Indigenous peoples in Guatemala

Guatemala is home to 24 ethnic groups. Although the Government of Guatemala has adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the country’s indigenous peoples continue to face a number of challenges, especially in terms of political participation, health, employment, income, housing, and education.

Indigenous peoples in Guatemala

Guatemala is estimated to have 6 million indigenous inhabitants. The official census from 2002 estimates that 45% of the population is indigenous, but alternative reports indicate a figure closer to 60%.

The principal ethnic groups are the Achi’, the Akateco, the Awakateco, the Chalchiteco, the Ch’orti’, the Chuj, the Itza’, the Ixil, the Jacalteco, the Kaqchikel, the K’iche’, the Mam, the Mopan, the Poqomam, the Poqomchi’, the Q’anjob’al, the Q’eqchi’, the Sakapulteco, the Sipakapense, the Tektiteko, the Tz’utujil, the Uspanteko, the Xinka, and the Garífuna.

The country still lacks a differentiated statistical base on indigenous peoples, especially on indigenous women, but it is well-known that there are disparities between the indigenous and the non-indigenous population in employment, income, health, and education.

Statistics clearly demonstrate persistent racism and discrimination against indigenous peoples. Despite representing more than half of the population and participating actively in the country’s economy, their political participation is not equitably reflected.

Main challenges for Guatemala’s indigenous peoples

One of the main struggles for indigenous peoples in Guatemala relates to political participation. The electoral system is defined by exclusion of indigenous peoples, and they primarily participate as voters, rather than as candidates with true possibilities of being elected.

With respect to health, employment, income, housing, and education, there is a great disparity between indigenous peoples and the rest of the population. Official data indicates that extreme poverty affects 21.8% of the indigenous population, compared to the 7.4% of the non-indigenous population. Despite the magnitude of the problem, the state has not developed any specific strategies to change this state of affairs.

Another challenge for Guatemala’s indigenous peoples relates to the absence of a water act. The use, management, and conservation of water are not officially regulated, and several private companies take advantage of this by not paying for their water usage, nor contributing to water conservation, and without assuming any responsibility for pollution caused by discharges of waste. The majority of groundwater recharge areas are located within indigenous territories, and the affected indigenous peoples do not receive any support from the state or from water users to protect the aquifers. Several communities have demanded that the state commence a broad discussion to draft a water act, but they have yet to be met.

After provisionally protected the communities of the Q’eqchi people by opposing the construction of two internationally funded hydroelectric projects in their territory, the Constitutional Court eventually issued a final judgment that approves the continuation of the projects and forces the Government to formulate and approve a regulation to standardise the holding of community consultations. Indigenous and social organizations expressed their opposition. This ruling violates the rights of indigenous peoples, ILO Convention 169 and the laws of the country itself because community consultations do not require any regulation and must be carried out according to the mechanisms of the indigenous peoples.

Potential progress for Guatemala’s indigenous peoples

In 2016, 34 years after committing the crimes, a group of army officers were sentenced to 120 and 240 years of imprisonment for raping15 Maya Q’eqchi women and force them into sexual slavery. The case sets a precedent worldwide since it is the first time a crime of sexual abuse during an armed conflict has gone under trial in the same country where it was committed. However, other cases of crimes committed by the military against the indigenous population during the armed internal conflict remain in impunity.