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May 27, 2025

The Maya Ixil people of Guatemala are defending their ancestral lands against hydroelectric projects imposed without prior consultation. In San Juan Cotzal, community members say these developments, like the Palo Viejo plant, disrupt local rivers and livelihoods while profits largely benefit foreign companies. Chicana and Chicano Studies Assistant Professor Giovanni Batz documents this ongoing resistance in his book The Fourth Invasion, highlighting centuries of dispossession faced by the Ixil.

A photograph from a presentation showing indigenous leader Concepción Santay Gómez addressing an audience at the University of California, Los Angeles in early 2025. Standing beside him is Professor Giovanni Batz, the author of The Fourth Invasion.    A close-up photograph of Concepción Santay Gómez, an indigenous leader from the municipality of San Juan Cotzal, Quiché, Guatemala, who visited Los Angeles to document and speak out against the exploitation of transnational corporations on Maya Ixil territory.   A photograph displaying copies of the book The Fourth Invasion (La cuarta invasión) by Giovanni Batz arranged on a table. The book documents the history of Maya Ixil resistance against extractivism and resource exploitation.

Read the full article: LA Times Español.