By Gerry Condon, May 7, 2024,

My partner Helen Jaccard and I are in Guatemala listening to testimony of the victims of a horrifying genocide that took place during the 36-year war against Mayan communities, union activists, revolutionaries, teachers, healthcare workers, co-ops, and anyone or anything that might be considered “communal,” or “communist.”

This genocidal war began after the CIA overthrew a progressive, democratic Guatemalan government in 1954, and it was carried out by successive US-backed governments. Israel also provided weapons (for sale), advisers and surveillance technology.

The pain of the families of the 45,000 “disappeared,” the 60,000 women and girls who suffered sexual violence, and the over 250,000 who were murdered and massacred, is still palpable. This is not ancient history (1960-1996).  Most of the disappeared are still disappeared.

Guatemala’s state institutions remain thoroughly corrupt. US/Canadian mining operations are allowed to destroy the environment and disrupt society. Extreme poverty, hunger, climate change, violence and internal displacement force tens of thousands of Guatemalans to make the dangerous trip to the US/Mexico border, where many are dehumanized by brutal US immigration policies.

Faced with inescapable hardships, the surviving victims of Guatemala’s genocide — with many women in the lead — have emerged as protagonists. Against all odds, they are waging the long battle for truth and justice.

There is light. There is hope. Deep sadness. And determination.

This is what we have learned on the first day of a Rights Action delegation. Over the next week we will be visiting communities who are actively resisting the mines and demanding truth, justice and reparations.

There is cautious hope in the new progressive president, Bernardo Arevalo, who was seated in January only after 6-months of Indigenous led protest encampments countered multiple attempts by alarmed elites to block the newly-elected president from taking office.

Nobody is very optimistic that change will come soon, however. The victims-turned-protagonists are in it for the long haul.

We who live in the “belly of the beast” and who ourselves have been used as tools of oppression, must now reject and resist the mass murder of struggling people in Palestine, in Guatemala, throughout Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and around the world.

RESIST WAR AND GENOCIDE!

Gerry Condon