Rigoberta Menchú Túm

Rigoberta Menchú Tum is an activist who works to defend the peace, social justice, and human rights of Indigenous communities in Guatemala, Latin America, and worldwide.

Born in an Indigenous Maya farming family, Rigoberta’s youth was marked by the poverty, racial discrimination, and violence that has plagued Indigenous communities in Guatemala for decades.

She grew up amid an armed conflict between the government and guerrilla forces that sought social justice and improved living conditions. The government resorted to extreme violence to repress the guerrillas, even implementing a policy of extermination against the Indigenous Mayan population.

Rigoberta Menchú experienced this violence firsthand: her mother and her older brother were tortured and murdered by the military, and her father was burned alive during a protest. From a young age, Rigoberta has been involved in various social causes and participated in international forums to denounce her country's abysmal economic, social, cultural, and political inequalities.

Because of her activism, she was persecuted and exiled from Guatemala, seeking refuge in Mexico. She contributed to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, and in 1992, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Over the course of her life, Rigoberta Menchú has supported the valuable cultural contributions and the ages-old traditions of Indigenous communities. She is committed to finding unity in diversity and creating alliances to strengthen the fight against exclusion and discrimination through Indigenous solidarity, kinship, and reciprocity.

Today, Rigoberta Menchú continues to work to promote dialogue and social justice in her homeland and is committed to the search for ways to strengthen the active participation of Indigenous peoples in decision-making about their needs and rights.