National Coordination of Widows of Guatemala (CONAVIGUA)

Currently: We have increased our presence in the CONAVIGUA office and surrounding area due to the concerns of the organisation about surveillance by unknown persons. We also met on various occasions during the last month with members of the Maya Youth Movement (MOJOMAYAS), part of CONAVIGUA, whose members recently received threats and were victims of aggression.

Background: Background: CONAVIGUA carries out processes of exhumation and inhumation in different departments throughout Guatemala, above all in Quiche, Chimaltenango, and the Verapaces, as part of its work towards the recuperation of the collective memory of Guatemala’s recent troubled history. These processes provoke very tense situations in small rural communities where both victims and perpetrators live, occasionally culminating in threats that seek to stop the work of the CONAVIGUA women. We have periodically accompanied the association since August 2003, with visits to their office and accompaniment during exhumation and inhumation activities in clandestine cemeteries in rural areas.