Photo: René Scup Morán, member and leader of the Guatemalan Education Workers Union (STEG), was killed in September 2024.
Latam Gremial reports: “Affiliates of Public Services International (PSI) expressed concern about the context of violence, insecurity and democratic fragility in Guatemala, and called for state guarantees for work, life and social rights.”
The article continues: “The affiliated and fraternal unions of Public Services International (PSI) in Guatemala released a statement in which they describe a scenario marked by violence, uncertainty and violation of rights, while reiterating their trajectory of struggle for social and labor justice.”
It further highlights: “The organizations also express their solidarity with the families of leaders and workers who have lost their lives and demand ‘serious, impartial and exhaustive’ investigations by the Ministry of the Interior, with the aim of identifying those responsible for the attacks against ‘legitimately elected” union leaders.’”
ITUC report
In its 2025 ITUC Global Rights Index: The World’s Worst Countries for Workers, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) documented: “Trade unionists were killed in five countries: Cameroon, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, and South Africa.”
That report documents the killings of three union activists in Guatemala in 2024: Ronaldo Geovany Gómez Godoy, a member of the National Union of Health Workers of Guatemala (SNTSG); René Sucup Morán, a union leader of Sindicato de Trabajadoras y Trabajadores de la Educación de Guatemala (STEG); and Anastacio Tzib Caal, a leader in the network of textile maquila unions in Guatemala.
Protection Mechanism
A protection mechanism for human rights defenders was established via Ministerial Accord on August 28, 2024.
Prensa Comunitaria has reported: “The policy defines a human rights defender as ‘any person who, individually or collectively, acts or seeks to act to promote and procure the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms,’ according to international standards. The document also emphasizes that the status of defender is determined exclusively by the activity carried out, regardless of whether he receives remuneration, belongs to an organization or acts occasionally or permanently.”
Further reading: PBI-Guatemala attends the presentation of new public policy for the protection of human rights defenders (November 14, 2025).
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