Say No to State Department funds for Guatemalan Army

Join NISGUA and GHRC in calling on Secretary of State John Kerry to deny certification of DOS funds to Guatemala

"We need more teachers and not military brigades." Photo: PrensaComunitaria

Guatemala’s UN Truth Commission report not only attributes 93% of all human rights violations and acts of violence to the Guatemalan State, which included over 600 massacres, it also finds the US responsible for playing a large role in providing military assistance and training to the Guatemalan Army during the conflict. It was not until 1990, seven years after the most violent period of Guatemala's internal armed conflict, that the US enacted a full ban on Department of State aid to the Guatemalan Army. Over the past two decades, restrictions on the ban have been weakened. Now, we face the possibility of seeing the restrictions lifted completely.

Currently, State Department funds may only go to the Guatemalan Army if the Secretary of State certifies that the Army:

1. Has a narrowly defined mission focused on border security and external threats, and a credible plan to end the Army’s involvement in internal law enforcement.
2. Cooperates with civilian investigations and prosecutions of human rights cases involving current and retired military officers.
3. Publicly discloses all military archival documents related to the internal armed conflict in a timely manner in response to requests by civilian judicial authorities.

In addition, this year, the US Congress approved special conditions for reinstatement of aid, contingent upon the Guatemalan government taking credible steps toward implementing the 2010 reparations plan for the communities affected by the Chixoy Hydroelectric Dam. Over 3,000 people were affected by the dam, including 444 people massacred and several communities completely inundated when the dam was built in the early 1980s.

Otto Pérez Molina in Santa Cruz Barillas with soldiers and special forces Kaibiles.
Photo: Simone Dalmass

The persecution, criminalization and repression carried out by Otto Pérez Molina’s military government and the Guatemalan state aim to minimize or put an end to the opposition to the implementation of mining exploitation projects.  --- Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango (ADH) 

Why should the US maintain restrictions on military aid?

• Survivors have not seen justice for the atrocities carried out by the military. This neglect has been demonstrated by survivors of the Guatemalan genocide who have filed a complaint in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights against the Guatemalan State for the denial of justice to witnesses involved in the genocide trial
• Peaceful communities have suffered military repression, and leaders are increasingly criminalized for their work defending human rights, territory and natural resources.
• Guatemala clearly does not meet conditions necessary to receive military aid defined by the US Department of State, as the Guatemalan Army expands its role in law enforcement, and refuses to disclose some documents related to the internal armed conflict.

Take action today!

Download NISGUA's Background on US Military Aid to Guatemala for additional information. Print our petition in English or Spanish, circulate it in your community and mail to: NISGUA PO Box 70494 Oakland, CA 94612.

International community calls for Rubén Herrera's immediate release

More than one year after President Molina declared a state of siege in Santa Cruz de Barillas, repression continues against community leaders resisting the Cambalam hydroelectric project, operated by Spanish owned Hidro Santa Cruz. Violence and criminalization against leaders defending territory and the right to self determination has been on the rise in Barillas since the 2007 community consultation rejecting large-scale development projects in their territory.   

Since March, NISGUA has reported on the detention of Rubén Herrera, community leader and member of the Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango for the Defense of Natural Resources (ADH). Herrera has been unjustly imprisoned for more than two months on trumped up charges related to resistance to the Cambalam project. Despite requests by Guatemala's Public Prosecutor to dismiss the case due to a lack of evidence, the judge ordered the case forward.

In response, NISGUA together with the Guatemala Human Rights Commission, gathered more than 2,800 signatures from 52 countries demanding Rubén's immediate release and an end to the criminalization of human rights defenders.  

Rubén Herrera, unjustly imprisoned since March 15

The signatures were delivered to Guatemala's Public Prosecutor's office in anticipation of  Rubén's May 30 pre-trial hearing. Originally slated to be heard in Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango, Rubén's hearing was recently transferred to Guatemala City.

“The decision of the Supreme Court to transfer Rubén Herrera's case to Guatemala City is a favorable resolution because it is an opportunity for the case to be heard in a specialized court, which gives us greater confidence that the false accusations presented by the Hidro Santa Cruz will be disproven,” stated Alba Cecilia Mérida, Herrera's life partner and human rights activist. “It means that Rubén will have a greater possibility of due process in the application of justice.”

May 1 march in Huehuetenango: "No More Repression, Liberty for Rubén Herrera"

In April, the persecution of leaders resisting the Cambalam project continued with the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pedro Mateo, cultural leader and prominent defender of the 2007 community consultation in Barillas. Community members from eight municipalities in northern Huehuetenango mobilized during three days in order to locate Pedro Mateo's remains.

Just a few weeks later, terror once again gripped residents of Barillas when community leader Mynor López was detained by plain clothed men, later determined to be police officers, and forced into an unmarked vehicle. Some residents, believing López was being abducted, mobilized to ensure his release. In response anti-riot police already in the community fired at the crowd with tear gas. In a press release, the ADH denounced the irregular detention of Mynor López as well as the ongoing criminalization of leaders.

The state's pattern of systematic criminalization and persecution of community leaders defending territory was demonstrated again in early April when President Molina implemented of another state of siege in four municipalities surrounding Tahoe Resources' Escobal project, located in San Rafael Las Flores, Santa Rosa. As in Barillas, leaders demanding the right to consultation have been targeted; 12 members of the committee organizing community referenda in San Rafael Las Flores had their homes raided and searched during the weeks long state of siege.

"Instead of listening to the legitimate demands of the people, the state and the companies have implemented a strategy to discredit and delegitimize peaceful community struggles in defense of life and territory," said Francisco Rocael Mateo of the ADH. "This criminalization is a strategy to demobilize community resistance."

Read NISGUA's full press release in English and Spanish.


NISGUA works closely with the Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango (ADH) in their efforts to promote self-determination and alternative visions of development in the highland department of Huehuetenango. The ADH receives international human rights accompaniment from NISGUA through the ACOGUATE project and participated in NISGUA's 2010 tour.

Take Action: Demand Guatemalan Authorities Halt Criminalization and Persecution of Political Prisoner, Rubén Herrera

Rubén Herrera of the ADH Photo: James Rodríguez, mimundo.org

Sign the petition condemning the capture of Rubén Herrera and calling for his immediate release.

Since Friday, March 15, human rights defender and member of the Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango for the Defense of Natural Resources (ADH), Rubén Herrera, has been unjustly imprisoned for alleged crimes committed in relation to community resistance of the Cambalam hydroelectric dam, operated by Hidro Santa Cruz. Citing 12 charges, including kidnapping and terrorism, a Guatemalan judge denied Herrera's bail, ordering the case move to pretrial proceedings on May 30, 2013.

During the past year, 11 community leaders engaged in peaceful and legitimate resistance to the Cambalam hydroelectric project have been illegally imprisoned on trumped-up charges, while more than 20 individuals continue to have arrest warrants pending against them.

The arrest and imprisonment of Rubén Herrera is the most recent example of the systematic criminalization and persecution of community leaders and human rights defenders working in defense of territory and communities' right to self-determination. Perhaps most notable are the actions of the Public Prosecutor's Office, the entity responsible for prosecuting the case. During the arraignment, they argued the case should not continue as there is insufficient evidence linking him to the alleged crimes. Despite the lack of evidence, the judge ordered that the case against Herrera move forward.

Peaceful, legitimate and ongoing community opposition to the Cambalam hydroelectric project is not new. In fact, the 2007 community consultation in the municipality of Santa Cruz de Barillas, Huehuetenango voted overwhelmingly against foreign-owned large-scale development projects, also known as mega-projects, in their territories. Despite this clear message, in 2010 the Guatemalan government granted an operating license to Hidro Santa Cruz, Guatemalan subsidiary of Spanish-owned Hidralia Energía. Ongoing community resistance to the project was met with state repression in May 2012, when martial law was declared in Barillas. Since then, the criminalization of community leaders has intensified, demonstrating a clear strategy on the part of the Guatemalan Government to delegitimize peaceful resistance in order to push through harmful mega-projects.

For more than five years, Rubén and the ADH have been coordinating the efforts of communities, organizations and local authorities to pursue an alternate vision of development for the highland department of Huehuetenango. In addition to helping organize over 25 community consultations in Huehuetenango alone, the ADH together with the Western Peoples' Council (CPO), presented the groundbreaking legal challenge against the constitutionality of Guatemala's 1997 Mining Law for lack of prior consultation with indigenous peoples.

The ADH’s work to construct alternatives and promote democratic participation in the key issues Guatemala is facing today is a response to a historic wrong committed against indigenous peoples. The current trial of former Guatemalan leaders for genocide highlights the state’s violation of the basic rights of indigenous and rural people in Guatemala. Unfortunately, today’s repression of peaceful and legitimate social movements in defense of territory and towards self-determination is using distinct, yet disturbingly familiar strategies to criminalize and delegitimize the voice of indigenous peoples.

NISGUA works closely with the Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango (ADH) in their efforts to promote self-determination and alternative visions of development in the highland department of Huehuetenango. The ADH receives international human rights accompaniment from NISGUA through the ACOGUATE project and participated in NISGUA's 2010 tour.