Guatemalan Youth Inspires at U.N. Permanent Forum, 'We are not the end of the road. We are the bridge.'
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, May 13, 2025
NEW YORK -- "We are not requesting permission to exist. We are inviting you to walk with us -- hand in hand -- with the wisdom of our ancestors, while we still have time on this earth."
"We are not the end of the road, we are the bridge. We are inspired by our ancestors."
Those are the words of a Guatemalan youth to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, representing the Community for Latin America and the Caribbean.
"I am speaking from the global south, and expressing the hope and pain of Indigenous People."
She said this is not an issue of who suffers more, because all are suffering from the systematic injustice, and this must not be a competition for who is suffering most.
This Forum, she said, is not for some sort of prize, but was forged by generations of resistance. It is not to ensure a future for a small few -- but it is for the dignity for many, and reaching this point has not been easy.
"Many voices have been silenced by borders, by poverty, and simply forgotten."
Financing should be transformative, she said. It is not important to sustain what has always been there, but it is important to invest in those who are autonomous with community roots.
"We are not financing to see more reports, we are financing to see lives being transformed."
"We are not the end of the road. We are the bridge. We are inspired by our ancestors."
She urged those gathered to encourage youth leadership that is innovative.
"We are not requesting permission to exist. We are inviting you to walk with us, hand in hand, with the wisdom of our ancestors, while we still have time on this earth."
She is among the young emerging voices at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and delivered a collective statement from the Community for Latin America and the Caribbean.
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