Coffee Hour: Social Conflict in Guatemala. 6-19
Saturday, June 19
10:00am-11:45am
At the Resource Center of the Americas
Presented in Spanish (translation: English)
Description:
Social Conflict in Guatemala: Labor, Land and Indigenous Rights in the Verapaces Region.
Edgar Alvarez Gomez will present on the complexity of proposals for rural development and food security in Guatemala. Edgar will speak specifically about the efforts of the Union of Farmworker Organizations in the Verapaces (Union Verapacense de Organizaciones Campesinas – UVOC), which works in the region of Alta Verapaz and Baja Verapaz. The region faces historic land conflicts, unemployment stemming from the fall in coffee prices, and plans for large-scale development projects like mines, dams, bio-fuel plantations and oil drilling. In this context, the UVOC maintains a focus on the defense of indigenous territories and the sustainability of rural communities, taking part in legislative proposals and land negotiations, as well as other projects. For instance, the UVOC supported the community San Jose la Mocca in recuperating the historic indigenous lands where community members had worked on a coffee plantation. Within the movement, the UVOC has also embarked on an internal process to ensure the empowerment of women and youth.
Speaker: Edgar Alvarez Gomez is an organizer working within the youth and campesino (farmworker) movements in Guatemala.
Contact Information:
Edgar Alvarez
Email: edgaralvarez6@yahoo.com.ar
Phone: 612.721.9083 (as of June 12)
