It is located in the Sierra Madre, department of San Marcos, in the western highlands of Guatemala; his name in Mam is "Txolja", which means between rivers or between houses; located 34 kilometers from San Marcos city; it has a territorial extension of 113 Kms²; based on estimates and records from the Ministry of Health's Permanent Care Centre, an estimated population of 72,234 in 2018.
99.5% of the population is of Maya-Mam origin, whose identity is based on cosmogonic principles and values focused on the exercise of Good Living. It has its own way of greeting (they take the right hand to make a sacred contact on the forehead that bows in a sign of respect), their language is the Mayan Mam; the remaining 0.5% of the population is Ladino located mainly in the manin town of Comitancillo, its language is Spanish. However, some of its cultural elements are in the process of extinction, due to globalization, transculturization and the lack of actions to promote their cultural identity.
Their social organization is expressed in community mayors, council of Ajq'ij, community councils and municipal council for development, and the Municipal Corporation with a weak participation of women in these spaces.
According to the Food and Nutrition Vulnerability Index of the Population of Guatemala -IVISAN- Comitancillo, it is located at a very high level of food insecurity, with 90.7% of families in poverty and 44.1% in poverty 70.5% of children under the age of five in chronic malnutrition. It is also at a high rate of lack of job opportunities, which implies that families generate their economic income with a lot of difficulty and effort, accessing undignified working conditions such as: work in coffee plantations and sugar cane, sale of unskilled labor at the local level and/or the sale of livestock species.
The conditions of male and female equity in Comitancillo make a significant difference, evidenced in the few opportunities for women's access to education (25.28% of women over the age of fifteen are illiterate).In terms of access to land, in most communities the land is inherited more often and in greater quantity by men.With regard to access to capital, economic resources (the informal wage of men in the region is 50% higher than that of women), all of which, has left women at a disadvantage which impedes their personal growth at the family and community level and by the end and limit the exercise of Good Living
Alcoholism adds to the most common problems in Comitancillo, caused by pressure felt due to lack of job and social opportunities; this phenomenon affects young people and adults alike and although it is more marked in men, the problem has been increasing in women.
The migration in Comitancillo, has been changing, from 40% of the population that migrated to the coffee and sugarcane production areas in the coastal area of Guatemala and southern Mexico, it is contemplated that at the date less than 20% of people migrate to these changing the direction of destination to a more permanent migration to the United States.This migration is exacerbated by the effects of climate change that have affected not only local production, but also crop production in the coastal area, which is reflected in the low production of basic grains, increased pests and diseases of crops and continuous drought losses, extreme rains and radical temperature changes.
In the context of the new processes of accumulation of transnational capital, the State is encouraging mining (especially in open air) and its studies have determined that our territory is rich in minerals (especially gold). In Comitancillo, since 2005, the Ministry of Energy and Mines, without prior consultation or consent from the Mam people, has authorized 4 licenses of mining exploration of open pit metals mainly in the northern cold zone. In this situation, communities held community consultations where they have openly rejected mining in their territory.
