PBI-Guatemala accompanies Nuevo Dia to meeting on deforestation with state officials

On December 18, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted on its Facebook page, “Yesterday we accompanied members of Nuevo Dia to the dialogue table with state institutions, including the Governor of Chiquimula, DIPRONA [the National Civil Police Division of Protection of Nature], INAB [the National Forestry Institute] and PDH [the Office of the Human Rights Prosecutor].”

PBI-Guatemala adds, “At the meeting they discussed the issue of immoderate logging in the municipalities of Jocotán and Camotán and the threats received by the communities that defend the forests.”

On December 3, PBI-Guatemala posted, “Today PBI accompanied Nuevo Día to different state institutions in Chiquimula, San Juan Ermita, Camotán and Jocotán where they requested the absolute closure of projects that have been installed illegally and without the consent of the communities.”

And on December 4, PBI-Guatemala posted, “Yesterday we visited the peaceful assembly called by Nuevo Dia on the Jupilingo Bridge to demand the immediate interruption of the excessive felling of the Lelá Obraje forest and the implementation of megaprojects that threaten Mother Earth and human rights.”

The Guardian has reported, “Forests mitigate climate change, but Guatemala has lost half its woodlands in the past 40 years – and deforestation rates are rising, in turn causing floods, landslides and erosion of farmland.”

The Nuevo Dia website notes, “We combine efforts to defend the territory still occupied by Ch’orti’ families. We are also known for articulating the proposal for the rural economic recovery in the eastern part of Guatemala.”

It adds, “We develop actions that allow the autonomy required for the Good Living of the Ch’orti’ People and their territorial co-inhabitants.”

PBI-Guatemala Project has accompanied Nuevo Dia since 2009.