THE MAYAN CONNECTION - LOS CIMIENTOSALLIANCE

Introduction

Since 1991, The Mayan Connection-Los Cimientos Alliance has served the Maya K'iche landowners of Los Cimientos and their families as humanitarian resource development and human rights advocates.

The community of Los Cimientos was displaced from their land after large scale massacres during the Guatemalan civil war in the 1980´s, becoming one group among many of Guatemala´s internally displaced peoples. During the long years of stuggle, the people of Los Cimientos endured hardships and attempted to regain their land as part of a widespread movement across Guatemala to build a functioning civil society and seek justice for the victims of the war, as promised in the Peace Accords that ended the fighting in 1996.

In 1991 elders from the Los Cimientos community asked a representative from the Mayan Connection for international help. Driven from their land and suffering as refugees, the women in the community asked for help in finding food and medicine for their children; the men asked for assistance in their struggle to regain their land. The Mayan Connection responded and has since raised funds, provided human rights accompaniment, organized food supplies and helped to develop an artisans project. This assistance became crucial to the community's survival when they were violently driven from their land in 2001. The network created during Mayan Connection's presentations has proved to be essential to the process of negotiating a just resolution in this case. Their daily struggle for survival continues today on their new land in San Vicente. We invite you to learn more about the on-going story of Los Cimientos. This community is one among thousands of Guatemalan Mayan communities confronting the abyss of cultural annihilation.

This struggle continues today and we invite you to learn more and become involved. For a full history refer to: "History" and for events up to March 1st, 2002 refer to: "Timeline".