Nephew of Maya land and rights activist beaten to death in Guatemala

Héctor Manuel Choc Cuz, the nephew of prominent land rights activists, dreamed of becoming a professional mechanic when he got older. But the 18-year-old Maya Q’eqchi’ youth’s aspirations were cut short late last month when he was beaten to death in an attack that family members suspect may have been an attempt on the life of his cousin, José Ich. According to his family, assailants took Choc Cuz to the edge of the eastern Guatemalan town of El Estor and beat him between the night of March 30 and early morning of March 31. He died that day in the hospital in Puerto Barrios. “We demand justice and that the murder of my nephew be solved,” Choc Cuz’s aunt, Angélica Choc, told Mongabay in a phone interview. She added that Choc Cuz, whom she described as hardworking and studious, was like a son to her, just as her son, José Ich, is like a son to Choc Cuz’s parents. Héctor Choc Cuz, 18, was beaten to death on the edge of El Estor and died on March 31, 2018. Image courtesy of Angélica Choc. Choc is a human rights and environmental activist who has fought for years against the foreign-owned Fenix nickel mine in El Estor. She is known internationally for demanding justice for the 2009 murder of her husband, Adolfo Ich Chamán, a teacher and local social leader in the anti-mining movement. According to witnesses, Ich Chamán was beaten, hacked with a machete, and shot dead by private security…

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