2006-12. Eviction Day at Barrio La Revolución

Community leaders from Barrio La Revolucion were informed by government officials that a second mass eviction would take place on December 27th, 2006.

As a result, most women and children were evacuated from the community as a precautionary measure while the men congregated in the meeting hut.

Barrio La Revolucion is affiliated with CONIC, a non-government organization which counsels rural communities on their land rights as well as lobbying in their favor. Translated into English, CONIC stands for Indigenous and Peasant National Coordination. The back of the sign reads: “Property of the Guatemalan Nickel Company (CGN).”

Federico Caal, a member of CONIC, informs the community of a last minute postponement for the date of the eviction.

Despite the slight relief of not facing an eviction on that day, a number of community members expressed their thoughts and feelings. Francisco Tiul Tut states his irritation towards the so-called development brought by the mining project, based on evicting them from their homes and destroying the area’s natural resources. “If we die, it will be as a result of our struggle, not from turning into thieves or drug traffickers. It will be because of our land.”

Barrio La Revolucion is in fact an overflow community from nearby Chichipate village. The lot where Barrio La Revolucion now stands was confiscated by the government and given to INCO in the 1960’s while residents were relocated to Chichipate. The older generations who were forcibly moved have vowed to help their children build homes and regain the land where many of them were born.

The older men on the forefront were all born in the land where Barrio La Revolucion now stands, but since the 1960’s have lived in Chichipate, dreaming of a time when they would be able to regain the unjustly lost territory.

“We want our children to be able to have their own families and grow their own food”, states an older gentleman.

Currently, a number of subsistence crops are being cultivated in Barrio La Revolucion such as corn, beans, banana, yucca and pineapple, among others.

Like their forefathers before them did for thousands of years, young Mayas clean the corn stalks manually from pests.

“I am not an educated man” states another resident, “I only know how to use my arms and machete to grow crops. The mine promises us jobs we don’t want. We need this land to survive!”

On the previous night, December 26th, residents gathered around a sacred site within the community in order to observe a Maya ceremony so as to protect them from the violence feared for the following day. Don Tomas, on the left, states: “How can we trust these people [from the mining project]? The only development they bring us is the eviction… a Merry Christmas to us.”