Tensions and resistence in times of Covid-19 in Guatemala: the role of social organizations

Abstract

Guatemala is a country with profound historic inequities and has the highest rate of malnourishment in Latin America. COVID-19 pandemic came to test the State’s response capacity. Social movements and organizations have played an important role on guaranteeing specific groups’ rights and dignity, such as people on the streets, domestic working women, and Mayan communities. This narrated experience pretends to re-direct the light on how government´s dispositions outcasted vulnerable groups, and on the crucial actions of social organizations in this context. Experiences from the Youngsters on the Streets Movement, the Faith Solidarity Diner on San Pedro la Laguna, and the Domestic and Maquila Working Women Association, are included. Ever since the pandemic started, these organizations were obliged to adapt to develop their indispensable activities; some even had to change from an incidence role, to a direct supplier one. With a wider perspective on care rights and work than the State, these organizations’ experience veils the need of revaluing and re-dignifying life as a community, social participation, the intricated relationship between gender and ethnicity, and the urgent need of incorporating all of this in the public politics formulation.