PBI-Guatemala accompanies ceremony with land titles of the Maya Poqomam people of Santa Cruz Chinautla

Published by Brent Patterson on July 11, 2024July 11, 2024

PBI-Guatemala has posted:

“On Sunday [July 7], #PBI accompanied in the act of ‘presentation of the historical titles of the communal lands of the Maya Poqomam people of Santa Cruz Chinautla’.

This research, initiated in 2018 with the expert lawyer Juan Carlos Pelaez, includes certificates of title dated in the years 1753 and 1899 that demonstrate the registration of these lands in the name of the common of Chinautla.

The ancestral authorities pointed out that the delivery of these title deeds is a historical milestone for the recognition of the Poqomam’ people and a beginning for the recovery of their lands and common goods.

The ceremony was also attended by ancestral authorities from other regions, several international and national organizations, as well as representatives of COPADEH [the Presidential Commission for Peace and Human Rights] and other government agencies.”

Factor 4 has also tweeted: “Mayan Poqomam Ancestral Authorities of Santa Cruz #Chinautla have presented historical titles of communal lands. Under the energies of 8 Ajmaq [a special day to prevent mistakes and to give thanks] and around the sacred fire, ancestral authorities of Iximulew, Poqomam villagers, representatives of social organizations, other Mayan peoples and the government handed over historical communal land titles of the Maya Poqomam people, dating back to 1773. These titles will be in the custody of the ancestral authorities in the indigenous mayor’s office and will be passed on to future generations.”

And María Guarchaj has tweeted: “Under the energies Wajxaqib’ Ajmaq ri tinamit xekikotik. In the Poqomam territory, Santa Cruz Chinautla, they carried out a historic act, handing over the titles to communal lands that had been dispossessed for many years. Through a map they show where the lands border.”

Colonization

The colonial period in Guatemalan history is customarily dated from 1524 to 1821.

The Minority Rights Group adds: “[The Spanish invasion in the 16^th century resulted in] the dispossession of lands and the use of Mayans for forced labour on cocoa and indigo plantations. Mayan leaders today refer to the massacres of the 1980s [during the internal armed conflict] as the ‘third holocaust’, the other two being the Spanish conquest and its aftermath, and the land dispossession during the Liberal revolution of the nineteenth century [1871 to 1944].”

PBI-Guatemala has previously commented on Indigenous peoples in Guatemala being “subjected to continuous dispossession dating back to the Spanish conquest”, “the looting of natural wealth”, the “history of dispossession” and that the “State’s response to [Indigenous resistance] has been characterized by repression” and “genocide” and “increased criminalization”.

Peace Brigades International has also noted: “International declarations and mechanisms on indigenous rights enshrine the right to self-determination for indigenous peoples and recognise the importance of land rights for the original inhabitants of many countries now governed by the descendants of colonisers. These rights are often the focus of conflict as powerful interests wish to exploit the natural resources found within and beneath traditional territories. Defenders of land rights, culture and natural resources can find themselves facing powerful interests and brutal opposition.”

The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) notes: “Guatemala has a population of 14.9 million people, of which 6.5 million (43.75%) belong to the 22 Mayan [including Poqomam, Ch’ortí, Ixil, Q’eqchí], one Garífuna, one Xinca and one Creole or Afro-descendant peoples.”