How did Rigoberta Menchú seek greater Indigenous representation in Guatemala’s government?

Rigoberta Menchú entered electoral politics to increase Indigenous representation in Guatemala, where Indigenous communities had long faced exclusion and discrimination. In 2007 she became the first Indigenous woman to run for Guatemala’s presidency. She ran as the candidate of a coalition between Encuentro por Guatemala and Winaq, both of which she helped found. Winaq was the first political party in Guatemala with a distinctive Indigenous identity. Menchú ran for president again with Winaq in 2011. Although she did not win either election, her candidacies brought greater attention to the underrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in Guatemala’s government.