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Guatemala’s Indigenous communities join protests over rising fuel prices

From Clarín · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency Ongoing story
  • Hundreds of Indigenous Guatemalans joined protests against higher fuel prices, which organizers say have increased the cost of basic goods and transportation.
  • The government attributes the rise to the effects of the war in the Middle East, while the diesel price cited in the report climbed from about $3.40 per gallon in February to $5.70 in late August.
  • President Bernardo Arévalo sent Congress a fuel-subsidy proposal, but community leaders say the state has failed to respond after an earlier measure expired.

Hundreds of Indigenous Guatemalans joined a growing protest movement on Tuesday, bringing drums and ancestral instruments through the streets of the historic center to demand action against rising fuel prices.

The increase has hit diesel particularly hard. The price cited in the report rose from about $3.40 per gallon in February to $5.70 at the end of August, raising the cost of basic food and transportation. Unions, civil groups and merchants have protested for two months with demonstrations and nationwide road blockades.

Today the organized Indigenous peoples are here. Two months have now passed since the last support ended, and there has been no response.

· Eduardo TaxThe president of the 48 Cantons organization of Totonicapán criticized the lack of a government response to fuel prices.

President Bernardo Arévalo sent Congress a bill on Monday to subsidize fuel. The opposition-controlled legislature has not reached the consensus needed to approve it, unlike a temporary measure passed in April.

A place of luxury

· Miguel VicenteThe head of the Indigenous mayor’s office in Sololá used the phrase to criticize lawmakers and their distance from the hardship caused by rising prices.

“Today the organized Indigenous peoples are here. Two months have now passed since the last support ended, and there has been no response,” said Eduardo Tax, president of the 48 Cantons organization of Totonicapán.

Miguel Vicente, head of the Indigenous mayor’s office in Sololá, criticized lawmakers for remaining in “a place of luxury” and said they therefore “do not think about the misery and hunger” caused by the high cost of basic goods. The organizations have not ruled out intensifying the protests. They also led road blockades in 2023 to defend Arévalo’s election victory, whose inauguration was threatened by investigations involving a controversial former prosecutor.

They do not think about the misery and hunger

· Miguel VicenteVicente said lawmakers were failing to consider the impact of expensive basic goods.
About this summary

Originally published by Clarín in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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