Sotero Adalberto Villatoro
Sotero Adalberto Villatoro works in the municipality of Santa Cruz Barillas, department of Huehuetenango. Since 2008, he has played a key role in the defence of natural resources, and acted as a mediator in conflicts between civil society and state authorities, particularly regarding the hydroelectric projects of Santa Cruz Barillas, initiated in 2008 by the company Hidro Santa Cruz (a Guatemalan subsidiary of a Spanish company). These projects have met with strong opposition by the indigenous peoples of the municipality, who believe that their rights to prior consultation were violated by the company.
A serious issue is the unfair use of criminal proceedings in order to prevent HRDs from carrying out their legitimate human rights activities. Many criminal proceedings are launched by private companies (often backed by European and North American governments) related to the mining sector and the construction of dams, spuriously accusing HRDs of crimes such as acts of terrorism, usurpation of land, kidnappings and others. As part of the criminalisation process, campaigns of defamation and stigmatisation have been carried out by both state and non-state actors, particularly transnational companies and right-wing media publications. State authorities continue to publish statements and press releases in which they publicly incriminate HRDs on unverified charges.
