Maya, Xinka and Garífuna peoples of Guatemala is the all-pervasive racism and discrimination, which amount to de facto racial segregation and impinge on all areas of life.” 40 39. For his part, the current Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, José Francisco Calí Tzay, noted that the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (hereinafter “CERD”) expressed concern about “[…the continuing effects of structural discrimination faced by indigenous peoples in Guatemala, reflected in high rates of poverty, social exclusion and obstacles to the full enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights” and in the “persistent manifestations of racial discrimination in the media,” along with the recommendations of the UN Member States during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Guatemala, which urged the State to “reform the legislation regarding indigenous peoples’ access to radio frequencies.” 41 40. The Rapporteur also pointed out that, prior to colonization, Guatemala’s indigenous peoples had a written system of cultural transmission. However, at present, oral communication is the main means used to preserve their knowledge and culture. 42 41. In 1995, the AIDPI recognized the need to “encourage the widest possible access to the media by Maya communities and institutions and those of other indigenous peoples, as well as the widest possible dissemination in indigenous languages of the indigenous cultural heritage.” 43 In particular, this agreement recognized that “the Maya, Garífuna and Xinca peoples are the authors of their cultural development,” 44 and that “the communications media play a paramount role in the defense, development and transmission of cultural values and knowledge.” 45 The AIDPI pointed out that the State has a duty to “create opportunities in the official media for the dissemination of expressions of indigenous culture and to promote a similar opening in the private media.” 46 Moreover, under that agreement, Guatemala made a commitment to: Promote, in the Guatemalan Congress, the reforms of the existing Act on radio communications that are required in order to make frequencies available for indigenous projects and to ensure respect for the principle of non-discrimination in the use of the communications media. Furthermore, promote the abolition of any provision in the national legislation that is an obstacle to the right of indigenous peoples to have their own communications media for the development of their identity […]. 47 42. Similarly, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala urged the Congress of the Republic to issue “the corresponding legislation to regulate opportunities and access for indigenous peoples UN, Human Rights Council. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on her visit to Guatemala, supra, para. 7. In 2003, the then Special Rapporteur on the rights of the indigenous peoples identified four types of interrelated discrimination suffered by indigenous peoples in Guatemala: legal, interpersonal, institutional and structural. Cf. UN. Human Rights Commission. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples. Doc. E/CN.4/2003/90/Add.2, February 10, 2003, para. 16. 41 Written version of the expert opinion submitted to the Court by José Francisco Calí Tzay, supra (evidence file, folio 1414). See also: written version of the expert opinion submitted to the Inter-American Court by Adriana Labardini, supra (evidence file, folios 1600 to 1603), and expert opinion rendered by affidavit by Lorie Graham on May 27, 2021 (evidence file, folios 1441 to 1484). 42 Cf. Written version of the expert opinion submitted to the Inter-American Court by José Francisco Calí Tzay, supra (evidence file, folio 1418). 43 Cf. Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples, supra, Chapter III: Cultural Rights, section H (2). 44 Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples, supra, Chapter III: Cultural Rights, para. 3. 45 Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples, supra, Chapter III: Cultural Rights, section H: Mass Media, para. 1. 46 Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples, supra, Chapter III: Cultural Rights, section H: Mass Media, para. 2, item l. 47 Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples, supra, Chapter III: Cultural Rights, section H (2)(b). 40 -13-