Who is Ramiro Choc?

A young Ramiro Choc.
Photo Credit: Unknown

"One delegate notably missing from the Health Tribunal in San Miguel Ixtahuacán and the Izabalense delegation was Ramiro Choc. Like his sisters, Angelica and Maria Choc, Ramiro is a prominent Q’eqchi’ peasant leader who has dedicated much of his life to the defense of indigenous communities in Eastern and Central Guatemala. But on February 14, 2008 six police officers dragged Ramiro Choc from a public bus en route to Guatemala City and took him to an undisclosed location. There he was unlawfully detained for 5 days and probably would have been made to join the country’s countless disappeared had it not been for a serendipitously timed call to a lawyer — a call Ramiro still believes saved his life. So, instead of having his image added the walls of the capital adorned with the faces the “desaparecidos”, Mr. Choc was suddenly made to reappear albeit in front of a judge on the trumped up charges of aggravated robbery, land stealing, and kidnapping.

Posters of the Desaparecidos in Guatemala City.
Photo Credit: Robin Newman

If not so tragic the irony would be comedic. Ramiro and the organizations for whom he worked, the National Indigenous and Peasant Coordinating Committee (CONIC) and Encuentro Campesino, dedicate themselves to defending embattled indigenous communities against the very same crimes for which he was accused and subsequently condemned.

In fact, Ramiro appears to have been convicted for his role in mediating a stand-off between police and an indigenous Garifuna community near Livingston in 2007. Invited by the Department’s Governor, he had travelled to Barrio Buena Vista la Esperanza to help negotiate the release of a group of men forcibly held by the community for trespassing and land theft. But as reward for mediating a nonviolent conclusion to a volatile confrontation - Ramiro was arrested and now, four years later, continues to sleep on a cement floor in the notorious Pavon Prison.

Ramiro Choc became eligible for parole in February of 2011 but was unable to pay the extrajudicial fine attached to his sentence effectively making probation and freedom luxuries he simply can’t afford. But there is hope. The stubborn determination of his sisters has collided with the dedicated activism of Rights Action and others. And this growing North-South alliance has raised sufficient funds to satisfy the states extortion. But for now, Ramiro waits."

I included this piece in OG Guatemala’s newsletter in 2012. In 2013, I had the incredible privilege of bringing our OG Extreme team to Pavon Prison to meet the political prisoner Ramiro Choc himself. If it weren’t for the guards, concrete walls and barbed wire Pavon Prison would appear to many as more of a town than a prison. Market stalls and small eateries or comedors line the paths and many prisoners continue to eke out livelihoods for themselves and their families on the outside by making artisanal crafts or engaging in the informal economy that serves the 2,500 residents of “Barrio” Pavon. An affable guide and fellow prisoner escorted our group through the maze of narrow hallways and makeshift homes that make-up this model of state cruelty and individual ingenuity. After a few stops for directions we found Ramiro outside a small shack and garden that he and another prisoner have devised as their sleeping and working quarters. There we talked with the soft-spoken Ramiro, about his case, about our program and about football – the Gold Cup final between the US and Panama was being broadcast by small hand-held radios and little TV sets throughout the prison. Our visit was than punctuated by an exchange of hugs and a small number of Ramiro’s own hand-woven bags and hammocks which OG will sell or auction in the coming weeks with all proceeds going to the maker and his family.

But the story doesn’t end there.

From our visit we learned that Ramiro had a probation hearing scheduled for August 11, 2013. Ramiro has had many other such hearings so, needless to say, neither we nor he held out much hope for a Guatemalan Judicial change of heart at this one. BUT on August 13 as our team sat with none other than Angelica Choc in the community of Aguas Calientes, Alta Verapaz listening to personal stories of repression, dispossession, and murder at the hands of the government, mining and agribusiness, Angelica got a call.

A smile began to spread and quickly overwhelmed her face. Unable to speak or understand Q’eqchi’, our group curiously waited to see what was moving our friend and host to near tears. “He’s out, Ramiro is free!”

Ramiro Choc, long-time indigenous activist and 5 year political prisoner is now free to be a father, a husband, and a brother. I, OG and our Extreme team thank Ramiro, Angelica, and all those in the struggle for land, livelyhoods, and basic human rights for allowing us to share in small victories like the one we witnessed on Tuesday at a picnic table in Aguas Calientes. Welcome home Ramiro! 

OG Guatemala Extreme with Angelica Choc

Guatemalan crimes follow Canadian company home

On Monday Ontario Superior Court Justice, Carole Brown, ruled that HudBay Minerals Inc. could be held liable for alleged violence at a Guatemalan mine owned by its former subsidiary CGN. The precedent setting decision means that the claims of 13 Guatemalans from the Izabal region can proceed to trial and may open the door for other cases of corporate malfeasance overseas to be brought home to roost in Canadian Courts.
This is an incredible victory for Angelica Choc, who for four years has sought justice and some semblance of retribution for the murder of her husband and prominent community leader, Adolfo Ich. For Albira, Margarita and the other 9 women of Lote Ocho who allege that Hudbay’s security forces violently and sexually assaulted them during a forced eviction in 2007, a trial will provide a rare chance to have their claims legally and publicly recognized. For German, a young father who, while attending a soccer match was allegedly shot and paralyzed by uniformed Hudbay security personnel, a trial is one step closer to receiving some compensation for the extensive injuries incurred in the name of “development”. But perhaps most importantly, this trial will put human names and faces to the too often unseen victims of Canadian corporate misconduct and inequitable relations which give it countenance.
I have had the privilege of working with Angelica, Albira, Margarita, and German for some 3 years now, and they continue to inform and inspire my work with mining affected communities in Central America and West Africa as well as Operation Groundswell (OG), an incredible not-for-profit which brings student-age adults face-to-face with people and places like the women and men of Izabal. Their struggles are representative of so many others dispossessed in their own territories so that capital might be accumulated elsewhere. And the conviction, commitment and collaborative spirit with which they continue the fight for justice is a model for me, OG and the world over. This victory, however small, is therefore a rallying cry to others to continue striving towards positive change. Adelante!
Note: OG Guatemala Extreme will join the plaintiffs and local press, as well as government and non-government personnel for official reactions to the Ontario Superior Courts Decision at a Press Conference slated for Sunday, July 28 at 8:30am local time. As some of the only foreign correspondents on the ground, OG participants will be documenting the proceedings with audio and video with hopes of bringing Canadian and American attention to this potentially precedent setting case and to the stories that lie at its heart. Some footage may be submitted to press outlets in North America but most will be synthesized for publication by participants using social media and other outlets. This is our commitment to the story tellers.

Angelica, Raul and the brave women of Lote Ocho.
Photo Credit: Robin Newman

To walk or run? OG brings new legs to "Spring Break"

It´s hard to imagine that three short weeks ago I was standing outside the arrivals gate at La Aurora Int´l Airport in Guate awaiting the arrival of nine incredible young adventurers. They and the equally inspiring nine that would follow represented OG´s first ever Alternative Reading and Spring Break programs.
When we envisioned these intensive week long programs I don´t think any of us imagined they could or would provide the same cultural immersion, critical reflection or defining experience as those of the six week summer programs. But after having said goodbye to a second group of wide, albeit weary and teary eyed campañeros I´m inclined to wonder...
I remember, in interviews with the then would be participants, calling the spring programs a sprint but after running alongside them as they learned the complexity of Guatemala's culture and explored the benefits of fairer trade, I think that perhaps the shear pace and intensity allowed us to cover near the same figurative ground as the summer marathoners.
So, to those who bravely undertook this formative journey, SALUDOS Y GRACIAS!

Beyond opening my eyes to what can be accomplished in a single week here are some of OG Alternative Reading and Alternative Spring Break´s physical achievements:
Carmen´s Pig pen, Tilapia pond and biodigester are now fully operational. Aside from providing a substantial source of pig and fish protein for the family, the innovative project, constructed in large part by ARW, will produce fuel for stoves/lanterns and fertilizer for Bananas, Corn, and Beans in a nearly completely sustainable closed loop.
San Miguel Escobar´s green school now has nearly 1/4 of its exterior walls built thanks to the hard work of both ASB and ARW crews and the supervision of Don Pedro, Matt, and Timoteo. The facility will be the city´s first secondary school.
A combined total of 110lbs of coffee fruit was picked and processed by both programs. But perhaps the most productive aspect of this experience were the lessons drawn - for their hours of labour those 110lbs of fruit would yield Alberto, our host coffee farmer, about 15lbs of saleable coffee. Think about it, 4 years of planting and tending, 40hrs+ of picking and depulping, 15 days of drying, and incalculable hours of deshelling/selectioning = 15 measly bags of coffee. At int'l prices that would be about $26, at Fair Trade prices that would only be $4 more. Fortunately for Alberto's family, he grows gourmet coffee, roasts it with As Green As It Gets (his coffee
cooperative) and sells a great deal of it via direct trade at between
$7-8 per lb. Makes you think, it sure did us.
We also discovered that in Guatemala, Roya, a rust coloured fungus, was expected to devastate approx. 50-70 percent of the coffee crop for
2013 resulting in an official state of emergency. In the small ex-guerrilla run coffee community of Santa Anita, the prognosis was particularly dire. So, OG and the local association collaborated on the purchase of 8 backpack sprayers as well as 25kg of Copper Sulphate and Calcium. These ingredients have proven to be an effective antifungal and will allow Santa Anita to maintain its organic certification in the US. Eager to help with the first required application, ASB & ARW participants grabbed the glorified squirt guns and joined Don Orelio, Santiago and others in the fields. All in all the crews combined to treat an incredible 40 cuerdas or approx. 14km2 with the mineral agent. Dale!
Weary and with little rest, ASB & ARW still committed themselves to two of Guatemala's more challenging treks.
The first undertook a sometimes gruelling 25km journey, ascending through alpine rainforest onto the Siete Cruces ridge (3500m) and then down through cloud and bamboo forest to the Fuentes Georginas, a volcanic hotspring where they rewarded themselves with a relaxing soak The second group unanimously decided to scale Volcan Santa Maria, one of the highest and most impressive/infamous volcanoes in Central America. This 10km near vertical climb brought participants to the very top of Guatemala's highlands (3772m) where they could stare at Guatemala's impressive volcanic ridge and down to the same valley the volcano had once devastated below.
Needless to say when the groups finally arrived at Lago Atitlan, site of OG's new Placed based operations (The HUB), for debrief and disorientation, there were countless stories to share.

Only one week!? What did you do last week?

Global Guide Issue 1 (2012)

The Land of Luv & Tortillas in 2012

Tzibal Slideshow from Ben Sampson on Vimeo.

Community Constructions

Dear Contributors, Stakeholders, and friends,

An incredible year has passed since OGG first met the small community of Tzibal in 2011 and, in their effort to continue the connections created during one unforgettable week, com- mitted themselves to the construction of the Cancha. Not merely a basketball/football court nor a water-catching roof. The Can- cha is a collaborative project proposed by the Comité de Mujeres, promoted by the COCODE, conceptualized by Baird Sampson Neuert Architects/Blackwell & Associates, and funded in large part by passionate young students from across North America. But most importantly the Cancha and Centro Comunitario will be produced and presided over by the men, women, and children of an isolated but inspirational pueblo.  

This rag-tag consortium of dreamers and doers continues to be connected by friendship and solidarity but many now find themselves cast out and spread across the hemisphere, some by travels, some by studies, and others by professions. So, to all those who remain committed or perhaps just curious, read on, these pages are for you. First you will find a comprehensive up- date including news on the Cancha’s design and construction, other community developments, the state of fundraising and financing, as well as evaluative perspectives and prospects 365 days on. You will also find stories, in word and image, from OG’s most recent visit to the land of luv and tortillas. 

On Behalf of the OG Alumnos and the community of Tzibal, thank you and Bantiox. 

Developments

From its conception in the dirt to its most recent digital rendering by Baird Sampson Neuert and Blackwell & Associates, the Cancha as seen some dramatic changes. Originally envisioned as little more than a slab of concrete measuring 22 x 25 metres, the imaginations of local and international stake- holders now see a community campus encompassing four cuerdas (40 x 40 metres). The official NBA sized court complete with hybrid basketball/soccer posts and Mayan styled bleachers will occupy the lower three-quarters while a tiered community fruit and vegetable garden will occupy the slope above. Freestanding composting latrines and sink facilities will be discretely situated amongst Macadamia and Cypress trees on the facility’s outer edge. The Cancha’s roof will be constructed with an innovative steel cable and polypropelyn rope web onto which aluminum and plastic tiles will be fastened using bamboo purlins. This represents a wholly new and novel intersection of modern design, local materials, and indigenous know-how. Despite the incredible reductions in load due to the minimizing of structural and material costs, the four A-frames that punctuate the Cancha’s four corners have had to be reinforced to support the tension system above. The result is as impressive as it is innovative. 

To accommodate the more ambitious structure and its surroundings, the community and OGG 2011 ponied up Q15,000 (approx. $2000) to purchase more suitable land in close proximity to the school. Despite the reduced grade and increased accessibility however, the site still required a great deal of preparation prior to the commencement of construction. In this regard an appeal was made to the Municipality, economic conditions, the Municipality refused Tzibal’s re- quest for help. So, in place of bulldozers, jackhammers, and gas powered tempers two OGG crews joined with the men, women, and children of Tzibal clearing, tiering, and levelling the Cancha's acreage. But the manual labour was hampered by the local climate, economic and otherwise. Due to a poor growing season and consequent delays to community bean and corn harvests, Tzibal’s men were called away to work for fincas as far as Petén and Mexico. Unsurprisingly in their absence, little progress could be made towards the completion of the Cancha. With added, inflationary pressures, increasing fuel costs, and decreasing government assistance, construction schedules have had to be amended. 

In place of a single sustained effort, the Cancha will now be created in two phases. Phase 1 was inaugurated on August 25, 2012 in small a ceremony attended by the local teachers, the Director of the District School Board, the CO- CODE, members of the community. The uncharacteristically quiet occasion was also marked by the donation of the remaining $10,000 raised by OGG participants.    

During the coming months, the Cancha’s large foot print will be formed and poured. The innovative trusses will be made to order by steelworkers in San Pedro Carcha be- fore being anchored in concrete. And the basketball nets/ football posts will be acquired and attached. Completion of phase 1 is expected in the first quarter of 2013.  

Phase 2 which will include the construction of the roof, and composting toilettes will then extend through the spring and early summer with the Cancha’s inauguration tentatively planned for July/Aug. 2013 to coincide with the OGG “Off the Grid” program.  The new timeline is based on a reassessment of construction schedules and re-evaluation of budgetary projections conducted in collaboration with the community.  Based on these discussions and recent developments we deter- mined that current financing would be insufficient and a renewed fundraising campaign would be necessary to complete all of the Cancha’s component parts. The new campaign, which will launch on Nov. 26, 2012, will therefore seek to raise an additional $5,000 to cover the budgetary shortfall and allow phase 2 construction. An updated detailed budget has been released (below) and donations are currently being accepted at the Cancha's new Causevox page @ www.cancha.causevox.com.    

Your continued support is greatly appreciated

Thank you and Bantiox

Local Headlines

 The Mano Dura grips Campur

President Otto Perez Molina, a man both respected and reviled for his “mano dura” has so far lived up to his slogan. Elected in 2011, the ex-general pulled no punches launching an ambitious expansion of Guatemala’s military and police. Both will see physical increases of 20% and 40% respectively and detachments will be deployed to communities, small and large, across the country. In Campur, soldiers have replaced civil police in a dramatic sign of the Mano Dura’s reach. A fortified barracks has replaced the modest office of the exiled PNC and the sight of green camo is now a common occurrence on the streets of Campur. In the con- text of increasing delinquency reaction has been mixed. Some see the military contingent as a bastion of security while others see only its own misconducts. Either way the Mano Dura shows no signs of softening.

 The COCODITO’s plant new roots

17 year old Alejandro is in most respects an ordinary Guatemalan teenager. A spitting image of his dad, Alfonso, the young Tzibalense man is a mean footballer, a talented drummer, and a charismatic DJ and MC. But Alejandro is also the ambitious leader of the new COCODITO’s. A common Spanish play on popular words, the addition of ITO denotes a smaller, cuter version of the local COCODE or Community Development Council. This small group of impassioned youth aged 12-17 have launched a campaign to ignite the developmental imaginations of their companeros and see those visions of what Tzibal could and should be realized through small scale projects. The first of these mini-proyectos is a tree planting campaign to introduce shade and shelter to the otherwise sun baked or rain soaked road connecting Tzibal to neighbouring Campur. The second project will be to chronicle the COCODITO’s increasingly ambitious campaign. So, stay tuned.

Mining Goes on Trial

At 5am on Saturday July 14, OGG packed up and headed off to San Miguel Ixtahuacàn. There the group joined other international delegations, human rights accompaniers, journalists, and local community members for the first ever International Peoples Health Tribunal.  

Initiated by local stakeholders in San Miguel Ixtahuacàn, the event was coordinated in collaboration with Susana Caxaj, a University of Western graduate student and volunteer with Mining Injustice Solidarity Network (MISN), as well as the local Parrish and FREDEMI (Front in Defense of San Miguel Ixtahuacàn). Also participating were people affected by Goldcorp’s Los Filos mine in Mexico and its San Martín mine in Honduras, as well as representatives from throughout El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Panama, who provided a regional examination and critique of the resource extraction model and its effects on communities.  

The tribunal was structured to resemble a trial with a panel of 13 judges presiding. For two days they and OGG listened to testimony from scientific experts, human rights organizations, and community leaders directly affected by mining.  Specifically, tribunal heard three cases from three different countries experiencing the (mal)effects of mining operations owned and operated by Canadian gold giant Goldcorp. The tales of contamination, defective and abortive pregnancies, skin malformations, inter and intra community violence, as well as forced evictions and assassinations challenged even the most ardent mining proponent.

The Verdict

After two days of testimony the international panel of distinguished observers which included environmental scientists, psychologists, legal and cultural anthropologists among others delivered a guilty verdict to Goldcorp, the host countries of Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, as well as the Canadian Government for supporting and promoting in various ways irresponsible mining in Mesoamerica. The verdict read “...we find Goldcorp guilty for its activities in Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, which we find to be seriously damaging to the health and the quality of life, the quality of environment, and the right to self-determination of the affected Indigenous and campesino communities.”

“Now we will hear from Izabal”

With that, Raul Caal Coc, a delegate from Chichipate, El Estor, immediately stood up throwing his arms in the air in triumph. For him and the six other delegates from the Department of Izabal in Guatemala’s nickel rich eastern reaches, the opportunity to speak and be heard was a rare victory. On his flank were fellow embattled activists Maria and Angelica Choc. And it was the powerful voices of the two Maya- Q'eqchi women from La Union, El Estor that filled the hall of international judges, expert witnesses, Mesoamerican delegates, and interested onlookers. Their passionate pleas for action also served to punctuate the two days of testimonies from affected communities.   

Angelica began: “we are victims of the Canadian mining companies in our country like many others that are here today… We are Indigenous people, we must protect ourselves.” Angelica Choc is the widow of Adolfo Ich, a prominent community leader from La Union, who in 2009 was gunned down by Mynor Padilla, head of HudBay Nickels security subcontractor. Her and Maria are also the sisters of political prisoner Ramiro Choc, an indigenous and community activist who has been held in federal custody since 2008. Her assured voice continued: “We are defending our mother earth because we know that it is from her that we are able to eat and live… They [the companies] continue to offer projects in our communities... Don’t believe them. The ‘bolsas solidarias’ they offer will not endure over the years but our land, yes, it’s for our children. So we have to defend them now… We are rich… and it is because of that foreign companies have to rob our economic resources, our natural re- sources and everything we have. And how? Violently and without shame. Do you know why they enter? Because they think we are still in the 60’s and 70’s when they massacred our parents and grandparents. They may still have blindfolds on, but today we, our children, our grandchildren no longer have blindfolds on, YES or NO?” the crowd quickly replied “No!”. Angelica then turned her attention to those that had not bothered to attend, those who hide their eyes and cover their ears to the abuses of their corporate citizens. “To the Canadian Government and Canadian authorities” Angelica asked, “hear me in Canada and do not send me back to seek justice in Guatemala. Because in my Guatemala there is no justice.”  

The verdict, read in both Spanish and Mam, inspired cautious smiles and applause from the Izabalense delegation and packed hall. But what now? Raul, Angelica, Maria, Germán, and the women from Lote Ocho would return to Izabal the following day where they will continue to face repression and persecution as local indigenous populations continue the 500 year old fight for land and livelihoods against foreign invasion and corporate dispossession.   

Who is Ramiro Choc?

One delegate notably missing from the Izabalense delegation was Ramiro Choc. Like his sisters, Angelica and Maria Choc, Ramiro is a prominent Q’eqchi’ peasant leader who has dedicated much of his life to the defense of indigenous communities in Eastern and Central Guatemala. But on February 14, 2008 six police officers dragged Ramiro Choc from a public bus en route to Guatemala City and took him to an undisclosed location. There he was unlawfully detained for 5 days and probably would have been made to join the country’s countless disappeared had it not been for a serendipitously timed call to a lawyer — a call Ramiro still believes saved his life. So, instead of suffering the planned disposal, Mr. Choc suddenly reappeared in front of a judge on the trumped up charges of aggravated robbery, land stealing, and kidnapping.   If not so tragic the irony would be comedic. Ramiro and the organizations for whom he worked, the National Indigenous and Peasant Coordinating Committee (CONIC) and Encuentro Campesino, dedicate themselves to defending embattled indigenous communities against the same crimes for which he was accused and subsequently condemned.   Ramiro was in fact convicted for his role in mediating a stand-off between police and an indigenous Garifuna community near Livingston in 2007. Invited by the Department’s Governor, he had travelled to Barrio Buena Vista la Esperanza to help negotiate the release of a group of men forcibly held by the community for trespassing and land theft. But as reward for mediating a nonviolent conclusion to a volatile confrontation - Ramiro was arrested and now, four years later, continues to sleep on a cement floor in the notorious Pavon prison.   Ramiro Choc became eligible for parole in February of 2011 but was unable to pay the extrajudicial fine attached to his sentence making probation and freedom a luxury he simply couldn’t afford. But there is hope. The stubborn determination of his sisters has collided with the dedicated activism of Rights Action and others. And this growing North-South alliance has raised sufficient funds to satisfy the states extortion. But for now, in his cell, Ramiro still waits.

For more information on the International Peoples Health Tribunal and the continuing struggles of San Miguel Ixtahuacàn and Izabal please visit: www.rightsaction.org

In Images...