FORMS OF LAND TENURE AND PROPERTY IN A MUNICIPALITY OF ALTA VERAPAZ, GUATEMALA, AND STRATEGIES FOR COMMUNITY LAND RIGHTS PROTECTION
DOUGLAS HERTZLER et all
CONGCOOP, GUATEMALA, ACTIONAID USA, ACTIONAID GUATEMALA
Pressure to sell land to palm oil companies after the civil war has increased the vulnerability of indigenous-peasant communities in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. This situation stems from the forms of land allocation by the state, which do not guarantee collective rights of communities. When community land tenure is disrupted, the systems of community life are also violated.
The paper explores the material and symbolic relationship of people to land in these indigenous communities. Concepts of possession and ownership of the land have arisen as a result of the different types of political, economic and legal approaches that have emerged over time in response to indigenous concepts, generating new approaches and challenges to understanding individual and collective land rights. The tenure forms discussed include: a) state ownership, b) private ownership, c) communal tenure d) other forms promoted by agrarian programs. The paper concludes with proposals for the protection of the community lands.
Event: Land Governance in an Interconnected World_Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty_2018
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