Oettler claims in “Guatemala in the 1980s: A Genocide Turned into Ethnocide?” that “the mass murder of the Mayan population” started as genocide, but can be better defined as ethnocide (5). She supports her claims with examples of military policies in response to Guerilla challenges (10). Oettler aims to inform her audience how genocide became the solution to the insurgency. She begins by defining both genocide and ethnocide. Oettler wants her audience to know the different reasons why corruption lead to the ethnocide of the Mayan people such as the structural causes of violence in Guatemala, but she also wants her audience to “take into account the point of view of the perpetrators” (22) because she believes it is key in understanding why
During the genocide of Guatemala , the government said one of the biggest lies to their people. They had said 40,000 people had “disappeared” from unknown causes. They didn’t disappeared , they were killed, annihilated from the face of the earth, all because they were different. Very similar to the Holocaust that occurred in Europe.
Rigoberta Menchu, a Quiche Indian woman native to Guatemala, is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for politically reaching out to her country and her people. In her personal testimony tittled “I, Rigoberta Menchu” we can see how she blossomed into the Nobel Prize winner she is today. Following a great deal in her father’s footsteps, Rigoberta’s mobilization work, both within and outside of Guatemala, led to negotiations between the guerillas and the government and reduced the army power within Guatemala. Her work has helped bring light to the strength of individuals and citizen organization in advocacy and policy dialogue on the world scale. In a brief summary of the book I will explore why Rigoberta Menchu is important to Guatemalan development, what she did, and how she helped her people overcome the obstacles thrown their way.
This essay will study the Central Intelligence Agency’s intervention in Guatemala, and how they assisted Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas in the coup d’état against Jacobo Arbenz. It will describe the reasons of the intervention, the United States’ interest in Guatemala, and how it affected Guatemalans. Such events help explain much about the role that the United States has in their own migration. The paper argues that the United States’ political interest in Guatemala played a fundamental role in the migration of Guatemalans to its borders. As a result of this intervention, Guatemala suffered one of its worse political periods in their history. Guatemala experienced a period of political instability that led the country into social chaos, where many Guatemalans opted to migrate to the United States.
Menchu dichotomizes the people of Guatemala into good and bad. The Indians are good; the ladinos (any Guatemalan who rejects Indian values) are bad. Her extreme polarity is the result of mistreatment by the ladinos she has worked for or encountered in her life. As an Indianist, she desires separation, but she has come to realize t...
Guatemala’s culture is a unique product of Native American ways and a strong Spanish colonial heritage. About half of Guatemala’s population is mestizo (known in Guatemala as ladino), people of mixed European and indigenous ancestry. Ladino culture is dominant in urban areas, and is heavily influenced by European and North American trends. Unlike many Latin American countries, Guatemala still has a large indigenous population, the Maya, which has retained a distinct identity. Deeply rooted in the rural highlands of Guatemala, many indigenous people speak a Mayan language, follow traditional religious and village customs, and continue a rich tradition in textiles and other crafts. The two cultures have made Guatemala a complex society that is deeply divided between rich and poor. This division has produced much of the tension and violence that have marked Guatemala’s history (Guatemalan Culture and History).
The Mayan Genocide was a result of a civil war concerning communism and democracy between corrupt leaders and the people of Guatemala. The Guatemalan army carried out the genocide under the self-proclaimed name “killing machines”. According to the article Genocide in Guatemala “the army destroyed 626 villages, killed or “disappeared” more than 200,000 people and displaced an additional 1.5 million, while more than 150,000 were driven to seek refuge in Mexico”. The army murdered and tortured without regard to age or gender, men, women, and children alike. In an attempt to end the conflict, Peace Accords were signed, in spite of the fact that there was little change.
Imagine yourself as an Ixil Mayan at the local marketplace. You wander around the stalls, viewing the hand-crafted goods. As the midday sun beats down on you, the sound of footsteps coming towards you becomes audible among the chatter of your fellow Mayans. Suddenly, the voices stop, and a gunshot echoes in the air. For what seems like an eternity, the marketplace is drowned in the slight whimpers of children as their mothers’ skirts muffle their moaning. You are still frozen in your place in front a stall. Then, a quick moment of common sense drives you to hide behind a wall. Before you know what is happening, the space around the market is filled with screams. A man falls down beside you with his eyes rolled back and a gaping wound in his chest. Blood trickles through the wall. The pleading cries of the women have a chilling effect. As more bodies fall down beside you, you suddenly become aware of an officer standing above you. A gun is pointed at you. Up until now, you didn’t think of running, but once the trigger is pulled, you know you don’t have a chance. Moments later, you are gone. The genocide that occurred in Guatemala tragically cost thousands of Ixil Mayan lives and ruined many others.
On 1 January 1994, the Mayan peoples of Chiapas, Mexico participated in an armed uprising in protest of the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Following a strong trend of harassment, and mistreatment of Mexico’s indigenous populations, the implementation of NAFTA all but abolished the land claims of Mexico’s Indians. The Zapatista uprising, as it has been termed, brought global attention to the indigenous human rights violations in Mexico, and consequently, a strong interest in the plight of the world’s indigenous peoples resulted in the global community.
War and violence in Central America is a result of governmental injustice due to the United States’ foreign policies. The United States supported El Salvador with weapons and money throughout the civil war. As a result of enforcing these policies, El Salvador’s poverty, population and crime rate increased. The books “…After…” by Carolina Rivera Escamilla and “The Tattooed Soldier” by Hector Tobar give us a glimpse of the issues Central Americans faced.
The Agrarian Reform Law Decree 900 was enacted in 1952 under President Jacobo Árbenz’s government. President Árbenz wanted Guatemala’s financial system to grow and he wanted to transform the rural population through land redistribution and by giving them agricultural privileges. However, these ideals for land reform were short-lived; coming to an end with his coup in 1954. This essay will explain what the Agrarian Reform law in Guatemala was as well as what were its effects on landowners and rural hacienda workers, while touching on why the reform failed despite its progressive ideals.
This project has taught me so much. Not only about the genocides, but how to treat other people and to think about what other people have gone through. I’ve realized that every country has gone through something so difficult and terrifying; there is no perfect place. I feel like everyone should take a step back and look at everything going on around them and realize that they’re not the only person struggling or that there are people who are having a difficult time and need help.
The Herero and Namaqua were two different ethnic groups with a purpose; they lived in perfect harmony, all of it soon ended. Intruders invaded their land because of territory and minerals that colonized the land of the Herero and Namaqua. “ A governor by the name of Theodor Leutwein became governor of the territory and underwent a period of rapid development, while Germany sent Schutztruppe, or imperial colonial troops, to pacify the region” (Herero Genocide, 1-3). At that time when Leutwein ruled, they lived in harmony without havoc. The Herero could not understand, why the Germans treat them as if they were better-quality than them “ On January 23, the Germans opened fire on the Herero for no cause, the German settlers were becoming impatient for more land so that they could build, live, and create their own environment” (Genocide & Second Reich). It started as a rebellion, but it now was becoming a war. Leutwein left before the ...
Political leaders are chosen by the people to lead the country and take responsibility to govern the city, state, region or the entire nation the political leaders thus have to make their leader term to be as positive as possible and serve and implement strategies and policies that are designed to better serve the interest of the country as a whole, not only a category of individual. Guatemala is a Central American country in between Mexico and El Salvador and it’s a country where poverty is extremely high; this is because of the conflict, exclusion, of social and economic structure to the indigenousness population. Poverty is not a beginning neither an end rather it’s a constant facet that disproportionate people have to face. This corruption began with the violence of the early century, a century of black history, which is the civil war, the civil war in Guatemala lasted 36 years which lead to deadly conflicts between the government and rebel militias which rooted because of the corruption and unequal distribution of wealth of the governing elites.
Nancy Rosenberger defines food sovereignty as the right of people to healthy and culturally appropriate food (Rosenberger, 18). She defines food security as the ability of all people to have access to a sufficient quantity of safe and nutritious food (Rosenberger, 17). This has been a problem for the people in Guatemala for many years as the country has experienced internal upheaval in the form of civil war. Thirty-six years of internal strife left the country without enough men to farm the land and the women had to take over farming in many of the Guatemalan households. Hunger and malnutrition are extremely high in Guatemala and drinking water is a problem in many areas of the country. These factors coupled with poor education for indigenous children cause a crisis for Guatemalans.
Like Pablo Gomez, a very recognized doctor once said ¨I love my country, but we don’t have this culture. Mayan Culture is everywhere in Guatemala.¨ Guatemala is a beautiful country that can fill everybody´s expectations. It´s a little bit risky to say that, but this country has a lot of characteristics to prove it. There are a few aspects that show off and catch people´s attention. These aspects are sure to please everyone no matter what you are looking for in the country.