Campesinos March Against Poverty in Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY – Under cold and rainy skies, some 1,300 campesinos, members of the Campesino Unity Committee (CUC), moved along the

in an April 13 march scheduled to extend 127 kilometers and conclude two days later when they reach the Guatemalan capital on Tuesday.

The aim of the protest, said CUC leader, Daniel Pascual, is “to denounce to Guatemalan society and the world in general the conditions of poverty in which the majority of campesinos and indigenous people of Guatemala, who have been abandoned by the state, live.”

According to march organizers, as the initial group of marchers moved along the road, they were joined by dozens of other campesinos fed up with the very conditions that the demonstrators were protesting.

According to official figures, seven of every 10 Guatemalan indigenous people, who represent 42% of the 13.3 million Guatemalans, live in poverty. The march was scheduled to conclude this week at the Plaza de la Constitucion, where the demonstrators were to hold a public rally.