On Monday, November 13, Cristina Coc of the Maya Leaders Alliance presented "Belize: Protecting Maya Land Rights - Building Maya Economies". This event was sponsored by GUESS, American Indian Studies, World Languages and Cultures, and the Royal D. Alworth Jr. Institute for International Studies.
Ms. Coc is a 2003 graduate of UMD who returned to her native Belize after graduation to work as a community organizer and activist among the 39 Maya communities of southern Belize. She is the director of the Julian Cho Society, named for her brother-in-law, who was killed for his activism. She spoke of the challenges of preserving Maya culture and language, and developing community-based economic opportunities in the face of predatory corporations that want to take over their lands for logging, tourism, and other forms of economic exploitation.
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