PBI-Guatemala accompanies Indigenous authorities at meeting with Governor on the Trifinio plan that lacks consent

Published by Brent Patterson on October 2, 2024October 2, 2024

PBI-Guatemala has posted:

“On Monday [September 30] #PBIaccompanied the Maya Ch’orti’ Indigenous Council of Olopa Chiquimula and the Indigenous Community of San Francisco Quezaltepeque to a meeting in the governor’s office of Chiquimula in relation to the Trifinio plan.

The meeting was also attended by community members from the municipalities of San Juan Ermita, Jocotán and Camotán, a member of Redsag [the National Network for the Defense of Food Sovereignty in Guatemala], government authorities and the PDH [the Human Rights Ombudsman].”

What is the Trifinio Plan?

The Guatemalan News Agency has explained: “The Trifinio Plan is a regional organization that is part of the Central American Integration System, which seeks to develop a process of environmental and territorial management in the regions shared by the three Central American countries.”

“The Trinational Commission of the Trifinio Plan (CTPT) [is] in charge of overseeing the execution of the Trifinio Plan and its permanent updating, within the framework of the Treaty between the Republics of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, which delimits the Trifinio Region and defines it as an indivisible ecological unit.”

The article adds: “[The Plan] seeks to contribute to Central American integration through joint action by Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, aimed at the integral, harmonious and balanced development of the border region of the three countries.”

Indigenous opposition

Prensa Comunitaria has previously reported: “The Board of Directors of the ancestral authorities of the indigenous community of San Francisco in the municipality of Quezaltepeque met urgently last Sunday, June 30, at the headquarters of the community, with the aim of learning about and discussing an agreement that the municipality signed with the Trifinio Plan on May 28. within the framework of the Trifinio Fraternidad Transboundary Biosphere project”

“After the meeting, the ancestral and indigenous community authorities of the municipality of Quezaltepeque, Chiquimula, stated that they categorically reject the agreement signed by the mayor of the Cachaga commune, Milton Napoleón Duarte Lara. The ancestral authorities point out that no consultation was carried out with the inhabitants about the signing of the agreement.”

The article also notes: “The authorities announced that they will go to the governor of Chiquimula, Luis Compá, to request accompaniment and an immediate response to the problem and seek to form a dialogue table. Finally, they called on international cooperation not to finance the aforementioned entities that intend to dispossess communities of their belongings and their natural resources.”

Accompaniment

The meeting with the governor of Chiquimula noted above could be the meeting that was accompanied by PBI-Guatemala earlier this week.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Indigenous Council of Maya Ch’orti’ de Olopa Chiquimula and the Indigenous Community of San Francisco Quezaltepeque.

We continue to follow this.