Although the worst happened on May 1st when an activist leading the community resistance to the construction of a dam in Santa Cruz de Barillas was killed and two others were injured, they have been suffering persecution and repression ever since they began opposing the project.

After the violent killing, which has not been clarified yet, the Guatemalan government decreed a state of emergency ratified by Congress on May 8th, which led to repression in the area, raids, arbitrary detentions, violent interrogations, rapes and forced disappearance.

This is the testimony of Daniel Pascual, leader of La Via Campesina Guatemala and Jaime Manuel, a resident of the area who opposes the project.

Their words reflect the absolute impunity of repression, which seems as if there was a municipal coup d’etat.

“Over a hundred arrest warrants were issued so most men are hiding in the mountains and women have suffered abuses by the military during the raids” said Pascual. “This is an attempt to stage a state of terror in the municipality where human rights groups have no access”.
Meanwhile, Jaime Manuel, of Mayan origin, explains the anguish that the local residents have been suffering for five years for legally opposing a project that would displace them from their territories.

“Men have fled from injustice, they have left their families and children. Some have migrated to Mexico”. He also said that several women who stayed at home were raped by the police and that children have been beaten with the gun buts.

The government “made the law and now they fail to comply with it” he said about the prior consultation to the affected communities. “We have decided to enforce our rights”.

La Via Campesina Guatemala and CEIBA-Friends of the Earth Guatemala will hold a press conference on Thursday to expose the current situation in Guatemala.

Photo: www.contrainjerencia.com