Congressional Democrats ask Blinken to condemn prosecution, murder of Guatemalan environmental defenders

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Az.) and Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) led a letter Friday calling on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to condemn the Guatemalan government’s prosecution of Indigenous environmental activists and the recent assassination of another.

The letter specifically cites the case of Sofia Tot Ac, an Indigenous leader and activist, against the development of energy infrastructure projects in Guatemala’s Purulha municipality. In 2022, Tot Ac was charged with aggravated theft and aggravated usurpation of protected areas and sentenced to more than three years in prison this March.

It also points to Noé Gómez Barrera, an outspoken opponent of both a silver mining project and development by Renewable Energy Alternative in the municipality of Jutiapa. Barrera was murdered outside his home in October 2023.

The letter calls the prosecution of Tot Ac and the killing of Barrera part of a “greater pattern” of prosecution of and violence against Indigenous Guatemalan activists for opposing government-backed energy projects, citing a report from the group Global Witness that nearly 200 environmental defenders were murdered for their cause in 2023. The Ancestral Indigenous Authorities of Guatemala have asked for protections from the Inter American Commission on Human Rights due to the trend.

“In the remaining time of the Biden administration, it must publicly condemn the prosecution of Sofia Tot Ac and other indigenous environmental defenders who have spoken out against energy projects, and advocate for an immediate investigation into the assassination of Noé Gomez Barrera and violence against other Indigenous leaders who have spoken out against these projects,” they wrote.

In addition to Markey, Grijalva and Barrera, the letter is signed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), James McGovern (D-Mass.) and Greg Casar (D-Texas).

A 2024 report from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala found “significant” human rights problems in the country, including targeted violence against Indigenous people and repression of free expression.

The Hill has reached out to the State Department for comment.