"It will go down in history, all the men and women who promoted radio, the radio will be used to defend our rights and defend our language, as Q'eqchi' people," said teacher Guadalupe Quinich, during Radio Xyaab 'Tzuultaq'a’s inauguration on March 5, 2017, in El Estor, Guatemala. The inauguration coincided with the beginning of the Mayan New Year, Joob Tz'ikin.
Community radio has been a vital presence in Indigenous communities in Guatemala since the 1960s. Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala rely on community radio to keep their cultures, languages, and traditions alive as well as to inform their communities about issues and events relevant to their lives. Community radio also serves the vital function of distributing content to listeners in their own language, reaching even the poorest areas where radio may be the only affordable form of communication.
After almost a decade of resistance, a cautious victory has been declared for a Maya community in Guatemala in their fight against a Spanish hydroelectric company attempting to install a dam on their sacred river.
Cultural Survival joins PAYXAIL YAJAWKONOB' CHUJ, AKATEKO, Q'ANJOB'AL, POPTI' (the traditional government of the Chuj, Akateko, Q’anjob’al, and Popti’ Nations) as well as the International Maya League and E
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.
