She said that climate change mostly affects impoverished communities and is an issue 'we all need to pay attention to' because it is damaging farming and spreading diseases while also causing malnourishment in children. 'The community of La Paz is a community that, as its name suggests, has a very peaceful way of adopting measures that have helped them to reduce the damage of climate change, which goes with their culture of respect for the land.' Trocaire, which helped build the bridge and introduced a gender equality programme to encourage women to help make decisions on behalf of the community, is also helping Mayans in their struggle for land rights. During Guatemala's conflict, many Mayans moved from their land to safer regions, and when they returned, some found their land had been taken or sold. Irish Aid also helps Trocaire fund initiatives advocating for Mayans' fight to keep their lands and oppose attempts by corporations to acquire their land for palm oil plantations, agribusinesses, or other projects. In the town of El Estor, locals are afraid that mining will impact Lake Izabal, their farms and their health. Many said that if Donald Trump can deport Guatemalans, they can tell US companies they are not allowed to mine the land in their area. 'We are migrating as Guatemalans to the United States, but what are they doing in the US? They are evicting our colleagues,' Gabriel Xi Pochan from Rio Sauce said. 'The president is deporting our colleagues, but now he's asking permission to take our minerals. Now is the moment we have to say 'No more'. 'If this is how he is doing it, we have the right to say we don't want companies from the US.'
