Mexico (AFP) - Mexico appointed Rigoberta Menchú, indigenous activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner of Guatemalan origin but recently naturalized Mexican, as high advisor for women's rights, the Foreign Ministry reported this Friday.
First modification: 04/25/2026 - 00:05
Menchú, 67, went into exile in Mexico in 1981 to escape the civil war in Guatemala and won the Nobel Prize in 1992 for his work on behalf of indigenous peoples.
As "High Advisor for the Rights of Women and Indigenous Peoples in Mexico's Foreign Policy," the Mayan activist will design with the Foreign Ministry a "comprehensive policy" to protect the rights of both population sectors, the entity indicated in a statement.
Last July, Menchú obtained Mexican nationality in an act in which her career as an activist and also her contributions to academic life in different Mexican universities were recognized.
The activist became involved in promoting women's rights from a young age.
He suffered the loss of his parents in the context of the civil war that bloodied Guatemala between 1960 and 1996.
His father, Vicente Menchú, died in 1980 along with 36 other people during the violent eviction by the police of the Spanish embassy in the Guatemalan capital, which had been taken over by indigenous people, peasants and students to denounce military repression.
His mother also died after being kidnapped and tortured by the military.
© 2026 AFP
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