The plight of Guatemala's indigenous peoples

The World Politics Review has an interview with Jennifer N. Costanza, an independent scholar who focuses on indigenous rights and the politics of resource extraction in Latin America, on Guatemala’s Indigenous Peoples Endure Poverty and Contested Land Rights.

WPR: What are the key issues facing Guatemala’s indigenous communities, and what role does outside pressure and advocacy play in improving the situation of indigenous communities in Guatemala?

Costanza: At first glance, the key issues facing Guatemala’s indigenous communities appear to be the ones mentioned above: conflicts over natural resource development and the criminalization of social protest. In most such conflicts, foreign actors such as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and a host of smaller rights advocacy groups, have pressured Guatemalan officials to respond to violations of indigenous rights. They also use traditional and social media to keep sympathetic North American and European activist communities informed of rights struggles in Guatemala. Finally, these organizations provide financial and in-kind support to indigenous organizations in Guatemala so that they can continue their struggle.

But if you were to ask most indigenous people, including movement leaders, what the key issues facing their communities are, they will likely point to the myriad challenges that one can find throughout the developing world. These include lack of access to potable water, lack of quality schools for their children, lack of adequate health care, lack of access to justice, food insecurity, and extreme poverty. Guatemala is a poor country: It ranked 128th out of 188 countries on the U.N. Development Programme’s Human Development Index in 2014, but indigenous people fare worse than non-indigenous people on nearly all the indicators mentioned above. For example, according to the UNDP, almost three-quarters of indigenous people live in poverty, compared to 35 percent of non-indigenous people. 

It's short but good. Check it out.