Verapaz Union of Peasant Organisations, UVOC.

Currently:In May we had visited, with a leader of UVOC, Carlos Morales, and the head of the Secretary for Agrarian Affairs (SAA), an area of land proposed for the families evicted from La Mocca estate at the beginning of 2006. In June, we received word that they had accepted the land and so the process of settlement can begin. In June we also continued observing the developments in the roundtable dialogue about agrarian conflicts that takes place in Cobán at the beginning of each month, and in which members of Alta Verapaz communities, the UVOC, the Secretary for Agrarian Affairs, the Human Rights Ombudsman (PDH), and the Land Fund (Fontierra) participate. We continue in contact with various members of the organisation through office visits in the capital and in Santa Cruz (Alta Verapaz).

Background: A campesino organisation based in the departments of Alta and Baja Verapaz, UVOC works principally to defend and promote access to land for the peasant population and advises communities about the land legalisation
process. UVOC also offers training and support to member communities in the management of development projects.

We have accompanied Carlos Morales, leader of the UVOC, since May 2005 because he has been the victim of death threats, intimidation, and persecution by unidentified individuals. At the same time we continue to pay attention to the
delicate situation of some of the communities that are part of the organisation. In February 2006 peasant families assisted by UVOC, who were living in the La Mocca estate, were evicted violently leaving one dead and 39 injured. The families of La Mocca continue to live on the side of the highway.