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Judi Lynn

(160,219 posts)
Wed Nov 4, 2015, 05:50 PM Nov 2015

Indigenous Guatemalan women face violent oppression over cement factory

Indigenous Guatemalan women face violent oppression over cement factory
By Juliana Britto Schwartz • @JulianaBrittoS • 3 hours ago

Since 2007, 12 indigenous Kaqchikel communities in Guatemala have been fighting against the construction of an enormous cement factory they say will hurt the local environment, contaminate the water and destroy their flower industry. Like indigenous resistance groups around the world, they faced violent government repression and were placed under a “state of exception” last year which I wrote about here. Under the state of exception the Guatemalan constitution was suspended, and public protests, meetings, and gatherings were prohibited, all enforced by 2,000 police and military personnel.

Now a year later, the state of exception has been lifted, but the military presence remains in San Juan Sacatepequez and surrounding communities. Women are being sexually harassed in their communities, and intimidated on their way in and out of the town. When 1,000 women traveled to Guatemala City to protest the state of exception, they were detained and their bus searched for hours. In another case, a bus of women were stopped and had their photographs taken by Guatemalan National Police.

The San Gabriel cement factory is reported to be the largest in Central America, set to produce millions of tons of cement each year. The project includes permits for silver and gold mining in the region as well, all of which could have a devastating impact on the local environment and the Kaqchikel way of life. When plans to construct the mega-factory were released, the 12 Kaqchikel communities in the region held a referendum and overwhelmingly voted against the project, to no avail.

Since then, the communities have lived under two states of exception and years of violent repression. Seven people have been taken as political prisoners from the conflict, and in 2014, 11 people were killed in an armed conflict incited by cement factory workers. A few of the communities have agreed to stop resisting in exchange for developments projects, but nine of the twelve continue to push back.

In too many parts of the world, the only thing standing between the environment and destruction at the hands of a powerful corporation is a community of indigenous people, climate warriors in the struggle to protect the earth. We owe these communities our lives and our planet, and now more than ever we owe them our solidarity. Let’s start by paying attention, bearing witness to their work, and amplifying their message.

http://feministing.com/2015/11/04/indigenous-guatemalan-women-face-violent-oppression-over-cement-factory/

Environment & Energy:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112793260

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Indigenous Guatemalan women face violent oppression over cement factory (Original Post) Judi Lynn Nov 2015 OP
Guatemalan Indigenous Communities Resist Mega Cement Factory Despite Military Occupation Judi Lynn Nov 2015 #1

Judi Lynn

(160,219 posts)
1. Guatemalan Indigenous Communities Resist Mega Cement Factory Despite Military Occupation
Wed Nov 4, 2015, 11:18 PM
Nov 2015

Guatemalan Indigenous Communities Resist Mega Cement Factory Despite Military Occupation

Written by Jeff Abbott
Thursday, 22 October 2015 08:17


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(Photo: Sign states, "We need more teachers, not military brigades.&quot
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“No to this military and police encampment,” someone hastily scrawled in large white letters on the back of a sign welcoming visitors to the Kaqchikel community of Santa Fe Ocaña, a community in the municipality of San Juan Sacatepéquez, and one of the 12 communities in resistance to the construction of a mega-cement factory. The sign stood next to one of the many command tents of the Guatemalan National Civilian Police at the height of the state of exception and sums up the general feeling of the residents in this small hamlet, about an hour and a half from Guatemala City.

The residents of Santa Fe Ocaña, and the other Kaqchikel communities of San Juan Sacatepéquez have lived under a semi-permanent state of exception since September 2014, when the Guatemalan government declared a state of exception in the communities following a night of violence that led to the deaths of 11 community members in small town of Pajoques. The order was reportedly lifted on October 31, but the police and military remained, forming permanent encampments in the towns of Pajoques and Santa Fe Ocaña. The Guatemalan military also established a new military task force: Task Force San Juan Sacatepéquez.

“The state of exception is taking a toll on the people,” said Ramona Lopéz, a member of the community in resistance from Santa Fe Ocaña. “What kind of security is this when the government is providing security for only the workers and the business. Their security means insecurity for us. There are many innocent people who still have orders for arrest.”

And this presence of State forces has taken a toll; it has almost led to the end of the resistance of the 12 Kaqchikel Communities of San Juan Sacatepéquez to the construction of one of the largest cement factories in Central America.

More:
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/guatemala-archives-33/5500-guatemalan-indigenous-communities-resist-mega-cement-factory-despite-military-occupation

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