A Story of Change: Breaking the Silence's Journey of Building Solidarity, Growth and Engagement

For more than three decades, the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network (BTS) has stood in solidarity with Guatemalans organizing for political, social, and economic justice. Formed in 1988 as a voluntary network of people across the Maritimes, BTS has been a member of the Atlantic Council for International Cooperation (ACIC) for over 20 years. Under the current funding agreement, that partnership has deepened in remarkable ways.

BTS works closely with Indigenous and community-led organizations in Guatemala focused on human rights and environmental justice, and with partners closer to home, including Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op, a Nova Scotia fair trade coffee company working with Guatemalan farmers. Over the past funding cycle, BTS took part in a series of ACIC-led sessions and events that strengthened its capacity to engage Atlantic Canadians on international cooperation; from a landmark Indigenous delegation visit to a coffee-fueled celebration of fair trade solidarity.

Weaving Indigenous Knowledge Across Borders: The IMAP Visit

Through ACIC's Partnership Enhancement Fund, BTS brought two members of the Mesoamerican Permaculture Institute (IMAP) to Nova Scotia for a week of public talks, cultural exchange, and community visits.

The highlight was a full-day land-based learning exchange with Mi'kmaw knowledge keepers Judy (Sutik) and Joe Googoo in Wagmatcook First Nation, alongside a feature appearance on the ACIC 50th Anniversary Symposium panel, "International Advocacy in a Time of Crisis." Through storytelling and hands-on activities, conversations about land, food sovereignty, and ancestral knowledge created a grounded, relational atmosphere wherever the delegation went.

The visit connected directly to several UN Sustainable Development Goals; food security and sustainable agriculture, climate action, life on land, and strong institutions, while surfacing the intersections of gender, land, culture, and resistance. María Inés, IMAP member, spoke to women's leadership in seed sovereignty, and both delegates emphasized the role young people play in carrying community knowledge forward.

The ripple effects continued long after the visit ended. At the Symposium, ACIC member Wayn Hamilton, co-founder of Connecting to Africa, was struck by the parallels between IMAP's work and that of CIKOD (Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development) in Ghana. Hamilton and BTS Maritimes Coordinator Arturo Ezquerro-Cañete went on to facilitate an introduction between the two organizations, opening a dialogue around shared priorities: Indigenous ecological knowledge, food sovereignty, agroecology, land stewardship, and youth leadership. It's a cross-continental connection that simply wouldn't exist without the platform this visit created.

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Standing with the Xinka: A Delegation Tour of the Maritimes

Through ACIC's Members' Public Engagement Fund, BTS hosted a delegation of Xinka representatives, Marisol Guerra and Marta Muñoz, for a tour across Atlantic Canada. At four public events in Halifax, Tatamagouche, Fredericton, and Charlottetown, and numerous informal community gatherings, the delegates shared powerful testimony about their community's ongoing resistance to the Escobal mine, owned by Canadian company Pan American Silver.

Roughly 115 people attended the public events, and the tour drew coverage from Radio-Canada. One BTS representative reflected that what stood out most was how intimate and grounded each gathering felt: the blend of storytelling, legal analysis, and lived experience gave audiences a fuller understanding of both the harm caused by Canadian mining abroad and the resilience of Indigenous-led resistance.

A particularly meaningful thread of the tour was cross-cultural Indigenous exchange. In Fredericton, the Xinka delegates met with Wolastoqiyik leaders, including Grand Chief Ron Trembley, grandmother Alma Brooks, and elder Judie Acquin, to discuss shared struggles, among them resistance to the Sisson mine. They also connected with Wendell LaBobe, newly appointed PEI Regional Chief with the Assembly of First Nations.

These conversations tied local audiences to global struggles for Indigenous sovereignty, environmental protection, and corporate accountability, touching on SDGs related to clean water, strong institutions, and partnerships, while highlighting the gendered impacts of mining and the leadership of Xinka women. The response from communities was overwhelming. Attendees described a rare and powerful chance to hear directly from frontline land defenders, and that energy has since translated into action: a parliamentary e-petition calling on the Canadian government to respect the Xinka people's right to self-determination gathered hundreds of signatures and was recently tabled in Parliament.

From Bean to Justice: Coffee, Fair Trade, and Global Solidarity

For International Development Week, BTS partnered with Just Us! for two screenings of the documentary Beyond the Bean in Hubbards (February 4) and Halifax (February 7) drawing 21 total participants. The film traces the long-running three-way partnership between Breaking the Silence, Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op, and the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) in Guatemala, exploring a model the group calls "Fair Trade Plus". This is solidarity that goes beyond ethical purchasing to include long-term relationships, accompaniment, grassroots organizing, and support for human rights.

Building Safer, More Inclusive Spaces

BTS staff also joined ACIC's Safer Spaces Dialogue series, working alongside ACIC members and youth to explore what it means to build safer and more inclusive spaces within international cooperation work, an opportunity for a grassroots organization to strengthen relationships and inclusive practices across movements and communities.

ReImagining Development, Engaging the Next Generation

Youth engagement ran throughout BTS's work this funding period. Arturo Ezquerro-Cañete joined a panel at the Reimagining Development Gathering examining the past, present, and future of international development. This included how the field has historically been shaped by power and funding concentrated in the Global North, and how organizations are adapting to shifting political and funding realities.

ACIC staff also delivered two classroom presentations to roughly 65 first- and fourth-year students in Arturo's classes at Dalhousie University and Saint Mary's University, introducing students to ACIC's work and opportunities for youth involvement, including the International Youth Internship Program (IYIP).

International Youth Internship Program (IYIP)

BTS and ACIC have been longtime partners on the International Youth Internship Program (IYIP). BTS has hosted interns in every current and past cohort, connecting young people from across Canada with its trusted partners: Asociación Bufete Jurídico Popular/Rabinal Legal Clinic (ABJP), Fundación Nueva Esperanza/New Hope Foundation, and the Mesoamerican Permaculture Institute (IMAP). These partnerships create meaningful, community-rooted placements where interns can learn alongside local organizations. Grounded in BTS’s decades of solidarity with Guatemalan communities, the placements offer young people practical experience while supporting work shaped by the priorities and leadership of local partners.

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Reflecting on the Impact

Through its work with ACIC, BTS has remained an active and engaged member of ACIC's programming and networks — amplifying each organization's messaging while deepening relationships across Atlantic Canadian communities. It's a story that shows what's possible when grassroots organizations are equipped with the right tools, networks, and partnerships to drive change rooted in international solidarity.

As Arturo Ezquerro-Cañete reflects:

"ACIC has played an important role in supporting Breaking the Silence to strengthen relationships between our Guatemalan partners and our network base across the Maritimes through internship programs, partnership funds, and public education initiatives. These collaborations have created meaningful spaces for students, educators, grassroots organizers, Indigenous leaders, and community members in Atlantic Canada to engage directly with our Guatemalan partners through dialogue, exchange, and solidarity-building around shared commitments to human rights and environmental justice.

One of the aspects most consistently highlighted by our partners has been the opportunity for cross-cultural Indigenous exchange, particularly the meaningful connections formed between Maya and Xinka partners from Guatemala and Mi'kmaq and Wolastoqey elders in the Maritimes. These encounters have fostered relationships grounded in respect, reciprocity, and shared resistance, while deepening collective commitments to Indigenous rights, self-determination, and international solidarity."