The Mayans returning after Guatemala s Genocide

Los Retornados | Preview Clip: In 1993, thousands of Guatemalan refugees returned from Mexico. They had fled the armed conflict and the genocide against the Maya population. After their return, Los Retornados, the Returnees , demanded a piece of land from the government to rebuild their communities. One of these communities is Copal AA La Esperanza. Today, The Copaleros defend their community against the construction of a dam. To view the full film, visit: https://www.journeyman.tv/film/8203 Subscribe to Journeyman here: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=journeymanpictures Telling their collective history is part of that. But this resistance is also dangerous. The government is not afraid of a new wave of repression. Will history repeat itself? This film by historian Tessa Boeykens and filmmaker Pieter De Vos, was made in close collaboration with the Copal AA La Esperanza community. Los Retornados is a film about, for and by the Copaleros, a portrait of an indigenous community s ongoing struggle for the right to land and life. During Guatemala’s armed conflict between 1960 and 1996, more than 200,000 people were killed or disappeared. After their return, Los Retornados, the Returned , demanded a piece of land from the government to rebuild their communities. One community, Copal AA La Esperanza is being forced to defend themselves against the construction of a dam which would destroy their village and many others. ‘We were victims of the civil war, and now we risk falling victim to the Xalalá dam’, says one community leader. The conflict over the dam’s construction is echoing the civil war violence: ‘The situation is starting to look more and more like it did in 1982. Local leaders are being abducted and killed again’, says one member of the community at a village meeting. ‘It has already happened in Barillas; they found leaders killed, without arms, heads, or feet, in a grain sack’, says another. Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/journeymanpictures Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JourneymanNews https://twitter.com/JourneymanVOD Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/journeymanpictures Visit our subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/JourneymanPictures/ Docwerkers VZW – Ref. 8203