PBI-Guatemala accompanies CCDA Verapaz, expresses concern about the safety of several Q’eqchi’ communities

On May 12, PBI-Guatemala posted: “PBI accompanies CCDA Verapaz. We are concerned about the security situation of several of its member communities.”

PBI-Guatemala has explained: “The Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) accompanies 150 Q’eqchi communities, supporting them in the resolution of conflicts related to the possession of the land they inhabit.”

On May 11, the CCDA tweeted: “Indigenous Q’eqchi’ communities carry out a peaceful demonstration to denounce the criminalization, persecution generated by the landed oligarchy in complicity with the State of Guatemala, dispossessing their ancestral lands.”

That tweet highlights: “Freedom for Jorge and Marcelino!”

The German newspaper Junge Welt has explained: “Jorge Coc Coc and Marcelino Xol Cucul, local indigenous authorities from the Choctun Basilá community in Cobán County and members of the CCDA, were sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2019 on fabricated charges of murder and attempted murder.”

Junge Welt has also noted: “The CCDA speaks of a total of 962 arrest warrants against its members and other agricultural workers in connection with resistance to land grabbing and major projects.”

PBI-Guatemala began to accompany the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) of the Verapaces in July 2018.