Community radio has been a vital presence in Indigenous communities in Guatemala since the 1960s. Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala rely on community radio to keep their cultures, languages, and traditions alive as well as to inform their communities about issues and events relevant to their lives. Community radio also serves the vital function of distributing content to listeners in their own language, reaching even the poorest areas where radio may be the only affordable form of communication.
We have serious challenges ahead as the Trump administration threatens the core values we hold dear. I, like many, am outraged and deeply concerned about the recent presidential memoranda and executive orders that give momentum to detrimental social policies, the Keystone XL and Dakota access pipeline, an expedited environmental review process with disregard for environmental degradation and climate change. Moreover, ultimately the lack of a social justice and humanitarian conscience on display in these early days of the administration's sweeping changes.
On January 11, 2017, the government of Cambodia signed a $1.5-million deal to launch the planning phase of a REDD+ carbon trading project involving Prey Lang forest, the largest remaining lowland evergreen forest on the Indochinese peninsula and home to approximately 200,000 Indigenous people.
On January 20, 2017, while the United States watched the swearing in of one its most controversial and oppressive presidents ever elected, the Maya people of Southern Belize swore in new leadership under their traditional governance system, recognized under both Maya cultural authority and the State of Belize. The alcaldes were elected in a peaceful process by 39 villages. Cultural Survival congratulates the new leaders, including Mr.
After almost a decade of resistance, a cautious victory has been declared for a Maya community in Guatemala in their fight against a Spanish hydroelectric company attempting to install a dam on their sacred river.
Cultural Survival joins PAYXAIL YAJAWKONOB' CHUJ, AKATEKO, Q'ANJOB'AL, POPTI' (the traditional government of the Chuj, Akateko, Q’anjob’al, and Popti’ Nations) as well as the International Maya League and E
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.
