Markus Zander is a Social Anthropologist (M.A. in Social Anthropology at Freie Universität Berlin in 2003), with specialization in Conflict Transformation at Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst, Bonn, in 2005. Assistant professor at Latin American Institute, Freie Universität Berlin, 2003-2004. Working as a consultant for the German Development Cooperation in Petén, Guatemala since 2006. Presently he is engaged in a project with several local organizations that seeks to empower peasant communities against land grabbing by cattle farmers and the Oil Palm industry. His main areas of work are community and peasant organization, conflict transformation, and research on agrarian change. Contact address: h_markusz@remove-this.yahoo.com