Mining Justice Action Committee and UVic Social Justice Studies present
Defensora….a film and panel on Wednesday October 30th at 7pm
UVic David Strong Bld. in room C103
Guest Speakers:
Rachel Schmidt the film-maker and Grahame Russell from Rights Action.
Defensora is a moving story about the ancient Mayan Q'eqchi people of eastern Guatemala, and Canadian mining on their lands. The film documents the Mayan Q'eqchi people's struggle to reclaim their ancestral lands, and find justice for the murder, shootings and rapes that have occurred in their communities. Set along the shores of Lake Izabel, where tensions run high against a backdrop of violence, intimidation and a history of forced evictions from mining companies. The stakes are high for the Mayan Q’eqchi people who risk their lives to speak the truth and protect their land, and for the mining company who strongly denies their allegations.