This article is based on results from a baseline study for an intended intervention project in bilingual-intercultural education in the Municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacan, in the Department of San Marcos, Guatemala. To a great extent the article deals with issues of bilingual education from the perspective of social justice. It analyses the various components underpinning attempts to develop comprehensive bilingual and intercultural education in this specific context. The article is exploratory in character, as it intends to develop lines of analysis useful in discussing challenges faced by bilingualism and multilingualism in contexts where the factors involved are complex and of an extremely varied nature. Central to the analysis is the assumption that historical factors and social justice have a key role in bilingual and intercultural education. (Contains 1 note and 1 table.)