Defenders Nicolasa Lopez and Victoria Mendez, members of the Committee for Peasant Development (CODECA) (Committee for Farmer Development), were killed on May 7th in Jalapa, Guatemala. Nicolasa López was the mother of two girls and together with Victoria Méndez had been a member of the CODECA organisation for more than seven years. According to the press release, López was part of the resistance in Aldea El Camarón, where she advocated for the nationalisation of electric energy. For more than two years the communities in that region have been without access to this service. The community and other organisation in solidarity with the young defenders have linked their murders to the continued aggressions against human rights defenders by company Energuate.

Since 2018, 27 CODECA members have been killed for their leadership roles and defense of their lands and the environment.