Land back webinar, July 15

Our next webinar will be on Thursday July 15 at 3 pm ET and will focus on an Indigenous Q’eqchi’ community in Guatemala struggling for their land back after being displaced by a military base.

To register for it, please click here.

The Indigenous Q’eqchi’ community of Chicoyogüito was displaced by a Guatemalan army base on July 28, 1968. Almost 53 years later, they have not given up the fight for their land.

Last month, 21 members of the community were arrested as they mobilized for their land back.

They will be in court on July 12.

Just a few days later, on July 15, our webinar will feature:

– a Q’eqchi’ woman from the community (who we can’t name at this point because of recent threats against her)

– human rights lawyer Édgar Pérez Archila who represents the displaced families

– World Beyond War Canada organizer Rachel Small on the displacement of Indigenous peoples by military bases around the world

It will be moderated by PBI-Canada Board member Marianna Tzabiras who was a field volunteer with the PBI – Guatemala Project in 1997-98.

The Canadian government has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars for peacekeeping training at this base (where 565 Indigenous people, including 90 children, disappeared in the 1980s by the military were found in unmarked, mass graves starting in 2012).

With their annual march coming up on July 28 to both commemorate their displacement and signal their ongoing commitment to their ancestral lands, this is a critical time to learn more about their struggle and find out what one can do in solidarity to help them.  

The webinar will have simultaneous English/Spanish translation. To register for it, please click here.

Brent, PBI-Canada