48 Cantons: “This is about service, not recognition”

The outgoing Delegate for Natural Resources (2023) of the Council of Mayors of the 48 Cantons (left) hands leadership over to the incoming Delegate for Natural Resources (2024) on January 1, 2024 in Totonicapán, Guatemala. Photo © Leopoldo Batz.

Interview · Gladys Tzul Tzul · January 19, 2024 · Leer en castellano

On January 14, 2024, Bernardo Arévalo was sworn in as President of Guatemala in the midst of tense conflicts between political factions. Just 13 days earlier, on January 1, in Totonicapán, a powerful political ceremony took place to celebrate the transfer of authority of the Council of Communal Mayors of the 48 Cantons of Totonicapán 2024 which includes Communal Mayors, Constables of the first and second fortnights and Delegates in charge of Natural Resources.

Beginning at 5:00 A.M. on that first day of the year, the authorities set out on their tour. The Board of Communal Mayors 2023 and 2024 left the Juchanep Canton and headed toward the center of Totonicapán. They traveled the old roads to San Miguel in compliance with the historic practice of the people of the 48 Cantons: the transfer of leadership.

Events on January 1, 2024 marked the end of a process that began in late October 2023, when communal assemblies in each of the cantons appointed and elected new authorities to tend to and defend the common good. This transfer of leadership is a foundational element of the communal political system. It ensures the continuity of communal authority and revitalizes communities.

Edín Zapeta Tzul took office as President of 48 Cantons and Communal Mayor, accompanied by eight members of the council. Communal mayors represent the collective will of assemblies and are charged with defending the commons and communities’ wellbeing as well as following the political mandates issued by the people of Totonicapán. That day around 1,000 communal authorities assumed their charges, taking responsibility for duties that included constable, mayor, and custodians of water and natural resources.

In the following three-way conversation, Luis Pacheco, former President of 48 Cantones 2023, and Basilio Puac, former Vice President of 48 Cantones 2023, discuss how Totonicapán became the center of the Indigenous uprising in Guatemala. We discussed some historical features that help explain the movement's strength and its ability to grow and link up with people living in the city and abroad.

Puac and Pacheco, together with the Council of Mayors of the 48 Cantons, took office as communal authorities in early 2023. In addition to their daily responsibilities, they assumed the challenge of coordinating the uprising in Guatemala on behalf of the people. Their actions are best understood as expressions of the collective will and not as individual actions.

Our conversation took place across the street from the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Guatemala City on December 5 and it has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Gladys Tzul: What we have seen between October and today is an uprising that has centered a strategy that has prevented violence. Historically, this is typical of the 48 Cantones. How was it achieved at a national scale?

Luis Pacheco: Throughout the uprising, we were able to sustain the resistance and keep united because we refused to be provoked. The government wanted to repress us but we haven’t allowed that to happen. They tried to stoke internal divisions, but we focused on opening dialogue; we have done everything for the good of the people, to continue the resistance and prevent criminalization.

We have never held violent demonstrations. We started with seven towns: 48 Cantons of Totonicapán, San Cristóbal Totonicapán, Chichicastenango, Sololá, the Xinka Parliament, the Ixiles, and Santa Lucía. Over time, we were joined by the population at large, and it didn’t turn violent.

Instead of discouraging people, we found the government’s discourse actually expanded our ranks. People joined the movement without any need for an invitation. This is interesting to consider.

It has taken skill to avoid violence. For example, we made it a point to thank the police, with whom we have been in dialogue. We asked them to respect human rights and the right to organize, and they have done so, because they are the people too.

At one point the Minister of the Interior said, “We are 10,000 agents and the population has millions in the streets, so will not repress them.” But there has been no need to repress the population, because the people are wise and have rejected violence.

We as 48 Cantons do not come to see who has done more or who has done less. We’re not here for recognition, we’re here to serve. And, at present, we have been entrusted with the task, first, of asking for the resignation of four actors: Rafael Curruchiche, Consuelo Porras, Cintya Monterroso and Freddy Orellana. This mandate is part of our essence as the people of 48 Cantons, even though it’s hard for those who aren’t community members to understand.

We have been asked: “Why are you taking part in this uprising and defending the rule of law if you have been shut out of the government?” The answer is simple: for the common good. Hopefully this will teach public officials that serving the people is first and foremost a moral obligation and not a way to get paid.

Our goal with this uprising is to work with Indigenous peoples, in a horizontal relationship with the government, for the sake of better governance. We have to reach a balance that will enable us to work together as peoples.

We have organized with the [popular] markets in the capital city, civil society, universities and of course also with the private sector. Even other sectors that we didn’t know about have participated. For example, the taxi drivers’ association sent us messages saying that they support the resistance. There’s unity across Guatemala. All this time they’ve claimed we are divided but we’re more united than ever.

Basilio Puac: Our people have always been peaceful, but critical of injustice, and know better than to fall for provocations. We have a constitutional right to demonstrate and demand our rights. That is one of the reasons why there was no violence.

Over this time, we have seen the Attorney General abandon her duties. In fact, the last time that the Attorney General was a presence was between October 8 and 15. She hasn’t been heard from since then. She has only been seen behind closed doors.

It’s also worth considering that there is autonomy among peoples. Sometimes we don’t come to a consensus on an issue, but that doesn’t mean that we’re divided or separated. It’s like a family. We may not all agree, but we continue fighting for the same goal.

From Totonicapán, we have realized that the people have their eyes wide open and agree that this struggle has made whole country see how the Guatemalan state operates, how the three powers are corrupt and that even the Constitutional Court, which mediates between the three branches of the government, acts on behalf of corrupt interests.

The most important thing is that through the struggle we showed the people of Guatemala how the three branches of government are co-opted. For us, this is the failure of democracy in Guatemala.

In spite of the struggle that we, Indigenous peoples, have carried out, our country is on an uncertain course. I believe that this is a challenge for the new government. But we’ve made it clear that our struggle is not for a political party. It is not for Semilla—the party of President Arévalo. 

When we defend the [popular] will expressed at the ballot boxes, we are indirectly defending the entire political order. That includes all the parties that have also been elected for other positions, such as mayors and congresspeople. 

A ceremony is held in the context of the transfer of communal authorities of the communal mayors of the 48 Cantons of Totonicapán, including communal mayors, constables, and delegates of natural resources in Totonicapán, Guatemala on January 1, 2024. Photo © Leopoldo Batz.

GT: I have two questions. First, do you think we are “tied” [stalemated]? Either they get tired or we get tired. When they tried to evict the movement from the front of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the strength of the Indigenous authorities became clear. They prevented violence and demonstrated the communal capacity to take care of life. On the other hand, you announced a change of strategy, which refreshed and revived the movement. We began taking shifts and more people started to come. What is your view? Are we stuck?

LP: We have seen that magistrates have been elected in the courts, but only to comply with legal formalities, because the population is winning and stronger now. Officials who are against the people are losing support. 

We are winning because we have managed to stop a technical coup d’état. They tried to wear out the population, but the population has what it takes. I’ve said it before: we are here because the population has the spirit of resistance. Without that, each leader would already be back home.

We’re here as leaders, but it’s the population that is resisting. And we changed strategies because it has been tiring in every sense: physically, economically, socially, spiritually and even in family life. But, still, the people are winning.

BP: They tried to intimidate us with the media and by starting rumors, and they tried to criminalize us. But I think that we, the people, are on the right path, even if the future is unclear.

We made it clear that they shouldn’t provoke the people. We are exercising our constitutional right to demonstrate and to move freely.

A few days ago, officials at the Public Prosecutor’s Office argued that we weren’t letting people in wheelchairs through. This is a lie—an excuse to get us to clear half the street. And, even so, people from different towns and villages continue to join in. People come from far away and stay for several days to support the strike. They give speeches denouncing the impact that corruption has had on their communities.

It’s time that Indigenous peoples’ situation improves and that young people stop going to the United States because of the poverty caused by all the corruption that the government has allowed. 

GT: The three of us are from 48 Cantons and we grew up in the communal political system. We remember our childhoods when we defended the communal lands, the forests, or participated in demonstrations in the lead up to the Alaska massacre. Our people have always fought back. But something significant changed [since last year]. What has happened since October is not spontaneous: at Cuatro Caminos and at other points along the Inter-American Highway, people have started to recall that this is how we have always been in 48 Cantones. The way we take shifts and rotate work, the appointment of representatives, the rule that participants have three or five minutes to speak, all this is done in Totonicapán and was even copied in the city. What do you think about this?

LP: When I was elected president of 48 Cantones, people said that the Council of 48 Cantones were crooks. So, when I took office I said: “That is going to change, because the people are not like that.”

In my speech on the day of the election of the Council of 48 Cantons 2024, I said that this is not the first uprising. Years ago a mayor said: “Don’t test the people, because the people will rise up.” I think we have changed, looking at the scale of communal service, blocking roads for almost 20 days around the clock is a great achievement for the population of Totonicapán and in general.

I feel that [in 2023] we convinced the people to believe again in 48 Cantons. Perhaps they thought that our way of life had already been lost or had lost faith in our people. As communities we have rules, we followed those rules, and people in the communities thanked us for restoring their trust.

When I was appointed, I said: “I receive this duty in the name of God and I will try to prove that it’s not true what they say when they call 48 Cantons sell-outs.” We have earned the people’s trust and we want this trust to serve as a mandate so that authorities who follow will focus on service and not acting in a personal capacity. It’s through behavior that we earn respect or disdain, because the people of Totonicapán are attentive to everything.

The people will support us as long as we continue to handle information transparently. We have held dialogues, but that doesn’t mean that we have negotiated anything. We haven’t sold out. That is a great responsibility for the new council. We must work with transparency and trust. They tried to divide the Council of Mayors in many ways but haven’t succeeded. We’ve always operated as a group. We work collectively, not as individuals.

We have gained the trust of the population of Totonicapán, and the 48 Cantons will continue to be the institution entrusted with defending the rights of the people. We are now recognized nationally and internationally for being pioneers in the defense of democracy through the unification of different peoples.

We have won a lot, but it’s not the council of the 48 Cantons that has done this, it’s the people of Totonicapán.

BP: In 2023, the unity of the work team was important. We have been working together since January. We’ve always been unified. When the strike began we separated for 19 days, four of us were in the capital and five in Totonicapán. 

That was the mechanism we adopted to oversee and manage all the actions taken in the capital city and on the highways.

But this was not a separation or division of the Council of Mayors. There were several attempts to divide us, as [Luis Pacheco] pointed out. They tried to sow division within the Council and failed. They couldn’t divide us because we’d already spent nine months—from January to September—getting to know one other and had built a team.

The unity of the Mayors Council was important in encouraging the organization of the people [more broadly]. And that’s how it should be: from the head to the rest of the population.

I think this joint work was key in 2023. It renewed a sense of historic purpose to our people, reminding everyone that our fight is for the common good. This is the great achievement of [2023].

In 2023, President [Luis Pacheco] mentioned that the new Council of the 48 Cantons faces big challenges in the years ahead: to maintain the struggle and even to improve on what we did.

Their challenge is to follow our mandates: to maintain and improve our ancestral institution, which is the 48 Cantones. That is what I can tell you, that yes, [in 2023], we were able to restore that trust.