PBI-Guatemala has posted:

“On Saturday [May 18], #PBI accompanied the Maya Ch’orti’ Indigenous Council of Olopa Chiquimula in activities to socialize the findings of a research work conducted in conjunction with the OIE – Observatory of Extractive Industries (OIE).

A video was projected about the impacts of antimony mining exploitation in the Los Manantiales Quarry, the historical struggle of the Ch’orti’ people against it and the irregularities in the granting of the license. 

Photo: PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Mayan Indigenous Council Ch’orti’ of Olopa Chiquimula in activities to socialize the findings of a research work carried out in conjunction with the Observatory of Extractive Industries (OIE).

The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project is seeking new field volunteers.

Key dates in this process include:

June 28 – deadline to apply

Image from video for the report.

Front Line Defenders reports: “In 2023, the HRD Memorial documented the killings of 300 HRDs in 28 countries” including 142 in Colombia, 30 in Mexico, 19 in Honduras and 6 in Guatemala where Peace Brigades International accompanies defenders.

Among their findings:

Courageous commitment to LGBTQIA+ rights / Compromiso valiente con los derechos LGBTQIA+
 

 *** Register Today ***

Join us for a discussion with LGBTQIA+ human rights defenders from Guatemala, Honduras, and Indonesia on the current challenges they face and ways the international community might support their work & commitment.

PBI-Mexico has posted: “#CALL | Are you interested in the international accompaniment of people defending #Human Rights? Be a part of our field team! We receive applications until June 3, 2024. See the call: here”

Christopher Castillo, General Coordinator of ARCAH, is leading the movement in Honduras against so-called Zones for Employment and Economic Development (ZEDEs). These zones, which operate as independent territories, not subject to Honduran law, threaten to envelop vast swathes of Honduras; up to 35 percent of the country could be made into such zones.

For several years, a small coalition of groups - including Peace Brigades International - had been planning to host Jani Silva, perhaps the most threatened woman in Colombia’s Amazon rainforest.

Jani has been an outspoken environmental defender for years, challenging the expansion of oil operations and other threats to the Amazon Pearl, a biodiverse rainforest region along the Colombia-Ecuador border. She has received innumerable death threats of different varieties, and seen several of her fellow defenders killed for their activism as recently as late 2023.

PBI-Honduras has posted: “The Corruption Sentencing Court has just convicted 3 of the 6 former public officials accused in the ‘Fraud on Gualcarque’ case. We are observing the @COPINHHONDURAS [Civic Council of Grassroots and Indigenous Organizations in Honduras] sit-in, which requested a conviction for the 6 accused people.”

Photo: PBI-USA visits the encampment at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville), May 2, 2024.

Encampments are being organized on campuses across the United States, Canada, the U.K., and other countries in response to the Israeli military assault in which at least 34,596 Palestinians have been killed and 77,816 more injured.

The encampments have highlighted divestment as a demand.