Mario Godinez, member of Ceiba- FoE Guatemala, made reference to this at Friends of the Earth Latin America and the Caribbean (ATALC)’s General Meeting that took place this weekend in Buenos Aires, capital city of Argentina.

Godinez said that these communities have declared themselves free from the State, and that the government has been responding with militarization and violence.

“Communities have taken three strong steps: recognizing that the damage is not on people, but on communities; identifying the importance of defending their territories and finally opposing the colonial and racist government by saying that it is possible to build alternatives”, he said.

Guatemala is a country historically hit by genocides. To the scorched earth strategies carried out by the military dictatorship, “we have to add the “new genocide” that results from mining exploitation and land grabbing to produce agrofuels”, said Godínez.

He added that, parallel to this process, economic powers such as the US have strengthened militarization in the continent.

“It is not the economic power it used to be, but it continues being a military power. They know that food is a good business, and that we as a people don’t have another choice but to resist”, he added.

Finally, Godinez said that the latest international financial crisis has taught the economic powers that “paper and electronic money disappears overnight, but metals, such as gold, don’t disappear so easily.”

Photo: http://vocesmayas.wordpress.com