Juan Leon Alvarado

Juan Leon Alvarado is a Maya Maya K´iché, who graduated in Educational Sciences. He is a former lecturer, grassroots activist, and Guatemalan, diplomat with more than 50 years of work experience at national, regional, and international levels.  Juan Leon is currently representing the International Indian Treaty Council, an organization of Indigenous Peoples from the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Pacific working for the Sovereignty and Self Determination of Indigenous Peoples in international negotiations related to conservation, biodiversity, and protected areas.  He was President and representative of Defensoría Maya, a high-profile NGO is Guatemala promoting the human rights of the Maya people.  Juan Leon held the positions of Ambassador of Guatemala to Cuba, Norway, Denmark, and Ecuador. He has extensive work experience with the drafting on international and regional legal standards protecting the human rights of Indigenous Peoples. He notably participated to the drafting process of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Between 2003 and 2007, he was President of the Working Group in charge of the drafting process of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.