Maria Antoniette Gomez

Guatemalan environmental lawyer protecting indigenous land rights

Maria Antoniette Gomez is a K'iche' Maya lawyer leading Rights to Lands, a nonprofit that has secured 500,000 acres of indigenous land titles in Guatemala since 2019. Her work addresses systemic land dispossession - indigenous communities hold legal title to just 12% of their ancestral territories despite constitutional protections. Gomez pioneered the Cultural Jurisdiction Mapping system, combining GPS technology with oral history recordings to document ancestral land claims.

In 2022, she successfully sued the government to halt a Canadian mining project threatening the Q'eqchi' community's water supply, setting a precedent for indigenous environmental rights. Her legal strategies now inform policies in Honduras and Mexico. Gomez also co-founded the Maya Legal Collective, training 150+ indigenous paralegals through virtual reality simulations of court proceedings.

Her 2024 book Land is Life: Indigenous Jurisprudence in Guatemala (co-authored with Rigoberta Menchú) analyzes 200+ court cases to propose legal reforms. Gomez's advocacy led to a 40% increase in indigenous participation in environmental impact assessments. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights cited her work in 2023's landmark Maya Mam v Guatemala ruling protecting sacred sites.