Menchu is a Guatemalan leader internationally known for her work in defense of human rights, peace and the rights of indigenous peoples. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992, becoming the first indigenous and youngest person ever to receive this distinction.

She will be speaking at 10:30 a.m. in the university's Performing Arts Center on the west side of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge. Her speech is free and open to the public. Parking is available in lots off Zelzah Avenue.

Prior to her speech, Menchu will hold a press conference at 9 a.m. in the Grand Salon of the University Student Union near the Performing Arts Center. In the days following her visit to CSUN, Menchu also will speak at Occidental College in Eagle Rock, Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, UCLA and Cal State Los Angeles.

"Rigoberta Menchu has dedicated herself to the continued struggle of indigenous people in Guatemala, Central America and around the world. Her message transcends boundaries," said Roberto Lovato, director of CSUN's Central American Studies Program, a sponsor of her appearance. CSUN's Central American Studies Program was launched earlier this year, and is the only one of its kind in the nation.

Lovato called Menchu's appearance at CSUN an indicator that the university was becoming "a major center for Central Americans," pointing out that more than 2,000 of its students are Central American.

Menchu is Quiche, one of the 20 groups of the Mayan who constitute about 60 percent of Guatemala's population.

Her family worked the coffee plantations in rural Guatemala in near slave conditions. An elder brother died from inhaling fumes from the pesticides that were sprayed on the crops. A younger brother died of malnutrition. By age 8, Menchu was working in the fields from 3 a.m. until dusk alongside her mother for subsistence wages. At age 12, Menchu went to work as a maid in Guatemala City.

In 1979, Menchu and her brothers joined the Committee of Peasant Unity and became active in fighting for the rights of the poor and indigenous people of Guatemala. That same year, her 16-year-old brother was turned in to the army and he was literally dragged from his village, tortured for 16 days before being flayed and being burned alive with other prisoners in view of the entire community.

Menchu's father was killed along with 38 other people in 1980 when Guatemalan soldiers lobbed several hand grenades into the Spanish Embassy, where several activists and members of the Committee of Peasant Unity had sought refuge. Three months later, Menchu's mother was kidnapped. After being repeatedly raped and tortured for weeks, she was left to die on a hillside.

Fearing for her own safety, Menchu fled to Mexico, where she continued her efforts to draw attention to the situation in Guatemala and wrote a book, I, Rigoberta Menchu, chronicling her life.

She returned to Guatemala briefly in 1988, and was immediately taken prisoner. International media scrutiny and public outcry eventually forced her release. She permanently returned to Guatemala in 1994.

Her tireless efforts on behalf of the poor and indigenous people of Guatemala earned the attention of the Nobel Institute, which awarded her the Peace Prize in 1992.

With the money she received from the award, Menchu created the Rigoberta Menchu Tum Foundation, headquartered in Guatemala City with offices in Mexico City and New York. The foundation's mission is to contribute to the recovery and enrichment of human values in order to construct a global peace ethic based on ethnic, political and cultural diversity.

For more information about her visit, call Ramon Muniz at (818) 677-2250.