Published TUESDAY March 11, 2025: 'FOURTH CONQUEST: Mayan's Fight For land Rights' by ZUMA Press award winning PA Wire photo-journalist Brian Lawless: The Mayan people's struggle to keep their ancestral land has been described as 'the fourth conquest' and like 'fighting a monster'. Indigenous Mayans in Guatemala have called for a halt on multinational companies coming to their communities and extracting resources. Local people believe that big agriculture and mining have destroyed the natural environment, affecting their crops and polluting the water. Unlike the historical conquests, today the community is optimistic, they have legal papers that they say will determine the land is theirs. Local spokesman Gilberto Ichich said they don't want their territory to be 'invaded' by these companies. 'We don't want any mining, we don't want any palm tree oil palms here, we want them out. We don't want any more damage, we just want to be (left) in peace.' Welcome to 'FOURTH CONQUEST: Mayan's Fight For land Rights'
© zReportage.com Issue #980 Story of the Week: Published TUESDAY March 11, 2025: 'FOURTH CONQUEST: Mayan's Fight For land Rights' by ZUMA Press award winning PA Wire photo-journalist Brian Lawless: The Mayan people's struggle to keep their ancestral land has been described as 'the fourth conquest' and like 'fighting a monster'. Indigenous Mayans in Guatemala have called for a halt on multinational companies coming to their communities and extracting resources. Local people believe that big agriculture and mining have destroyed the natural environment, affecting their crops and polluting the water. Unlike the historical conquests, today the community is optimistic, they have legal papers that they say will determine the land is theirs. Local spokesman Gilberto Ichich said they don't want their territory to be 'invaded' by these companies. 'We don't want any mining, we don't want any palm tree oil palms here, we want them out. We don't want any more damage, we just want to be (left in peace.' Welcome to 'FOURTH CONQUEST: Mayan's Fight For land Rights'
SYLVIA PATRICIA CAAL, 35, from Rubal Pec, stands in the waters of Lake Izabal in El Estor. Caal said they want the Guatemalan government to listen to their 'indigenous request' and stop any more multinational companies extracting resources here.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
Local farmer JULIO ESTELA holds some of last years harvested maize at his family home in the village of La Paz in central Guatemala. Members of the community believe that big companies have destroyed the natural environment, affecting their crops and water.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
A boy stands on a road at sunrise near to the Q'eqchi village of Chinebal Palestina. The Mayan people's struggle to keep their ancestral land has been described as 'the fourth conquest' and like 'fighting a monster'. Mayans have shown 'remarkable' resilience in response, said a policy adviser with the Irish charity Trocaire.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
Dried red earth in the village of La Paz in central Guatemala. Indigenous Mayans in the region have called for a halt on multinational companies coming to their communities and extracting mineral resources via open pit mines. Locals fear for the health of their children.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
LEONARDO CAJBOM (44) is the Mayan spiritual leader for the village and is angry at how unbearable the heat has become in recent years. Cajbom's father was one of around 200,000 people killed during the civil war, where US-backed government forces 'disappeared' and killed Mayans. He was two years old when his father was killed, and it was only in 2014 that his father's body was identified and buried. Cajbom says that today Mayan people now had a chance to protect themselves.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
Smokestacks rise above the jungle at a mine in El Estor, Guatemala. The Mayan people's struggle to keep their ancestral land has been described as 'the fourth conquest' and like 'fighting a monster'. Indigenous Mayans have called for a halt on multinational companies coming to their communities and extracting resources.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
GILBERTO ICHICH QUIIX sits beside Lake Izabal in El Estor. Gilberto said they don't want their territory to be 'invaded.' He said that the companies are allowed to ''do whatever they want in our land'' and called on the Guatemalan government to consult with Mayans on whether to grant these permissions. 'We don't want any mining, we don't want any palm tree oil palms here, we want them out. We don't want any more damage, we just want to be (left) in peace.'
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
Mining equipment and workers amid the scarred landscape on the side of a road in Guatemala. The Mayan people's struggle to keep their ancestral land has been described as 'the fourth conquest' and like 'fighting a monster'. Members of the community believe that big companies have destroyed the natural environment, affecting their crops and water.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
Community leader DOMINGO CHOC TIUL stands beside a cross erected for Jose Chaman Caal who 'died on October 31, 2020 for 'Mother Earth' in the Q'eqchi village. The 35-year-old was shot dead at the site of the cross, not far from where his wife and six children live, the youngest of whom was 6 months old when he was killed. His death sparked fear and intimidation among the community.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
Villagers perform a Mayan-Christian traditional ceremony with a circle of burning candles surrounded by flowers in the Q'eqchi village of Chinebal Palestrina.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
A woman covers her face during a ceremony in the Q'eqchi village of Chinebal Palestina. Villagers perform a Mayan-Christian traditional ceremony, a circle of burning candles is surrounded by flowers.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
Villagers perform a Mayan-Christian traditional ceremony with a circle of burning candles surrounded by flowers. The community's spiritual leader fans a legal document over the flames to bless them, in the Q'eqchi village of Chinebal Palestrina.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
ENRIQUE TOT, coordinator for CONRED, Guatemalan Coordinating Agency for Disaster Reduction, shows radio equipment used for warning of destructive weather events in the village of La Paz in central Guatemala. CONRED aims to prevent disasters, mitigate their impact, respond to disasters, and participate in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of disaster damage.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
The scarred landscape where mining has take place in El Estor. Members of the community believe that big companies have destroyed the natural environment, affecting their crops and water.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
Local GABRIEL XI POCHAN at Lake Izabal in El Estor, Guatemala. Pochan said they are angry at the thought of a US company taking minerals out of their area and damaging the environment. 'We worry about our kids, they are suffering from so many diseases because of the water. They're contaminating our waters, our rivers, and the state doesn't pay attention.'
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
A driver cleans their tuk tuk vehicle in the waters of a river in central Guatemala. Indigenous Mayans in Guatemala have called for a halt on multinational companies coming to their communities and extracting resources.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
ESTEBAN HERMELINDO CUX CHOC, a lawyer with the Committee of Peasant Unity (CUC) holds legal documents relating to land ownership in the Q'eqchi village of Chinebal Palestina. The 47-year-old said he has been fighting for indigenous land rights for thirty years. 'Our slogan is for the big companies to get out of here, to get off our land. For example, we've got the sugar cane, the palm trees. We want them out of our land. It's not true that they bring development.'
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
People working among crops in central Guatemala. Indigenous Mayans in Guatemala have called for a halt on multinational companies coming to their communities and extracting resources.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
Farmer JULIO ESTELA and his wife ILMA with their children (L-R) JULIO (10) GLORIA (2), DEBORA (4) and MIRIAM (13) at their family home in the village of La Paz in central Guatemala. Members of the community believe that big companies have destroyed the natural environment, affecting their crops and water.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
A boat on Lake Izabal in El Estor, while nearby local leaders from the indigenous community gathered to discuss the situation. One elderly man said he will be devastated and cry if there is mining again. The group said it causes environmental destruction, and fear it will affect their crops, the air, the water and fish in the lake.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
JULIO ESTELA, 10, in his school classroom in the village of La Paz in central Guatemala. Members of the community believe that big companies have destroyed the natural environment, affecting their crops and contaminating water and so affecting the health of their children.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
A painting of a tree and a flower on the school wall in the village of La Paz. Guatemala is the first country in Central America to mandate school meals at a national level. Since 2017, at least 70 percent of ingredients for school meal baskets must be procured from local smallholder farmers.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
Children play in the red earth at the village of La Paz in central Guatemala. Locals fear for the health of their children due to possible contaminants in the water supply due to nearby mining activity.
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire via ZUMA Press
