Freemuse Defending Artistic Freedom
| Leonardo Lisandro Guarcax Gonzalez, promoter and defender of indigenous Maya culture, has been found dead after he was abducted by unknown assailants on 25 August 2010. Guarcax’ body was found lifeless with severe marks of torture the following day, reported the Prensa Libre. Leonardo Lisandro Guarcax Gonzalez was a musician, dancer, teacher and a dedicated advocate for the rights of indigenous Guatemalans. He has been affiliated to the Sotzíl Cultural Centre as an arts teacher and spiritual guide since 2001. His work was much appreciated amongst the local indigenous communities, and his personal dedication to preserve the local Kaqchikel culture was a great inspiration for many young people on the Sololá plateu. This is the third murder to hit the Guarcax family in little more than a year. In May 2009, his cousins Ernesto and Carlos Emili Guarcax, also members of the Sotzíl Cultural Centre, suffered similar ends. Local Maya artists claim that these violent acts are intended to overshadow and stifle the work of Maya art in Guatemala, reports Noticias de Guatemala. Condelences Freemuse joined the Norwegian Embassy in Guatemala, local and international activists, musicians and 1992 nobel prize winner Rigoberta Menchú in the condemnation of the brutal murder of Leonardo Lisandro Guarcax.
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| Sources Prensa Libre– 31 August 2010: ‘Menchú denuncia crimen de defensor de derechos indígenas’ Noticias de Guatemala – 30 August 2010: ‘Asesinan a Leonardo Lisandro Guarcax, Profesor y Artista Kaqchikel de Sololá’ Global Vocies – 27 August 2010: ‘Guatemala: Indigenous Teacher and Artist Kidnapped and Murdered’ Norwegian Embassy in Guatemala – 27 August 2010: ‘Real Embajada de Noruega: Comunicado’ |
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