In condemnation of the murder of the Maya Q'eqchi spiritual guide Tata Domingo Choc Ché in Guatemala
Declaration of the CLACSO Working Group on Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Projects
The CLACSO Working Group Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Projects We express our deep repudiation of the murder of Tata Domingo Choc Ché, Ajkun – traditional doctor and Ajq'ij – spiritual guide and expert in medicinal herbs (Aj ilonel) of the Maya Q'eqchi people and member of the spiritual association Relebaal Saq'e – Sunrise, a treacherous crime that occurred on June 6 in the village of Chimay, municipality of San Luis, department of Petén, Guatemala.
The crime committed against the traditional doctor and Mayan spiritual guide is a result of Christian fundamentalism and fanaticism imposed since the beginning of colonialism and still reproduced by members of his village who accused him of witchcraft, detained and beat him all night and killed him by setting him on fire without receiving help from any of the numerous people present, dying at the scene.
Tata Domingo Choc returns to Mother Earth to reunite with his ancestors whose knowledge he respected, preserved, and generously shared.
As a Working Group, we believe that this crime is not an isolated incident but rather one of the many faces of racism, ethnocidal religious fundamentalism, and the coloniality of knowledge that denies and persecutes indigenous knowledge and those who preserve and practice it.
We warn of the rise of a new wave of ethnocidal evangelization of colonialism in Latin America by dogmatic and conservative currents within Catholic, Protestant, and neo-Pentecostal churches, which seek to impose themselves against the spirituality, sacred celebrations, sacred sites, symbols, and spiritual leaders of Indigenous peoples. We especially warn against the influence of these church sectors within the region's governments, such as in Brazil, where President Jair Bolsonaro defends openly racist sectors of Christian churches, and in Bolivia, where last year Jeanine Añez was sworn in as interim president with a Bible in her hand after declaring that "the Bible returns to the palace," a position openly denigrating Indigenous spiritualities.
We recognize the enormous value of indigenous spirituality and knowledge for the common good in caring for Mother Earth, her forests, and the diversity of life, which are essential for combating the effects of the civilizational crisis of modernity/coloniality, such as the climate crisis and environmental devastation, and are essential for building a society that strengthens a community-based civilizational matrix.
We recognize the human right of indigenous peoples to preserve, transmit, protect and practice their traditional knowledge.
We urge the State of Guatemala, in particular the Public Prosecutor's Office, to investigate and bring to justice those responsible for the murder of the traditional doctor Domingo Choc and to protect the physical integrity of the families of Mayan spirituality in the village of Chimay.
We urge the State of Guatemala to respect the legitimate organizations and institutions of the ancestral Mayan authorities in the resolution and transformation of conflicts generated since the colonial period and which are causing problems in collective coexistence.
We urge the States of Latin America to give special protection to indigenous traditional knowledge authorities in their role of preserving, protecting, practicing and transmitting this knowledge, including the adoption of special measures to protect them from fundamentalist churches in indigenous territories that persecute or discriminate against them.
June 12 by 2020
CLACSO Working Group
Indigenous peoples and extractive projects
This statement expresses the position of the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Projects and not necessarily that of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.
