When Guatemala's outgoing government tried to overturn the results of a presidential election, ordinary citizens refused to let it stand. Deciders goes inside the 106 days of nonviolent resistance that followed, examining how road blockades, a permanent sit-in, and Indigenous ancestral authority became the tools of a movement with no single leader.
Drawing on interviews with Indigenous leaders, political organizers, and members of the resistance kitchen that sustained the movement, the report reconstructs how a fragmented citizen response evolved into a 106-day siege of the Public Prosecutor's Office, how women's leadership and playful protest symbols like the "Tonelito" barrel kept morale alive, and how nonviolent discipline held even as infiltrators, economic strain, and state intimidation tested it. It is an essential contribution to scholarship on Indigenous-led resistance, multisectoral coalition-building, and the defense of democracy against institutional capture.
The Nonviolent Conflict Special Report Series offers original studies that inspire and enrich discussions around civil resistance and nonviolent struggles around the world. Continuing the work of ICNC Press's Special Reports, launched in 2017, this series bridges the gap between academic, policy and practitioner communities.
All special reports undergo double-blind peer review.
