PBI-Canada mourns the passing of Guatemalan water defender Abelino Salvador Mejía Cancino
The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has posted: “From PBI Guatemala we want to send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Avelino Salvador Mejía Cancinos, tireless Defender of Human Rights, of the Land and Territory, of Water and Mother Nature. His demise is a great loss to all. Rest in peace.”
We join our colleagues at PBI-Guatemala in expressing our sorrow at the loss of Abelino Salvador Mejía Cancinos.
On March 13, 2022, Abelino Salvador Mejía Cancino from the Council of Communities of Retalhuleu (CCR) joined a Peace Brigades International-Canada organized webinar on Defending the right to water from harm by the sugar industry in Guatemala. The webinar was hosted by PBI-Canada Board member Marianna Tzabiras and also featured Kerstin Reemtsma from PBI-Guatemala.
We also met Abelino in person on May 3, 2023, when a PBI-Canada delegation visited Guatemala. He introduced us to communities experiencing water shortages related to the water-intensive sugar industry and showed us drained and polluted rivers, as well as water being taken from this river.
Photo: With Abelino in Guatemala, May 2023.
PBI-Guatemala has previously explained: “The Retalhuleu Council of Communities (CCR) began to organize in 2015 as a result of adverse effects caused by the expansion of the monoculture of sugar and the use of large-scale agrochemicals and pesticides used by the mills in the region.” This situation caught our attention because Canada is a major importer of sugar grown in Guatemala that is then exported from Puerto Quetzal, 175 kilometres south-east of Retalhuleu.
We were inspired when Abelino stated: “We need people to realize that when they consume sugar, it has an impact on the life of the communities and on the right to water for all. We call for the consumption of what is healthy and good produced by the campesinos and not products made by the big companies.”
Four members of the CCR, including Abelino, had been criminalized since November 2019 due to their advocacy. Peace Brigades International began accompanying the four defenders in April 2020. It was not until May 30, 2023, that they were fully acquitted.
Video still from a short video explaining the struggle.
We extend our condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Abelino.
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