By Interview conducted by Isa Villalón.
The Committee of Peasant Development, CODECA (Comité de Desarrollo Campesino) was founded in Guatemala in 1992 within the context of the Central America Peace Accords and the rise of neoliberal accumulation. CODECA organizes to resist the deepening onslaught of extractivist imperial plunder driven by those developments, which has opened the door to new forms of violent dispossession and exploitation.
CODECA has been instrumental in organizing grassroots resistance and agitating for popular political education. Their struggle for anti-capitalist, systemic changes includes agrarian reform, justice for historical crimes committed during the US backed 36-year-long internal conflict and genocide, resistance to resource privatization and land concentration by the national oligarchy and transnational corporations, and the promotion of a vision for a Plurinational State. With 29 movement leaders assassinated since 2018 and hundreds more incarcerated, threatened and assaulted, the organization faces intense political persecution in the country.
The following interview was conducted during the Global Antifascist Student and Youth Conference held in Caracas, Venezuela in November 2025. Isa Villalón from the Latin American Solidarity Committee spoke with three youth leaders for the organization, each representing CODECA’s struggle in different national territories: Jutiapa, Suchitepéquez, and the urban hub of Guatemala City.
AIN: Hello everyone. Today we have the honor of being joined by three compañeros from CODECA, the Peasant Development Committee (Comité de Desarrollo Campesino). Today, we are going to talk about the work they do, the threats they face for doing it, and also about the case of Luis Marroquín, a compañero who was assassinated in 2018 for his work as a community leader and CODECA activist.
Thank you so much for being here with me today and for taking the time to share about your dignified struggle and the work you do. If you’d like, we can start with you introducing yourselves by sharing your names and roles in the organization.
Lea Ramírez: Good evening. My name is Lea Ramírez, I am a human rights and defender of mother earth. I am one of the representatives of the 22 departments of Guatemala, specifically in the department of Jutiapa, and I am a member of the Xinka People.
Elmer Vay: Let me introduce myself. My name is Elmer Vay. I am a member of the national coordination of CODECA. Defender of human rights and mother earth, from the department of Suchitepéquez.
Christian Sánchez: Hello everyone. It is a pleasure to be in this space, and to be here sharing with you all, and to be able to talk a little more about our organization. My name is Christian Sánchez. Like my colleagues, I am part of the national coordination of the movement. I am also part of the youth of the territory of Guatemala City, the urban sector, the urban youth, and I am also part of the legal team of the movement.
AIN: Great, thank you so much. Lea, since you work directly in the rural territory of Guatemala, in Jutiapa, I was wondering if you could tell us a bit about the organization’s vision, its strategy and tactics, but also how this vision translates into concrete actions in the territories.
Lea Ramírez: [The Xinka territory] is one of the largest territories, but the Xinka people are also a people that have lost their roots due to colonialism, capitalism, and the oppression that has always existed. That is why we are fighting from within the communities.
One of the tasks we carry out within our territories is to walk through communities—regardless of the climate or weather conditions—because we work directly with the different communities within our territories. We bring them the truth, we engage with them in various training spaces, and we organize collectively. We work with young people, women, with indigenous and non-indigenous people, and also with professionals. This is part of the work we do as an organization, because it is a struggle that must be carried out by all of us together.
Above all, our struggle is aimed at eradicating, in our own way, capitalism, which is what is most corrupting our communities in the department of Jutiapa. We work against the mining companies that are trying to displace us from our territory. In Jutiapa alone, they are attempting to legalize 36 mining projects. Of those, 32 are already operating within the department of Jutiapa—one of them is Elevar Resources. That is another key aspect of our work: we are not only defending human rights but also the rights of Mother Earth—the right to be protected and not exploited. This is the work we do, going from community to community, throughout the entire department. As I mentioned, I specifically work in Jutiapa, but there are other compañeros carrying out the same task across the 22 departments of Guatemala.
AIN: Thank you very much. I find it very important how you connect this to capitalism—how capitalism operates and how you are working to implement your own project to confront it. For Guatemala, by Guatemalans, from Guatemala, based on your own vision. I think that’s really beautiful.
Lea Ramírez: That’s right. As an organization, CODECA is also pushing forward the process of the Popular and Plurinational Constituent Assembly, where we are advocating for a plurinational state in which all 25 Indigenous peoples within Guatemala are recognized and included, where they have the power to decide, and where real participatory, communitarian and plurinational democracy is practiced. Because in reality, democracy in Guatemala does not exist—only representative democracy exists. This means that we elect candidates or mayors every four years, but these positions are not chosen by the Indigenous peoples; they are always imposed by capitalist imperialism. That is another key task we have. Within the Constituent Assembly process, we are also promoting 19 proposals to help build and establish a new Plurinational State.
AIN: Thank you very much, compañera. Yes, I find this idea of participatory democracy very important, because often democracy is reduced to representative democracy—the democracy of the bourgeoisie—and many people believe that is the only way we can organize ourselves as a society, as peoples. But in reality, it is crucial that people are directly involved in decision-making. So, thank you very much. Would you like to add anything else, compañeros?
Elmer Vay: The organization was founded in 1992 through the struggle for land access and labor rights. Over the years, other struggles have been taken on—issues concerning youth, women, and resistance against state repression of communities. This is how the organization has grown nationwide, now present in all 22 departments, making it the largest organization in Guatemala. So much so that even the state, in its attempt to wipe us out, so to speak, has imprisoned several of our leaders. Lives have been sacrificed, offered up for the struggle, and at the same time, we see repression against communities whose human rights are being violated—such as the right to land and access to electricity.
Today, the organization is also focusing on the issue of water, as the state is drafting and promoting legislation aimed at privatizing it. We need to resist this privatization. We already have experience as a people with what happened when electricity was privatized. Practically speaking, communities, Indigenous peoples—everyone—are the ones who pay extremely high electricity bills, while the large oligarchic companies pay significantly less, and sometimes they don’t even pay at all.
Another issue we can mention is that after the internal war in Guatemala—the armed conflict, so to speak—the government at that time promised land access to peasants. However, these promises were empty words; nothing was done. Instead, they hoarded the fertile land and handed it over to large landowners, while the infertile land was given to peasants. And so, even if a peasant has land, if it is not fertile, they cannot produce to survive. With the cost of basic goods rising every day and private companies charging exorbitant prices, how can Guatemala’s Indigenous peoples survive? It is a very complex issue that CODECA addresses and fights on all fronts. In health, for example, we see how the state today fails to provide public services to its citizens. We also see how CACIF’s (Comité Coordinador de Asociaciones Agrícolas, Comerciales, Industriales y Financieras, Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations) companies—the oligarchy—pollute Mother Earth. They divert rivers, and we, the Indigenous peoples, are the ones who suffer the consequences.
AIN: Thank you very much. What you were just saying—because of the crucial work you do in protecting the rights of the people, providing them with support that the state does not, and organizing communities so they can participate in this process through their own self-determination—the members and militants of CODECA are ending up in prison for it. This is a very serious issue that I would like to discuss further with you. But first, Christian, I’d like to ask if you want to add something from the urban perspective. How does CODECA organize in Guatemala City?
Christian Sánchez: Yes, of course. As our compañeros mentioned, CODECA is a very strong organization with a national presence across all 22 departments. Initially, it focused on peasant and Indigenous sectors. However, over time, CODECA’s vision and movement have expanded. It has grown from working on 15 areas to developing and working across 19 different areas.
Through this process, CODECA has realized that oppression is not limited to rural areas. It has recognized the need to address how urban sectors—urban youth and people living in cities—are also impoverished. Many live in extreme poverty, struggling daily to survive. This is why CODECA has begun organizing in urban areas, initiating community organizing efforts in informal settlements and urban neighborhoods. In some cases, the government has provided possession titles to these communities—but not actual ownership, of course. Because property ownership in Guatemala belongs exclusively to the oligarchy, to the bourgeoisie that controls the Guatemalan state. This is why there is an urgent need to create work opportunities and sources of employment.
The Guatemalan people have suffered immensely—36 years of war, including a brutal genocide. Being in spaces like this, where we can share this information, where we can inform as a Committee for Campesino Development (CODECA), the work we carry out within the territories, is crucial. So, I want to take this opportunity to highlight how imperialism—how the tactics of the Yankees, the empire, and the capitalist state controlled by the U.S. government, which dominates global capital and imposes the hegemony of the dollar—has caused immense harm to countries like Guatemala. The U.S. has even orchestrated coups through the CIA, such as the counterrevolution of 1954.
These are the sectors that have harmed us, and even today, imperialism continues to play a decisive role in our country. That is why we, as a movement, position ourselves as a real opposition to the system—an opposition that does not believe in capitalism, does not believe in neoliberalism, and most importantly, does not believe in the privatization of common goods, because they are goods that belong to everyone.
AIN: Thank you so much. Yes, at another time, we are going to have another session to go a little bit more into these issues of imperialism and unequal exchange and how it is articulated, manifested in the case of Guatemala. And also to talk about the brutal history of imperialism and the intervention in Guatemala by the United States. But yes, it’s very important question and thank you very much for raising it.
I wanted to move on to the issue of the threats that CODECA activists are facing. From what I understand, CODECA is the organization that has the highest numbers of assassinations of its leaders, of threats, and also cases of defamation. You talked a little bit about that, compañero, about the media and how they also participate in all this persecution. So, could you give a little more context on the threats that land and territory defenders in Guatemala are experiencing, why it is happening, who is it directed at, who is financing and organizing it, where is it coming from? Is it something linked to the State or to private capital? So that people can understand a little bit of that reality.
Elmer Vay: As I was telling you, the truth is that being a defender of human rights and of Mother Earth entails many threats and many times leads to being murdered. Specific cases. The organization has had many assassinations over the years. The most relevant, so to speak, which does not mean that the others are not relevant, but they are the ones that have had the greatest impact on the organization, we could refer to the case of Luis Marroquín and Pablo Ramos.
Luis Marroquín, in the department of Jalapa, was a human rights and Mother Earth defender who accompanied the communities of Jalapa. He was murdered on the orders of the then mayor of the municipality. However, it is difficult to name a single culprit, there are several. In the struggle for access to land, there are several who deny access to land; from drug traffickers, to landowners, to the state itself.
The State represses the native peoples. It represses the peasants who fight for their access to land. So do the drug traffickers, as in the case of Pablo Ramos in Navajoa, Livingston, Izabal. Compañero Pablo was a compañero, a brother who was fighting for access to land, and he was threatened and murdered by a group of drug traffickers in the area. So this is a very complex issue, the truth is that we can’t talk about just one person who is threatening us. There are several. Several factors. CACIF itself goes against his policy of taking over all the productive lands and fertile lands of our country.
For example, if you go to the southern coast of Guatemala, there you can see a lot of extensions of land as monocultures, which the landowners, the companies that own it, destroy Mother Earth. They divert the rivers, they pollute rivers and they leave the peasants without access to the water they need to work, to grow their own food and thus subsist. But this is not only in the South Coast. In the Izabal area, in the Jutiapa area, there are also mines. Open pit mines that harm Mother Earth. It’s quite a large topic, the issue of the land itself. To address this issue, we would have to go to the history of why the armed conflict began, because it was one of the main issues of why the armed conflict began.
All this is a process that has been happening day by day: the State repressing the peasantry and the native peoples, only to give these lands to big landowners, to big criminals who really only look after themselves and not for the native peoples.
Christian Sánchez: From that perspective, how do we see it? The people who have been governing Guatemala—many of whose families date back to the colonial era, to the plundering brought by colonization and the Western world into the territory of Abya Yala, from the Latin American territory—is one of the main starting points for the distribution of lands. So, the situation is very complex.
Today, we see some struggles and some forms of repression by the State and by the private sector, by those 15, 16 families that manage the economy and capital in Guatemala. We also see how, from that perspective, transnational companies, or national companies with foreign interference, act in the same way. And how is it, that the territories, which ancestrally belong to the native peoples, because they have been settled there for many years—for more than 200 years, or rather, for 500 years, since colonization—in those territories, and even some of them have property titles that were made by the Spanish colony itself. So, in this sense, today they are doing evictions. The evictions are forced, and they are totally illegal. They are arbitrary.
So, they come, and they use State forces to evict communities, the National Civil Police and the Guatemalan Army, to remove communities from where they are settled. They remove communities, including children, including women, and including entire families. This is very worrying, it is alarming, because where they are settled are ancestral territories, the native peoples were there, and it belongs to them, and they are removing 500 families, a thousand families, from those places.
Evicting them for what? To give the land to the landowner. To give the land to capital, to the companies. To be used for monocultures—monocultures of sugarcane, monocultures of oil palm—which are not only highly polluting but also devastating to our Mother Earth, something that we should take care of with a lot of respect. We believe that Mother Earth must be recognized as a guarantor of human rights, someone we coexist with—like another person, like a mother.
AIN: I was just about to say, we were discussing before the interview CODECA’s anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist vision, understanding imperialism as a necessary condition of capitalism. As the compañero mentioned, this history did not begin yesterday; it has been unfolding for over 500 years.
CODECA is confronting this reality, and for doing so, they are being persecuted. But also because they pose a real threat to these systems—because they are a large organization that is raising awareness: political awareness, social awareness, and class consciousness among the Guatemalan people. And that, precisely, is a threat to these violent systems. This is directly connected to the threats and assassinations that originate from the state as the intellectual author. So, I am wondering if you all would like to make a comment about that: why is it, exactly, that the people of CODECA being persecuted?
Lea: It is precisely for what you have said. It is because we are promoting the rights of the different peoples, it is because we are promoting political awareness. Because that is what was really needed. That political conscience that reemerges with the awakening of the people, of the original peoples.
What for? To counteract what is killing us, which is capitalism, imperialism, the oppressor that is in prevailing in Guatemala. So that is the work that we do as defenders, that is one of the main reasons why as Mother Earth and human rights defenders we are being persecuted, criminalized, even assassinated, within our organization, as you mentioned. We have already had 29 compañeros assassinated. But that’s what it is. It’s because we represent the opposition. We represent what could be the extermination of capitalism. That’s what they fear. So, that’s why we are so attacked, persecuted, criminalized, assassinated.
AIN: But you all keep doing it, right? It’s incredible that every day still, you get up and keep doing it. In the face of 29 assassinations. That is not a few.
Elmer Vay: And many prisoners.
AIN: Of course, there are prisoners too. We have to talk about these other forms of violence as well.
Elmer Vay: Yes, many compañeros have been imprisoned. In reality, not a single one has been convicted of any crime because, in the end, after some time, they are released—it becomes clear that they were acting through organization and under the precepts of resistance, and that they are not violating the laws of Guatemala. In Guatemala there is a right to resistance, the right to organization, yet here we see another issue: the state represses the people.
In 2023, just last year, a law was enacted—08-2023, if I’m not mistaken—which essentially criminalizes organizations. That law, because it is now law, attacks the right to free organization. This law, because it is already a law, attacks free organization. It practically labels anyone who organizes to defend their rights as a criminal, a terrorist. So it is very complicated to be a defender of human rights and of Mother Earth in Guatemala.
All these laws that they create against organization, which is constitutionally protected, exist because, as we can see, CODECA is an organization with a very clear vision: the “Buen Vivir” (Good Living) of all the peoples who cohabit Guatemala. And not just Guatemala, because Buen Vivir must extend to all of Abya Yala, to the entire world. Buen Vivir is not just about me being well. No. Buen Vivir is for everyone. Not just for one people, but for all, because we are all part of Mother Earth.
In 2015, I remember that the president at the time, Otto Pérez Molina, said that CODECA was a cancer. And what happened? Otto Pérez Molina: imprisoned. Imprisoned for so many crimes he committed as president. And today, with all this massive corruption, they set him free. But that doesn’t mean he’s innocent. It is known and proven that he did commit serious crimes, just like his vice president at the time, who attacked the organization. Even his Minister of the Interior, Bonilla, was attacking the organization. And now we see how those who used to attack are now the real criminals, and how CODECA, which they called a “social cancer,” continues to be a strong organization—growing every day and organizing.
That is precisely why they create laws to stop us from organizing, to prevent this growth. But we know they do it because they don’t want that change. And we are going to pursue it. We are going to continue in the struggle. We are going to do it because we have to do it. I believe that the compañeros here think the same way we do.
And this is a process. No one ever said it would be easy. If it weren’t difficult, Guatemala would be doing fine, but that is not the case. It is complicated, I mean, living in Guatemala under this capitalist system, under this patriarchal system that oppresses the people more and more each day.
AIN: Thank you very much. I wanted to talk about the Luis Marroquín case and if one of you could tell me, ell, what happened from the beginning to the end, that is, exactly how the case went. But, first, did you want to add something else, compañero?
Christian Sánchez: Of course, and since compañero Rocael just brought it up, I want to take this moment to talk about Decree 08-2023. A decree that we call the Anti-CODECA law. It is a law that directly attacks the organization.
Put simply, as I said, the current constitution—and I say the current constitution of Guatemala because it clearly does not represent me, it does not represent I think any of my colleagues nor any of the native peoples at the moment–-it is a constitution that is bourgeois based and that ultimately protects private interests. The native peoples, and the peasant sector, are the least represented. Currently, the Constitution has only four articles that speak of native peoples. So, clearly, there isn’t much to see there.
As an organization that presents itself as real opposition, that has a very clear position and a clear understanding of the situation, we know who the enemy is, we know how they play, how they are working. That is precisely why we propose a Popular and Plurinational National Constituent Assembly, with the goal of creating a new Constitution that represents the majority—that represents Indigenous peoples, each one of us, and the peasants as well.
In that regard, we are working in three phases: the pre-constitutional phase (which is where we are now), a constitutional phase, where we can begin the constituent processes, and the defense of that Constitution. So, we have a clear path, and we believe that a Plurinational State can bring about what the peoples of Guatemala, the nations within it, need to improve their situation. That is to say, letting go of the nation-state—the nation-state that is colonial, the state that is Western—toward a Plurinational State that truly represents each and every one of us. That is what we are fighting for.
AIN: Yes, can you tell us a little bit more about what is Plurinationalism, and why is it important? Because I know that it is central to CODECA’s political program. So, can you tell our listeners a little bit more about what it is, and why is it so central to everything that you guys are working on and putting forward?
Christian Sánchez: Of course, absolutely. As we were saying, we are an organization that brings together peasants, Indigenous peoples, and urban sectors. So, in that same narrative, we see that Guatemala is a small country, although it is not so small in Central America. But being a small country doesn’t mean that we are few or that there is only one culture. Guatemala has a vast cultural wealth, and in fact, there are 25 peoples inhabiting the entire Guatemalan territory.
In that sense, among these peoples, we see that there are Mayas, Xinkas, Garífunas, and, finally, the Ladino mestizo. Although the Ladino mestizo is not considered an Indigenous people, because they has been gradually lost due to the alienation they have suffered, even through, right now, it maintains certain traditions, adopts certain customs, which in the end also makes them a people. Not Indigenous, but ultimately, they become a people.
It is also necessary to delve deeper into what each of these peoples represents. For example, the Mayan people. The Maya people are quite large and rich in culture, encompassing many other peoples. Pluralism is not possible without discussing plurinationality and how a nation is established, what its requirements are, or what forms it takes. A nation, in the end, requires a territory, a population, a society, customs, traditions, an organizational structure—and all of these elements are fulfilled by all the peoples inhabiting Guatemala. So, it is possible for each one of them to be nations.
Within the territory, we then talk about plurinationalism, about pluralism, because there are all those peoples that have these characteristics can come together to work on a plurinational project. A project that transitions from that colonial nation-state, from that nation state that is patriarchal, that is sexist, that is oppressive, that also attacks each one of the communities, attacks each one of the peoples, that is bourgeois in its conception and that is also racist and discriminatory. There can be a transition toward a plurinational state.
Recognizing each of these nations through the self-determination of peoples is something very important that all peoples must possess. And that is one of the reasons why CODECA upholds this proposal. We see, very clearly, the path towards this Plurinational State. Seeing, also, those phases, as I mentioned, of the pre-constituent process, of a constituent process, where all sectors, all Indigenous peoples, and the peasant sector participate in defending that Constitution. Clearly, in this way we can say our Constitution. We can say that it is something that represents us, because currently it does not represent us.
AIN: Yes, the nation state and the Constitution itself are also instruments of colonialism, right? Because, just as you say, it is not something that was developed from the interests or the vision of the people of Guatemala, but it is something that was implanted from colonialism.
So, well, I wanted to move on to talk about the topic of Luis Marroquín. I know that there is currently a trial going on against the material authors of his assassination. And I wanted to know if you could talk a little bit, first, about the case, I mean, what exactly happened, from the beginning to the end, who was Luis Marroquín, how was he murdered, who murdered him, and why? Also, if you could talk a little bit about the trial that is being conducted.
Elmer Vay: Well, Luis Marroquín joined the organization as a defender of human rights and Mother Earth. Precisely because of the same situation, due to the pressure exerted by capitalism and the State on Indigenous peoples and communities, he joined and organized in his community, which is El Carrizal in the department of Jalapa, and requested the the accompaniment of the organization. So, he grew as a defender of human rights and Mother Earth, eventually becoming a departmental representative in the National Coordination for the Department of Jalapa.
His path of struggle, as the compañera already mentioned, was like that of one of us. He would go from community to community, guiding people, looking after the rights of each community and each people. His area was Jalapa, and he raised a lot of awareness among the people of Jalapa—so much so that the mayor at the time of the municipality of San Pedro Pinula, Jalapa, the municipality where he lived, had him assassinated.
But this was not just a matter of a mayor wanting to kill a leader, a human rights defender. We have to look beyond that. This is not just the mayor per se. But it’s the state at that time [38:46]. Because the State in general was oppressing the organization. Otto Pérez Molina was already saying that CODECA was a cancer. So many public officials were caught up in corruption cases, benefiting companies from Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial, and Financial Associations (CACIF). So, here we can say that it was the convergence of multiple factors, multiple culprits, that led to a tragic day—May 9, 2018—when all these forces of the capitalist sector, of the sector oppressing Indigenous peoples, came together to assassinate compañero Luis Marroquín. They massacred him.
The truth is, the compañero’s death was a deeply regrettable event. It was an offering he made to the people, to Indigenous peoples, and we continue this struggle so that his assassination is not in vain, but rather to pursue the “Buen Vivir” he dreamed of. Because he was one of those who dreamed of this Buen Vivir, which is now no longer his fight… because, he has moved on to a better life. The struggle is now left to us, to keep fighting, to keep seeking Buen Vivir.
From mayor at that time, when Luis Marroquín was assassinated, we can see the heavy involvement of the State in that act. Because it turns out that they did identify who the murderers were, what truck they were in. Some patrols stopped that pickup truck further ahead, the vehicle, where the criminals who murdered our compañero Luis were identified. They stopped it, and when they saw that it belonged to the mayor, they didn’t arrest them. The mayor used one of his bodyguards. So, there we see how everything was orchestrated, and since it was them, it was like, “nothing happens, we won’t do anything to you on behalf of the State”. That’s how they really intended to leave our comañero’s death unpunished.
However, as an organization, we cannot give ourselves the luxury, so to speak, to let a brother’s death go without justice being served. And we demand justice. Protests were carried out at the local, departmental, and national levels, which led to the rest of the guards of the then-mayor of the municipality confessing, in the end, that the mastermind was the one who was then the mayor of San Pedro Pinula. Upon leaving office, he fled. So, how is it that, knowing this, the Public Ministry was unable to prevent it and arrest him after his term ended? Instead, he managed to flee.
A process was initiated with the prosecutor’s office, but there was very little interest from the Public Ministry’s Prosecutor’s Office in capturing him because there was even information that he was moving around the municipality, as we colloquially say, like a dog in its own house. The police and the Public Ministry didn’t know, but the community members of the municipality did know where he was moving and everything. And there is blind justice, unable to see the criminal. So, pressure was applied again and again. So much pressure from the organization that a technical committee was established, where this case was taken to the Public Ministry. It was demanded, and today, based on this constant pressure, the capture of the man who was then the mayor of San Pedro Pinula was achieved. The compañero will now expand a little more on this case.
Christian Sánchez: The case of Marroquín is a case that has been ongoing for quite some time, we’ve been working on it for years now. It has been difficult because, practically, the man is on the run. So, at that moment, arrest warrants were issued after the pressure exerted by our movement, because the creation of the technical committee was just that: pressure that we applied through demands, asserting our rights, right? Because we have that right, and besides, a compañero’s life was taken.
The State of Guatemala must ensure the lives of its people. The Public Ministry, which is responsible for investigations, must fulfill its duties. But it was only through pressure that it was achieved. We cannot say that this technical committee, that the Public Ministry, also did its job, that they carried it out, because it’s clear that the entire system is co-opted. The justice system in Guatemala is co-opted. The courts are co-opted, and the judges serve capital and respond to the highest bidder. So, it was only through pressure that the situation unfolded.
At that moment, the arrest warrants were issued, leading to the arrest of two accomplices, and an arrest warrant was also issued against the intellectual author, whom we identify as the mayor of that municipality, and he remained on the run. It is difficult to capture him until, through the same organization and that technical committee, it is determined and reported that this man moves from place to place informally, wearing shorts, a t-shirt, moving from one place to another, and when we see him, we provide the information, and that’s when his capture is achieved. The man is arrested and brought to trial.
So, we are moving forward with this process, but we have also found that we need to pressure the prosecutor because the prosecutors of the Public Ministry do not fulfill their duties either. Consuelo Porras, who is a leading person in corruption and is an extremely corrupt figure in Guatemala, merely issues orders and manipulates the situation. So, it is very difficult for them to start working and to contribute. We, as a legal team, are working on this. We go, we present, we provide evidence, we are gathering it. As you were saying, we are following due process.
You can see how he gets out of the vehicle, how he attacks our compañero, taking his life in the process, and how this was a response to a threat. We see ourselves as an opposition to the system. As an opposition to the neoliberal and capitalist system, and in that sense, we resist. Indigenous peoples, peasants, and urban sectors resist. Women and young people resist. And under that resistance, which is contemplated in the current Constitution, not expanded, only mentioned, but in the same way mentioned and endorsed and protected in the Constitution, legitimate resistance. Resistance is legitimate, resistance is dignified, and it is the foundation for beginning to fight back.
And what happens? The reality is, for example, that it is not easy to openly name the oppressive company that harms all indigenous peoples in Guatemala in the energy sector, which is ENERGUATE. ENERGUATE, through DEORSA y DEOCSA, its two companies that handle the distribution of electricity in Guatemala, are thieves. They are the people who harm the community, who harm the native peoples and also work hand in hand with the local governments of the municipalities.
So, in that sense, excessive electricity charges begin. In many countries, electricity is free, in some countries it is low cost, while in Guatemala, electricity is killing many families because it is not possible to pay. And in that sense, in that resistance, and in that way, is that there is danger and there are murders and there is criminalization, because we are persecuted for telling the truth. For pointing out and denouncing the excessive charges. How can it be that a community, a person, or a family that uses a light bulb in their homes, gets a bill for 2,000 quetzales? What we are talking about is the equivalent of $180, $200 dollars a month. That is very, very worrying. And this company is not only a thief—it is ultimately a murderer. Because, in that sense, how does this happen? And why does it continue?
Now, the trial is currently in the oral and public phase, but it has been repeatedly suspended because the person and the defense lawyers representing the former mayor, now allege that the person is in a state of insanity. They are requesting that he be transferred to the Federico Mora Hospital, which attends to these mental health processes, so that he can be evaluated and in that way evade justice and avoid receiving a firm sentence for being the murderer of a person who was defending rights and resisting what is happening in Guatemala.
And the justice system allows it. And the Public Ministry allows it, because the prosecutor does not want to take real action. So it’s a big problem. They are dragging out the trials, it is happening, and we are witnessing it happening, but we, as a movement, first and foremost, will not be afraid of this, and second, we are going to continue resisting, presenting our opposition and believing in the people who are important in the communities, continuing to organize, believing in their organization and articulation, until we reach the Buen Vivir that we all need.
AIN: Thank you very much, compañero, and thank you for providing that context, because it is not an isolated case, is it? I mean, it’s not something that came out of a violence of an incident, it’s something that has to do with capitalist exchange, the capitalist mode of production, and unequal exchange. Because, something very important that you mentioned to me before the interview is the agreements that Guatemala has with the United States in terms of electricity, and how is it that people are paying such high bills for electricity, while Guatemala’s electricity is being channeled to the United States. So, before we wrap up, I wanted to see if you could elaborate a little bit on that.
Christian Sánchez: Of course, and my compañeros could expand on this as well. But primarily, the United States is an empire that has greatly harmed all the peoples of the world, not just those in Abya Yala, but worldwide.
And then, in that sense, here in Central America, they have a plan that is currently being implemented. I don’t remember the name, but I can try to find it for you later. But they do have a plan that traces a route from Panama to Miami, New York and Florida to bring electric power to those points
And why is that the plan? First of all, because in Central America we have many rivers, many water sources that generate hydroelectric plants that generate electricity. And in that sense, in Guatemala and in several parts of Central America, the price of electricity is much lower than in the United States. Why? Because of cheap labor, because in the end capital is predatory. The capitalist is predatory—it takes everything that generates surplus value, keeps that portion, and only gives back to the workforce, to the worker, the only thing they actually own, which is their labor.
And then, in that sense, through this plan, that part is given away and there are territories like Guatemala that generate more than 200% of their electric power capacity. To function, Guatemala would only need between 40% and 50% of what it currently produces, yet it is generating an extra 200% through various hydroelectric plants in the country, sending that energy to major cities like New York.
New York, which is a global capitalist center, a center of the world’s bourgeoisie, the sector that oppresses people worldwide. And that is deeply concerning because they take advantage of the native peoples, they take advantage of the peasants, making false promises of job creation when, in reality, they are only purchasing their labor at extremely low wages—turning this into a major risk and threat.
Because from that standpoint, they maintain those parties under a misconception, just in case, if at any moment, a movement like CODECA rises up in Guatemala, they are ready to orchestrate coups d’état, something they have done before in many sectors of Latin America. It was done in Guatemala in 1954 with a coup by the Yankee Empire. And it is a very worrying plan, isn’t it? We see how this situation is taking place.
AIN: Yes, and compañera [Lea], I wanted to ask you also, since you come from the most rural sector of Guatemala and from Jutiapa, as you mentioned before, if I am not mistaken…how many mining companies? 28, if I am not mistaken?
Lea: Currently they have about 36 licenses on hold.
AIN: Yes. Could you give us some context of how this works, this type of plundering, in the context of the mines, in Jutiapa?
Lea: In Jutiapa, the situation has been that for several years now, the San Rafael mine has been operating, initially led by a Canadian company. Now, it is supposedly no longer Canadian, but it is called Elevar Resources. This mine is specifically located in the municipality of Asunción Mita, in the department of Jutiapa.
This mine has been operating through tunnels. They are extracting different materials. A popular consultation has already been held in that municipality regarding the mining operation, because this mining company, during its operation, has affected the river that connects with Honduras, if I remember correctly, it is called Tamazulapa River. That river is now completely contaminated, and it connects with other communities that are being affected.
Why are they being affected? Because you know that the mining companies, all the material that they take out, they have to wash it, and they wash it in the rivers. The different chemicals that they release go through the different routes of the river, contaminating, also killing the life that exists inside those rivers. That is to say, there were fish and all that, but there is no more, there is no more fishing. So, that is one of the ways in which this mining company has been operating.
There have been struggles within that municipality. There has been, as I said, a popular consultation, which was won in favor of the population, that the mining company should no longer operate, but unfortunately, last year, more or less in the middle of last year, the Constitutional Court, if I remember correctly, granted protection to the mining company and not to the people, overruling the people’s decision that it should no longer operate.
In that popular consultation, the people decided no more mining. But unfortunately, they have come to impose this injunction in which they give them a route or access to continue working. And now, it no longer operates only underground, that is, through tunnels—it now operates as an open-pit mine, which causes even more contamination and deterioration of the land.
So, that is the way in which the mining companies work, a way in which we also, as an organization, CODECA, we came together to support the Miteco people who fought and carried out this campaign, carried out the grassroots work, going from house to house, raising awareness among the other Miteco people so that they would say “no more mining”. And the people woke up, the people said no to mining.
But, unfortunately, as we are talking about, the different institutions are coopted by capitalism, by the forces of domination that exist in Guatemala. So, unfortunately, the decision of the people was undermined and the exploitation of that territory was allowed to continue once again.
Essentially, those who own or have an interest in extracting these materials will move heaven and earth to do what is convenient for them or what they want, which is the plundering of the different minerals, without caring who they harm, or who they are going to do the most damage to, which is the population.
AIN: Well, I’m not going to take up any more of your time, but thank you very much. Thank you very much for being here and for sharing all the work that you do, but above all, thank you so much for getting up every day and fighting for another world, because yes, another world is possible, it is still possible, but only because there are fighters and defenders like you all.
Christian Sánchez: Thank you very much. Before finishing, regarding the part the compañera mentioned, legally, only 1% of what the mining company extracts actually goes to the state. So, it’s a ridiculous and minimal amount. Just 1% remains for the State of Guatemala and the territories, despite this exploitation of a resource that rightfully belongs to the Indigenous peoples, the peasants, and to all the population living in the territories. So, it is a very alarming amount. Very complex.
And regarding what was said at the end, international law, by virtue of its primacy, should be upheld, as well as the agreements that Guatemala has joined and ratified, such as Convention 169, which addresses Indigenous peoples. In this sense, it ratifies the right to prior and informed consultation. A prior and informed consultation was carried out in this territory.
The State of Guatemala does not respect it, and the Constitutional Court, which is the highest-ranking judicial body in Guatemala, issues a resolution in favor of the private company, bypassing everything that is human rights, disregarding the right to prior and informed consultation for the people, ignoring treaties, and violating the supremacy of international human rights law. So, that is the situation we are living in Guatemala.
AIN: Yes, thank you for raising that figure, because it is very alarming. It’s even difficult to understand that level of plunder, it’s a form of neo-colonization. And well, thank you very much for all that clarity of analysis that you have and for talking with us about what you shared today. And well, we will continue in the struggle, with Luis Marroquín always present.
Elmer Vay: Of course, and all the victims, the 29 that we have suffered, and not only them, because at the historical level it is even more.
Christian Sánchez: Of course, for all the oppressed peoples of the world, right?
Elmer Vay: In Guatemala there was genocide, and for all of them we will continue to seek Buen Vivir.
