PBI-Guatemala has hosted six ACÉRCATE webinars over the last eight months with human rights defenders including Lesbia Artola (CCDA – Las Verapaces), Sandra Calel (UVOC) and Lorena Cabnal and Alex Vásquez (TZ’KAT).

Those videos are posted here.

While the videos are in Spanish, it is easy to watch them with English subtitles.

Follow these four steps:

1- Click on CC on the bottom right of your chosen video (this will activate auto-generated captions in Spanish).

2- Click on the Settings function next to the CC icon (it looks like a cog), which will bring up a menu that includes: Subtitles/CC Spanish (auto-generated).

3- Click on Subtitles/CC and scroll down in that menu to where it says Auto-translate.

4- Once you do that, you will find a list of languages that includes: English, French, German, Norwegian, and Dutch.

Acércate basically translates as come closer.

While the auto-generated translation isn’t always perfect, it will open up to you a good understanding of the issues being discussed in these conversations and allow us to “come closer” to these defenders.