UVOC: Organización Campesina Q’eqchi’, Poqomchi’ y Achi’ que lucha por la Resistencia y Emancipación: Resistencia para no dejar de ser pueblos Originarios.

On October 20, PBI-Guatemala posted: “Today PBI accompanied UVOC in the celebration of its 41st anniversary and struggle.”

Just prior to its anniversary, UVOC noted: “UVOC, a peasant organization, working tirelessly in favor of peasant and indigenous families in the Verapaces region, in an unequal context and with a level of exclusion from state policies. Q’eqchi y Poqomchi families continue to fight for the pursuit of a better condition of life.”

The PBI-Guatemala website notes: “PBI has been accompanying UVOC since 2005, following threats and serious intimidation against some of its members.”

“In the few last years, the accompaniment of UVOC has been extended to some of the communities that the UVOC advises, with PBI carrying out regular visits to the communities of Finca La Primavera, San Miguel Cotoxjá, Nueva Seamay, Aldea de San Nicolás, Santa Inés and Tres Cruces.”

It adds: “These communities, which peacefully pursue the legal right to land they inhabit, suffer constant threats of eviction and intimidation by companies working in the region, as well as processes of defamation and criminalization.”

In terms of broader context, The Guardian has reported: “A peace agreement in 1996 should have led to land redistribution, but a handful of powerful families still dominates the economy, and Guatemala remains one of the world’s least equal and most violent countries, with the largest 2.5% of farms occupying more than 65% of the land.”

That article notes that foreign-backed mining, dams and other extractive industries have meant the continued dispossession of lands from Indigenous peoples.

PBI-Canada extends warm greetings to UVOC on its 41st anniversary.

PBI-Guatemala Facebook post.

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