PBI-Guatemala has posted:

“#PBI accompanies, today August 9, #International Indigenous Peoples Day, the communities in resistance in Olopa.”

Prensa Comunitaria reported:

“In the same department, the authorities of the Ch’orti’ Indigenous Council of Olopa celebrated a Mayan ceremony, then a walk to accompany the delivery of sticks to the new authorities in the framework of the International Day of Indigenous Peoples. At the beginning of the walk, they remembered the years of resistance against mining and demanded that the State of Guatemala respect their rights as indigenous peoples.”

PBI-Guatemala has previously explained:

“The communities of Olopa are confronting the company American Minerals S.A., which was granted a 25-year antimony extraction license in 2012, without prior consultation.

The Maya Ch’orti’ Indigenous Authorities of Olopa and Quezaltepeque are working in two municipalities of the same name, in the department of Chiquimula. The Maya Ch’orti’ Indigenous Council of Olopa is formed by 14 communities and Quezaltepeque council by 15.

The Maya Ch’orti’ Indigenous Authorities of Olopa and Quezaltepeque are fighting for recognition as indigenous communities, the recovery of their spirituality, the defense of their territory, and the right to free, prior, and informed consultation before the entry of mining projects into their territory.”

PBI-Guatemala began accompanying the Maya Ch’orti’ Indigenous Authorities of Olopa and Quezaltepeque in June 2021. It has also accompanied the Nuevo Dia (‘New Day’ Ch’orti’ Campesino Central Coordinator/CCCND) since 2009.

By resolution 49/214 of December 23, 1994, the United Nations General Assembly decided that the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples would be observed on an annual basis on August 9 each year.