But the difference is that this is happening in May, 2012, in that region of Huehuetenango department, and with other actors involved: police and military officers who operate under the command of President General Otto Perez Molina, and the peasant communities who oppose the building of a hydroelectric dam.

“Santa Cruz Barillas is now filled with soldiers and police officers. In the most affected areas, people have fled to the mountains to defend themselves, and many have fled to Mexico. A woman fled to the mountain and ended up giving birth there,” said Pascual Antonio, in an interview with Real World Radio.

The State of Emergency was decreed on May 1st, and ever since, military officers “raid houses, rape women and steal the few things we have”, he said. “They take our clothes, they hit our children, they destroy documents. A few days ago, they stole the savings of a widow and I know a child who has been captured eight times in these past days”, he said.

This was made known on May 10th in a press conference organized by the Peasant Unity Committee, the Mayan Waqib Kej Coordination and Ceiba-Friends of the Earth Guatemala.

Pascual Antonio’s father is one of the community members who promoted consultations and peaceful mobilizations against the dam.
On April 15th, he was arrested and so far he hasn’t been questioned. His family found out only recently that he was arrested and that the authorities are accusing him of several crimes, among them theft and drug trafficking.

Pascual believes in the innocence of his father and denounces that this is a way to criminalize the protest. "In Guatemala, the abuse of authority and the violation of human rights is permanent", he said.