Image by Amber Bracken.

We have previously attempted to identify the weapons used by RCMP Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) officers when they raided Wet’suwet’en territory in November 2021. Specifically, we have tried to identify the weapons pointed at land defenders in a tiny house on the territory on November 19, 2021.

More information is now coming forward as the abuse of process case is heard in a court in Smithers, British Columbia.

The Tyee reports: “On Friday [January 12], the court heard from Cpl. Sebastien Pilote and Sgt. Ryan Arnold, who led the RCMP’s Emergency Response Team, or ERT, as they arrested people at the two structures on Nov. 19, 2021.”

That article continues: “[Arnold] said that RCMP snipers, carrying carbine assault rifles modified to make them more effective at longer distances, were present to provide ‘a quick response unit’ for officers making the arrests.”

It also notes: “Once the door [to the tiny house] was breached [with a chainsaw], Pilote stood in the doorway, pointing a rifle with a flashlight in the ‘ready position,’ which he testified meant a slightly lowered angle.”

The photograph at the top of this article by Amber Bracken, a photojournalist inside the tiny house, appears to show Cpl. Pilote pointing his gun inside the structure.

These screenshots from video posted by CBC from documentary filmmaker Michael Toledano shows us more of this weapon.

We had previously identified this as possibly the Heckler and Koch AG-C/EGLM (40 mm enhanced grenade launching module) that can be attached to any AR-15 type rifle, including the C8 carbine used by the RCMP.

Photo: Heckler & Koch AG-C/GLM.

It’s possible though that this weapon is a Heckler & Koch HK269 40 mm launcher (which may well just be a variant of the AG-C/GLM).

Image from Blue Line Magazine.

PAI Defense says: “The HK269 is an enhanced development of the GLM/M320 in calibre 40 mm x 46 (low velocity) with the option to unlock the barrel either towards the left or right. The interfaces to mount it on assault rifles and the option to use it as a stand-alone weapon remain unchanged. Application range of up to 350 metres. The HK269 is suitable for both lethal and non-lethal ammunition.”

Our initial assessment was that the weapon was mounted to a C8 carbine rifle, but it’s possible that it was deployed as a standalone weapon.

After Cpl. Pilote points his weapon inside the tiny house, the video by Toledano posted by CBC News shows a second C-IRG officer pointing his weapon inside the structure.

We continue to express our concern about the militarized response by RCMP C-IRG officers against Indigenous land defenders upholding their rights on unceded territory against the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline.

We also continue to highlight that the United Nations Committee of the Elimination of Racial Discrimination urged Canada, prior to this November 2021 raid, to withdraw the RCMP from Wet’suwet’en traditional lands and “to prohibit the use of lethal weapons, notably by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, against indigenous peoples.”

On January 3, Espacio OSC tweeted:

“Today we met with @MaryLawlorhrds Special Rapporteur of the @UN on Human Rights Defenders and @UNHCHRmexico, to share the progress of the Working Group for the strengthening of the @Mecanismo_MX.

This Working Group represents a potential good practice of dialogue and collaboration between government entities and civil society in the protection of defenders in #México and the region, especially in the design of public policies.

We appreciate the willingness of @MaryLawlorhrds and her team to learn about the Working Group and provide technical support for the benefit of #HRD defenders in #México, as well as to specifically monitor the context of violence they face.”

Mary Lawlor then tweeted:

“I was very happy to learn more about the progress of the working group for the strengthening of the @Mecanismo_MX for the protection of HRDs and journalists in #Mexico. This collective work is fundamental and must continue @MisionMexOI [the Mexican Mission to the United Nations in Geneva].”

Espacio OSC

PBI-Mexico has previously explained: “Espacio_OSC is a coordination platform of 18 civil society organizations from throughout Mexico.”

It adds: “These organizations advocated jointly for the creation of the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, and they now monitor its implementation. PBI provides accompaniment and technical support to the platform.”

The Protection Mechanism

PBI-Mexico has also previously explained that a Protection Mechanism was created for journalists in Autumn 2010.

Later, the Law for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists was signed into law in June 2012. That law obliges both federal and state authorities to protect the rights of journalists and human rights defenders.

In March 2020, PBI-Mexico commented “the Mechanism continues to demonstrate notable deficiencies and concerning failures.”

The year before that, PBI also highlighted: “The Mechanism can’t possibly address its shortcomings with its current budget and staffing levels. Providing additional funding would be the first step the Mexican government can take to ensure the Mechanism has the resources necessary to manage its rapidly growing caseload.”

For more, please see the report Turning the Tide on Impunity: Protection and Access to Justice for Journalists and Human Rights Defenders in Mexico.

Journalists and human rights defenders killed in Mexico

On January 11, the Washington Post reported: “According to Article 19, an international organization that protects journalists, 163 journalists have been murdered in the country since 2000.”

In their 2023 Round-Up, Reporters Without Borders notes: “In Mexico, four deaths were recorded in 2023, less than half the number recorded in 2022 (11). However, this does not mean that security has improved for journalists there, as demonstrated by the kidnappings of three reporters and the armed attacks against four journalists towards the end of 2023. Given the record number of cases of violence in 2022, some journalists have been more systematic in calculating the risks to which they are exposed, which implies more self-censorship and the spread of information black holes.”

And in November 2023, following the murder of land and environmental defender Higinio Trinidad de la Cruz, Global Witness highlighted: “Between 2012 and 2022, 185 land and environmental defenders have been killed in Mexico.”

PBI-Mexico

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project opened in 1998. Their Annual Report 2022 notes that they had 20 field volunteers from 11 countries with 8 people in the support office and 5 people who were part of the team outside of Mexico.

For more, please see their website.

Video still: Arevalo moments after being sworn-in.

The Associated Press reports: “Bernardo Arévalo was sworn in as Guatemala’s president on Monday [January 15] minutes after midnight despite months of efforts to derail his inauguration, including foot-dragging and rising tensions right up until the transfer of power [that was delayed by more than nine hours].”

“Arévalo arrives in the presidency after winning August’s elections by a comfortable margin [winning with 58 percent of the vote]. But nothing has been straightforward since, with Attorney General Consuelo Porras and the establishment forces observers say she represents throwing one legal challenge after another at Arévalo and his party.”

The article adds: “That Arévalo made it to within a day of his inauguration was largely owed to thousands of Guatemala’s Indigenous people, who took to the streets last year to protest and demand that Porras and her prosecutors respect the Aug. 20 vote.”

Photo: “After #53 days of resistance, the women of the Q’eqchi’ people add their voices ‘Corruption despoils our rivers, out with coup plotters’ they express in the march that heads to #MP [Public Ministry].” November 23, 2023.

“Ni un paso atrás” (not a step back)

Indigenous peoples were on the streets this Sunday as well.

The BBC notes: “The Solemn Session, as the presidential inauguration ceremony is called, was scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.”

Agence France Presse reports: “The delay in the inauguration sparked discontent among Arévalo’s supporters, including many indigenous people, who, amid shoving with the police, pushed their way towards the parliament headquarters.”

At 3:20 pm local time, Maya Q’eqchi’ journalist Carlos Ernesto Choc posted this dramatic video of people chanting “ni un paso atrás”.

Around 3:54 pm, Quorum tweeted: “Police repression. The @PNCdeGuatemala [National Civil Police] repressed with tear gas the citizen protest demanding the inauguration of the new Congress and the elected president Bernardo Arévalo.”

El Pais reports: “The international delegations present in Guatemala signed a document in support of the president and democracy that was read by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, at around 5 p.m.”

That statement said: “We call on the Congress of the Republic to comply with its constitutional mandate to hand over power as required by the Constitution today to president-elect Bernardo Arevalo and Karin Herrera.”

Almagro was accompanied by Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs, the president of Costa Rica, the vice president of Brazil, and the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Choc then tweeted at 6 pm: “The Izabal resistance is present in Guatemala City, joining the resistance of the indigenous peoples and asking more people to join. They are located on 8th Avenue and 9th Street, Guatemala City, Zone 1.”

By 12:30 am in Guatemala, just after Arevalo was sworn into office, the Embassy of Canada in Guatemala tweeted: “We congratulate the President @BArevalodeLeon! Today’s inauguration demonstrates the unwavering commitment of the people of Guatemala to democracy. …Canada looks forward to working with you to strengthen prosperity, security, human rights, the rule of law and safe and regular migration.”

Photo by Carlos Ernesto Choc. At about 1:16 am, people await President Arevalo.

Ilan Palacios Avineri comments in Time magazine: “To grasp the importance of Bernardo’s inauguration, we must first understand the Ten Years of Spring (1944-1954), a vital but frequently ignored era when his father, Juan José Arévalo Sr., became Guatemala’s first democratically-elected president. …The CIA-orchestrated coup of 1954, led by Castillo Armas [against Arevalo’s successor Jacobo Arbenz], was disguised as a fight against communism but fundamentally aimed to protect U.S. economic interests in the region. The abrupt end of the revolution plunged Guatemala into an extended period of authoritarian rule and civil strife [that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people].”

Now, almost 70 years after the June 18-27, 1954, coup, Arevalo has been sworn in as the President of Guatemala.

We continue to follow this situation.

Peace Brigades International had an accompaniment project in Guatemala from 1983 to 1999. It closed following the Peace Accords that concluded the 1960 to 1996 internal armed conflict. The current project opened in 2003. The groups and individuals currently accompanied by PBI-Guatemala can be found here.

Video: RCMP C-IRG officers arrest land defenders Sleydo’ and Shaylynn Sampson at gunpoint on November 19, 2021.

We are monitoring news reports and social media posts on the trial of three Indigenous land defenders – Sleydo’ (Wet’suwet’en), Shaylynn Sampson (Gitxsan), and Corey Jocko (Mohawk) – charged with criminal contempt for their opposition to the construction of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory without consent.

They were arrested on November 19, 2021, during a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) raid on Wet’suwet’en territory.

CBC now reports: “A prominent Wet’suwet’en leader and two pipeline opponents were found guilty of criminal contempt of court for breaking an injunction against impeding work on the Coastal GasLink pipeline. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Michael Tammen read his decision to the court in Smithers on Friday [January 12].”

“Tammen found the accused guilty of one charge each of criminal contempt of court for blocking access to Coastal GasLink pipeline construction in defiance of a court order. In December 2019, the B.C. Supreme Court granted Coastal GasLink an injunction barring protesters from impeding the construction.”

The Tyee adds: “While civil contempt requires proof that an accused was aware of and deliberately defied a court order, criminal contempt is distinguished from civil contempt when it is carried out in a public way ‘that would tend to depreciate the court’s authority,’ Crown prosecutor Kurtas Welch said.”

That article then explains: “Criminal contempt penalties can include fines or imprisonment.”

Further reading: “Canada’s legal landscape continues to be heavily in favour of corporations when it comes to court injunctions during conflicts with First Nations over resource development, according to a report released Tuesday by an Indigenous-led think-tank.” (CBC, October 29, 2019).

Abuse of process application

The CBC article adds: “Sleydo’, Sampson, and Jocko have filed abuse of process applications with the court on these charges, alleging the RCMP used excessive force when they were arrested and that they were treated unfairly while in custody.”

In this interview with Brandi Morin, Sleydo’ describes how police forcibly cut a cedar bracelet and medicine bag from her at an RCMP detachment after she was arrested. Sleydo’ says four or five RCMP officers physically restrained her and cut the medicine bag off her body as about ten officers watched.

The CBC also notes: “Tammen will hear the applications before sentencing and the proceedings started after Tammen issued his decision.”

The court filing on Charter violations related to C-IRG violence

A Gidimt’en Checkpoint media release in February 2023 highlighted: “The RCMP/CIRG’s enforcement tactics impaired the Applicant’s individual Charter rights, but the police misconduct also displays a systemic disregard for Indigenous rights and sovereignty and the Charter more generally.”

At the time of the filing, Sleydo’ commented: “Society is rightly concerned with how a special unit of RCMP (C-IRG) acts with impunity, using racist language and violence against unarmed indigenous women. Now it’s in the courts hands to decide if this is acceptable.”

On March 2, 2023, just after the filing, The Tyee reported: “RCMP did not immediately respond to The Tyee’s request for comment about the application to have charges stayed.”

Further reading: Wet’suwet’en land defenders apply for charges to be stayed, alleging Charter violations (Global News, March 2, 2023).

RCMP used “overwatch” in November 2021 raid

On January 12, The Tyee reporter Amanda Follett Hosgood tweeted:

Photo: An RCMP C-IRG officer points what appears to be a C8A3 Carbine Automatic Rifle at Sleydo’, Sampson, other land defenders and journalists inside a cabin on November 19, 2021. The weapon is capable of firing 65 bullets per minute. Photo by Amber Bracken.

Video.

Reporting on the RCMP C-IRG raid in January 2019, The Guardian noted: “Canadian police were prepared to shoot Indigenous land defenders blockading construction of a natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia, according to documents seen by the Guardian.”

That article explains that lethal overwatch is “a term for deploying an officer who is prepared to use lethal force.” It also notes that an RCMP planning document for the raid seen by The Guardian revealed “police intelligence indicated that there was ‘no single threat indicating that [land defenders] will use firearms’.”

Following that raid, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, under its Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedure issued this decision that:

The hearing that began on Monday January 8 is expected to continue until Friday January 19. We continue to follow this.

On January 12, PBI-Colombia posted:

“Attacks and defamations persist against @Ccajar. Urgent #guarantees and quick and effective investigations on material and intellectual authorship [are needed].”

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has accompanied the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR) since 1995.

El Espectador reports:

“Despite the fact that there are currently protection measures from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the Lawyers’ Collective, the attacks against their lawyers, defenders of serious human rights cases, continue.

On Monday 8 January, Santiago Salinas reported having been the victim of a physical attack against him and his wife, Erika Isabel Prieto Jaime, also a human rights defender.

Photo: CAJAR lawyer Santiago Salinas.

The incident took place in a supermarket on 26th Street in Bogotá at 3:10 p.m. The couple noticed the presence of two women talking about them and pointing at them. Prieto’s reaction was to record with his cell phone to record the situation, because they have not already suffered multiple aggressions and threats against their lives.

The lawyer says that he immediately recognized the women and recalled that they had been present in different institutional spaces of the Cajar, generating scandals and sabotage. But this time, as seen in a video, they did much more than verbal aggression.

When the couple began to record the two women, the lawyer details, “they reacted violently and began to shout that they knew who I was, they mentioned the place where my wife worked and precise information about other members of the Cajar.”

In addition, they say that they were later accused of having hacked their cell phones and assured that they all have a complaint in the Prosecutor’s Office.

Likewise, Salinas says: “They yelled at those present and the security people to call the police. I started recording after that and the older lady takes a coffee that she had in her hand that is quite hot and throws it at me.” As a result, the lawyer suffered burns to his chest.

Video.

The organization notes that the affected people are part of the team that monitors the interference practices and impacts of some companies in the ultra-processed and sweetened beverages industry, as well as processes of socio-environmental impacts in territories by transnational companies. This, within the framework of the campaign “Sweet Poison – the antidote is the truth”.

After the incidents, the defenders explain that the two women tried to escape, but the supermarket’s security prevented them from doing so, following the instructions of Erika Prieto, who asked to wait for the police presence.

The police squad took the aggressors to the CAI [Immediate Attention Commands of the Colombian National Police] of Teusaquillo to collect their data and later to the URI [Immediate Reaction Unit of the Attorney General’s Office] of Puente Aranda. There, Cajar’s lawyer denounced the incident and informed the authorities that he had previously seen his aggressor during a public hearing in the Congress of the Republic on business and human rights.

Background

Cajar also indicates other acts allegedly carried out by the two women.

The first, in March 2023, during an event on human rights and business, two women harassed members of Cajar, including lawyer Yessika Hoyos and Diana Marcela Otavo.

The second, at the same event, is said to have followed other human rights defenders such as Diana Otavo and Paz Gaviria, interrupted a public hearing in Congress and harassed the press coordinator of Cajar in La Vega (Cundinamarca). Later, the women allegedly chased Diana Otavo from a television station to the headquarters of former congressman Gustavo Bolívar.

In view of these incidents, the human rights organization asks the Colombian State to take measures to guarantee the safety of those affected and demands that the Prosecutor’s Office carry out a comprehensive investigation to clarify the facts and apply sanctions, underlining the importance of protecting human rights defenders in the country.”

The full article can be read at Defensor de derechos humanos del Cajar denuncia ser víctima de ataque físico (El Espectador, January 10, 2024).

Further reading: Ataque físico a abogado defensor de derechos humanos (Agencia Prensa Rural) and Ataques y hostigamiento contra el abogado del CAJAR Santiago Salinas Miranda y Erika Isabel Prieto Jaime (International Federation for Human Rights/FIDH).

Photo: COPINH general coordinator Bertha Zúñiga Cáceres holds the letter.

On January 8, the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) posted on X/Twitter:

“We support the initiative of #South Africa by bringing Israel before the [International Court of Justice] for violations of agreements on genocide in the #Gaza Strip. International solidarity is essential to fight for peace and the restoration of all violated rights. #FreePalestine”

Then on January 11, it also posted:

“#Attention #Honduran social organizations present letter of request to President Xiomara Castro to support South Africa’s case against Israel for genocide in Gaza.

Israel has bombed hospitals, homes, UN refugee centers, temples, churches and mosques, and escape routes, killing thousands of Palestinians, including thousands of children.

South Africa is right to charge that, under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Israel’s actions “are genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite and specific intent (…) to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza…”

We the #Lenca people raise our voice against oppression and injustice. We urge the State of #Honduras to accompany the case of South Africa and let’s put a Stop to Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people!

Full letter | https://bit.ly/47vJnlA”

The co-founder of COPINH Berta Caceres was murdered on March 3, 2016.

Front Line Defenders has documented the attacks and harassment of COPINH members, including the killing of Nelson García on March 15, 2016.

Global Witness has reported that 14 land and environmental defenders were killed in Honduras in 2022. This is the context in which COPINH works.

COPINH’s coordinators have been accompanied by the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project since May 2016.

On January 8, PBI-Guatemala posted:

“On Sunday [January 7], #PBI accompanied the Indigenous Community of San Francisco Quezaltepeque at its annual assembly to elect the board of directors for the 2024 term.”

On Facebook, the community posted:

“GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY

Quezaltepeque held its ordinary assembly to elect the board of directors for the period 2024, until January 6, 2025 in which there was re-election of president Humberto de la Cruz Lopez, and other members were integrated for the integration of the board of directors, was accompanied by the indigenous council of Olopa, and the ancestral authorities of Quezaltepeque and international peace brigades PBI, the population is encouraged dra accompaniment wings actions to take this year, the indigenous community moves forward

The delivery of the rod of authority is scheduled on January 21 in the central park of Quezaltepeque

A united people will never be defeated and we will defend our territory.”

PBI-Guatemala has previously explained:

“The Indigenous Community of San Francisco Quezaltepeque is located in the municipality of the same name, in the department of Chiquimula. It belongs to the Maya Ch’orti’ people and is represented by a board of directors composed of 30 ancestral authorities elected annually by the 23 communities and 96 hamlets that make up the community.”

They add:

“Their struggle is for the land, 243 caballerías [1 caballeria = 78.58 hectares] bought between 1710 and 1805, in the name of the common people and natives of San Francisco Quezaltepeque. However, the majority of these lands are not recognised by the municipality, which is why their struggle revolves around the recovery of this ancestral land. They also defend their territory against the entry of extractive projects, especially mining.”

PBI-Guatemala has also highlighted that the Indigenous community “is resisting a mining company working in the municipality: Minerales Sierra Pacifico S.A. [that] has five exploration licenses for gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc.”

This September 2023 media release notes that the “local company Minerales Sierra del Pacifico S.A., [is] a wholly-owned subsidiary of Radius…”

Radius Gold Inc. is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Notably, PBI-Guatemala also accompanies the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya that set up a 24-hour a day blockade in March 2012 in opposition to the Radius Gold Inc. owned El Tambor mine also known as the Progreso VII Derivada mine.

While Radius Gold sold this mine to US-based Kappes, Cassiday & Associates in August 2012, Radius retains an economic interest in the mine. Radius Gold has noted: “Upon commercial production, KCA agreed to make quarterly payments to the Company [Radius] based on the then price of gold and the number of ounces produced from the property.”

Photo: PBI-Canada met with the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya in May 2023.

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Guatemala has now posted: “We extend the call to January 28 to select volunteers who want to accompany human rights organizations!”

More information on this here.

And PBI-Honduras has posted: “Want to know more about volunteering at PBI Honduras? Read the call on our website and learn about the world behind volunteering at PBI here.”

Their application deadline is January 31.

We remain attentive to upcoming calls from PBI-Mexico (more at Become a Field Volunteer) and PBI-Colombia for field volunteers.

Last May, PBI-Colombia welcomed these three new field volunteers.

And when these PBI-Colombia field volunteers joined in late 2022, they stated: “We consider it an exceptional opportunity to accompany different farmer, indigenous and Afro-descendant organizations in their struggles with land rights issues, their pursuits of justice for victims of the conflict, and their work with families of forcibly disappeared persons. Parting from our own experiences, we connect with each other through our motivation to contribute to the construction of a fairer world and our desire to learn about the organizations that have been working towards the consolidation of a more just society for so many decades.”

Apply today! Help spread the word!

Thank you very much for your support last month during our year-end fundraising campaign.

Your donations totalled $15,475. which significantly helps us to be able to meet our 2024 budget of $89,500.

If you didn’t have the opportunity to donate in December, you can do so now here. This online donation page also provides the option to become a monthly donor (and, as always, a big thank you to our 56 monthly donors).

It is also possible to mail a cheque to us at: Peace Brigades International, 211 Bronson Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, K1R 6H5.

Peace Brigades International-Canada, with our 1 staffperson and 12 volunteers, contributes to a network of Peace Brigades International entities in 21 countries (including Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico) which collectively has about 35 staff, 465 volunteers and an estimated budget of $5 million to provide accompaniment to approximately 53 organizations and 1,875 frontline defenders.

Beyond our contribution to the whole through webinars, this e-newsletter, social media, research, delegations and advocacy tours, volunteer recruitment, participation in global meetings and more, we were able to fundraise $35,000. last year to directly support the accompaniment of defenders in Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico. In 2024, we hope to contribute even more.

Your support is a vital part of all of this.

Thanks again!

Video still: Arevalo moments after being sworn-in.

The Associated Press reports: “Bernardo Arévalo was sworn in as Guatemala’s president on Monday [January 15] minutes after midnight despite months of efforts to derail his inauguration, including foot-dragging and rising tensions right up until the transfer of power [that was delayed by more than nine hours].”

“Arévalo arrives in the presidency after winning August’s elections by a comfortable margin [winning with 58 percent of the vote]. But nothing has been straightforward since, with Attorney General Consuelo Porras and the establishment forces observers say she represents throwing one legal challenge after another at Arévalo and his party.”

The article adds: “That Arévalo made it to within a day of his inauguration was largely owed to thousands of Guatemala’s Indigenous people, who took to the streets last year to protest and demand that Porras and her prosecutors respect the Aug. 20 vote.”

Photo: “After #53 days of resistance, the women of the Q’eqchi’ people add their voices ‘Corruption despoils our rivers, out with coup plotters’ they express in the march that heads to #MP [Public Ministry].” November 23, 2023.

“Ni un paso atrás” (not a step back)

Indigenous peoples were on the streets this Sunday as well.

The BBC notes: “The Solemn Session, as the presidential inauguration ceremony is called, was scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.”

Agence France Presse reports: “The delay in the inauguration sparked discontent among Arévalo’s supporters, including many indigenous people, who, amid shoving with the police, pushed their way towards the parliament headquarters.”

At 3:20 pm local time, Maya Q’eqchi’ journalist Carlos Ernesto Choc posted this dramatic video of people chanting “ni un paso atrás”.

Around 3:54 pm, Quorum tweeted: “Police repression. The @PNCdeGuatemala [National Civil Police] repressed with tear gas the citizen protest demanding the inauguration of the new Congress and the elected president Bernardo Arévalo.”

El Pais reports: “The international delegations present in Guatemala signed a document in support of the president and democracy that was read by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, at around 5 p.m.”

That statement said: “We call on the Congress of the Republic to comply with its constitutional mandate to hand over power as required by the Constitution today to president-elect Bernardo Arevalo and Karin Herrera.”

Almagro was accompanied by Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs, the president of Costa Rica, the vice president of Brazil, and the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Choc then tweeted at 6 pm: “The Izabal resistance is present in Guatemala City, joining the resistance of the indigenous peoples and asking more people to join. They are located on 8th Avenue and 9th Street, Guatemala City, Zone 1.”

By 12:30 am in Guatemala, just after Arevalo was sworn into office, the Embassy of Canada in Guatemala tweeted: “We congratulate the President @BArevalodeLeon! Today’s inauguration demonstrates the unwavering commitment of the people of Guatemala to democracy. …Canada looks forward to working with you to strengthen prosperity, security, human rights, the rule of law and safe and regular migration.”

Photo by Carlos Ernesto Choc. At about 1:16 am, people await President Arevalo.

Ilan Palacios Avineri comments in Time magazine: “To grasp the importance of Bernardo’s inauguration, we must first understand the Ten Years of Spring (1944-1954), a vital but frequently ignored era when his father, Juan José Arévalo Sr., became Guatemala’s first democratically-elected president. …The CIA-orchestrated coup of 1954, led by Castillo Armas [against Arevalo’s successor Jacobo Arbenz], was disguised as a fight against communism but fundamentally aimed to protect U.S. economic interests in the region. The abrupt end of the revolution plunged Guatemala into an extended period of authoritarian rule and civil strife [that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people].”

Now, almost 70 years after the June 18-27, 1954, coup, Arevalo has been sworn in as the President of Guatemala.

We continue to follow this situation.

Peace Brigades International had an accompaniment project in Guatemala from 1983 to 1999. It closed following the Peace Accords that concluded the 1960 to 1996 internal armed conflict. The current project opened in 2003. The groups and individuals currently accompanied by PBI-Guatemala can be found here.