‍Sa 09.03.24 | 18:00 | A special collaboration with Bernardo Caal Xol,  Amnesty International, Fastenktion and the Guatemalanetz from Bern and Zürich | Location: Heitere Fahne | free entrance

"Agua la Sangre de la Tierra" (Pepe Orozco Recinos | Guatemala | 2020 | 44 Min.) compiles the voices of the Q'eqchi' people in defense of the Cahabón River against the mega hydroelectric projects Renace and Oxec in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. The documentary also shows the unjust capture and imprisonment of Bernardo Caal Xol, spokesman and defender of the rights of the Q'eqchi' people. The audiovisual work is a testimony of the long struggle of the Q'eqchi' people against the expansion of extractive industries in their territories, a struggle that has not ended and is still being fought.

‍Bernardo Caal Xol is an Indigenous leader, a human rights defender, and an environmentalist activist from Guatemala. Bernardo was sentenced to more than seven years of prison for his activist work. Thanks to the mobilization of his people and international support in March 2022, he was released from the detention center in Cobán after four years. However, Bernardo is still convicted of a crime he did not commit, and the Guatemalan authorities continue to criminalize him for his work to protect human rights and the environment. On the 9th of March, we will have the opportunity to explore more in-depth the current situation in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala and talk with Bernardo about these last years of struggle.

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