Betty Vásquez Rivera is an Honduran environmentalist, María Caal is a Mayan Q’eqchi’ community and land defender leader who lives in Guatemala, without knowing each other, they are united by one clarity: the defense of the rivers in her territories. Betty lives in a community in Honduras that was affected by hurricanes Eta and Iota. Together with other women, they organized to resist the extractive projects in their territory and rebuilt and transform their relations with the river. María Caal, is part of “La Resistencia”, in Guatemala, where several families oppose a hydroelectric plant that has imprisoned the rivers in their communities. Her brother Bernardo Caal Xol was unjustly imprisoned for four years, during this time María supported him, and together with the  Q’eqchi’ community they are part of a movement that fights for environmental justice and human rights.

Q&A with indigenous activist María Caal Xol and Bernardo Caal Xol.