Autonomous Guatemalan Futures: Building Bridges Through Economic Sustainability

Historically, our ancestors built white roads that connected different cities, creating a trading system that made it possible to not only exchange products, but to sustain political connections for more than 1,500 years. These paths have now become the model for creating community efforts by creating international networks. This talk will present the work DESGUA has done for 15 years on educational and economic projects that create sustainable development for returned migrants and the community in the diaspora. We will be presenting our Sacbé project which connects the efforts of multiple communities and people who create art through products that carry history, resistance, memory, and heritage.

Rosita Rabanales is a social entrepreneur and business administrator. She is Guatemalan, from Quetzaltenango, and also a returned migrant. In her professional and personal experiences she has fought for changes through alternative projects that support the community. Her desire to see social and economic changes have led her to fight for autonomous spaces and projects that promote the collective dignity of the community. She currently serves as the administrator of DESGUA, legal representative of LA RED, teacher of popular education at the U.A.P.A., and promotes fair trade exchange and reconnection of migrants with their roots through the SACBE project.