Guatemalan Reflections

By Tommy Timm

Of course I knew that racism is rampant and has been since, through violence, Pedro de Alvarado colonized much of Central America, but I didn't know that many contemporary Guatemalans are in denial that genocide ever happened. How can you not know that right under your nose, 200,000 men, women and children were brutally murdered their homes, crops and animals destroyed, 200,000 more fled their homes and over 50,000 are missing?

While riding a micro bus to Quetzaltenango, I sat beside three evangelical ministers returning to their homes from a conference in the capital. After some light bantering and their sharing of treats, I asked what opinion they had of Rios Montt, former president/dictator (and not coincidentally, an evangelical minister) who presided over

Forensic anthropologists

the bloodiest partof the massacres. Immediately their voices raised. They told what a wonderful man Montt is; they laid blame for "the erroneous" views the international community has about their country on "the lies" told by Mayan Nobel Laureate, Rigoberta Menchu. Justice will be hard to come by until the truth is known. Thank God for the Guatemalan Foundation of Forensic Anthropologists who are proving that genocide occurred and for CALDH (Center for Human Rights Legal Action), the non profit organization that is pursuing court cases against two former presidents.

I always thought that it was the military that did the butchering from village to village, but I learned that the military used devious methods to enlist indigenous people to kill each other! Mayans were tricked into signing up for the Civil Patrol and given documents and uniforms (but no pay!). One story told that a starved and almost naked Mayan emerged from the mountains where he had been hiding as a refugee for years; the military offered him some soup, "but only if he were not a guerilla" (which he was not). As he was eating the soup, he pulled out a human finger!  "You will eat that if you are not a guerilla," he was warned. They wore him down with intimidations and threats until he was ready to do as they said. Brother killing brother! The mind boggles at the devious ways the military manipulated innocent people to kill their own.

I learned that after the Peace Accords were signed, members of the Civil Patrol returned to their communities to live along side victims and the families of victims. How horrible must it be for victims of genocide to be forced to live next door to the murderers! It makes people keep quiet about the horror and the pain. Mums the word. Pretend it didn't happen. This denial can ultimately cause sickness and death and sickness unto death. The denial makes people wonder if the violence ever really happened. What IS real? Fortunately there are organizations that are getting people to tell their stories. For people to be healthy they need to tell their stories over and over.

The long road toward truth and reconciliation continues in Guatemala. Through initiatives like the Denver Justice and Peace Committee's CAMINOS program, we are able to contribute a small but meaningful part to this process. Please click here for more information.