Women like Maudilia López Cardona, leader of a community women’s group that resists mining operations; Gregoria Crisanta Pérez, a brave community member who cut the power to a foreign-owned mine via an illegal electric post installed on her property; and Diodora Antonia Hernández, survivor of a brutal shooting for her efforts to resist the mining company in her community.
Meet women defending Mother Earth in Guatemala
Maudilia, Gregoria Crisanta, and Diodora Antonia are among the many women risking their lives to protect their communities from the negative impacts of mining operations in Guatemala.
In recent years, foreign mining operations in Guatemala have grown exponentially. The government of Guatemala routinely grants mining licenses to foreign companies without communities’ consent—a direct violation of indigenous rights enshrined in the Guatemalan constitution. Quite often, mining companies will offer incentives to communities in exchange for their support of the mine. These tactics forge rifts between community members, and put those who oppose the mine at great risk of violence, criminalization, and isolation from the community.
This is the world premiere of Women Crossing the Line: Defending Mother Earth. This 15 minute documentary—the third chapter in a new mini-documentary series from Nobel Women’s Initiative and JASS—exposes the impacts mining has on communities and the risks Guatemala’s women face for their efforts to protect their environment.
From the highlands of Guatemala, these are the voices of women courageously speaking out in defence of their land, and their lives.
WATCH WOMEN CROSSING THE LINE: DEFENDING MOTHER EARTH
LEARN MORE
Catch up on Nobel Women’s Initiative 2012 delegation to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala