I hope you are well in these times of deep confusion, uncertainty and authoritarianism. I come to you with a request that is clear, concise, and a way to show up meaningfully to fight against the rise of international authoritarianism that the current US administration is enabling and supporting. As the United States continues its implementation of Project 2025, and the US opposition continues to be frozen, afraid, and grasping for ways to respond to these well developed strategies of repression and oppression, other nefarious and genocidal forces rear their heads in Latin America and other places.

Mayan leaders in Guatemala are currently being directly affected by a Right Wing attempt to limit, punish, criminalize and annihilate Mayan pro-Democracy activities that have secured the opportunity for a true democracy there. In 2023, the country suffered through a constitutional crisis, Mayan leaders and their communities organized en masse to create space and opportunity for a new political direction toward democracy for the country. As these Right Wing forces begin to prepare for their next election, they have begun a campaign of terror, criminalization, and punishment for key Mayan leaders and movements so they can tear them down as an effort to weaken these communities' capacities to organize, mobilize, and shape the future of the country.

We are one year away of the 30th anniversary of the Guatemalan Peace Accords of 1996. It is a miracle that in less than 30 years since the genocide Mayan communities endured in the 80s and 90s, these beautiful, inspiring, effective, visionary and transformative movements with leaders that are every bit as profound as their movements have emerged at all. Their achievements are an inspiration for all Indigenous movements worldwide. Their generous invitation for mainstream Settlers and mestiz@s to join in their efforts to protect all of life, to secure the future of humanity, and to respond to complex social problems through collaboration and innovation are a model for the world. What happens to this precious ecosystem that illuminates a path towards a loving future for all of us, happens to all of our future. These egregious actions cannot be allowed to stand.

Therefore we ask for each of you to dig deep and do what you can to support these precious communities as they face hate, violence, and a potential future that can resemble what they lived through in the 80s and 90s. We know, from past experience that genocide is a well trodden path of Western culture as a tool of empire building. Genocide is a technique and a habit that lurks as a possibility in societies where it has been practiced unless it is actively being addressed and resisted. For those of us who have been the targets of genocide, we know all too well the habits of mind, behavior, political organizing, and use of the power of the state to commit these types of crimes against humanity. We know we must track its potential expression and fight against it in all its forms.

So, if you are asking what you can do. Here is the list:

Donate to our Solidarity Fund so we can support the well being of these communities as they struggle for their freedom and their right to participate in their democratic processes.
Come to our information call this Saturday May 3rd, 2025 at 10:00 AM PST / 11:00 AM MST / 12:00 PM CST / 1:00 PM EST, and 11:00 AM MX/Guate/HN time. Please register here.
Please share this email and its accompanying webpage from lovingfuture.org with your networks. Our outrage in the North matters as it impacts tourism and hurts Right Wing pockets there. Also, it exposes their behavior and rightly causes international embarrassment.
Issue solidarity statements as possible and appropriate from your organizations.
Contact political representatives who you think will care and who can support the extension of protections to these movements and leaders. Although our national standing and capacity to stand up for human rights and the rights of indigenous communities are weakened given our current administration's priorities, we still have power and privileges we can put to use for those purposes and may it always remain so.
Read and watch what is happening here. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide document translations just yet as we are responding in real time and are trying to get communications processes off the ground. Thank you for your patience.
Watch this exchange with Mexican President Scheinbaum where she expresses solidarity with the Mayan peoples.
Examine the enclosed documents below: the statement from all 22 Guatemalan governors as they stand in solidarity with the Mayan peoples; and the statement from the Mayan ancestral authorities.