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?