Officially, there are only two types of frequencies for radio broadcasting in Guatemala: radio frequencies for private stations and for public or State radio. There is no category for Indigenous community radio and no frequencies are assigned to them, despite the commitment in the 1996 Peace Accords to reform the law to ensure Indigenous Peoples’ access to radio frequencies and to be able to operate them.

The smell of the cempaxuchitl (marigold) flower can be confused with the smell of chocolate that my mother makes at this time of year for breakfast and as an offering to the dead. In my community, the Day of the Dead celebrations begin on October 31 each year. When I was a child, my mother, my father, and my four brothers got up at five in the morning to make the fire, while I, still lying in a corner of my wooden house, listened to the noises that came from outside.

Cultural Survival and First Peoples Worldwide consider it necessary to address a growing international position that combines and equates Indigenous Peoples–and in particular, their affirmed rights to lands and territories and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)–with local communities within the term “Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities” or “IPLC.” The combination of these two different entities disregards the collective rights to which Indigenous Peoples are entitled as distinct, self-determining Peoples.

For 50 years, Cultural Survival has partnered with Indigenous communities to advance Indigenous Peoples' rights and cultures worldwide. We envision a future that respects and honors Indigenous Peoples' inherent rights and dynamic cultures, deeply and richly interwoven in lands, languages, spiritual traditions, and artistic expression and rooted in self-determination and self-governance.

From November 7 to 19, 2022, Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt will host the annual two-week UN Climate Change Conference - the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP27).