Guatemala
Source:
http://vms.cc.wmich.edu/~lyoncallov/GUATEMALANHISTORY.html
Current Conditions
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3% of the population owns 85% of the nation’s land
1997 population of about 10 million. More recent stats
indicate over 11 million
With the current high birthrate, the population will more than
double by the year 2020
Spanish is the official state language, but many people
predominately speak one of the 23 different Mayan languages
55% of the population self identifies as indigenous
Which means that the other 45 % would be labeled as ladino
Current Conditions cont.
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2/3 of the population live in rural areas. (but the country is
rather quickly urbanizing along with the growth of industrial
production facilities owned by multi national corporations
89% poverty level
72% of the people can’t afford a subsistence diet
78% of the indigenous population lacks clean drinking water
Half of all rural children die before the age of 5
60% of the population is illiterate
The average income per person is $75.00 per month (1997)
History – before Spanish
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Mayan culture flourished from 2000 BC to 250 AD in
Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala
They developed an elaborate system of writing
They built major pyramids throughout the region and
had “urban centers” as well as agriculture
They developed mathematics and astronomy which
they based their calendars upon
History -- Colonialism
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Spanish “explorers” arrived in the early 1500s in search of
gold, silver and other raw materials.
Spaniards attempted to christianize and conquer the Mayans.
As a result of the Spanish invasion and the following wars,
most Mayans were killed in battle or by diseases.
When the Spanish arrived in Guatemala in 1524, they found a
dense population organized into a number of small kingdoms.
Within a century after the Spanish conquest, the population
declined from about 2 million to 300,000, where it remained
until the late 1700s.
History – Colonialism cont.
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Those Mayans who weren’t killed were enslaved.
Spain ruled Guatemala as a colony for the next
several centuries. It established a colonial govt. and
large plantations for the production of coffee.
Surviving “Indians” worked on these plantations as
they no longer “owned” any land on which to support
themselves and their families.
Independence?
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Guatemala gained its independence from direct Spanish rule in
the mid 1800s.
However, Spanish descendants continued to won the land and
control the political process.
The ruling, landowning class took the small communal lands
that Spain had designed for local indigenous groups.
They established rules against “laziness.” Any one without
land was declared lazy and forced to work on the coffee or
banana plantations.
Most of the plantations were purchased by United Fruit – a US
based company – between 1850 and 1940.
A complication Menchu leaves out 
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The little land that was left for indigenous
settlement, became the focus of “wars” or
violent disputes between indigenous people.
David Stoll, in his book Rigoberta Menchu
and the Story of all Poor Guatemalans, claims
that Menchu’s father was mostly involved in
land disputes with his neighbors and not with
ladinos or elite landowners.
Independence?
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In the mid 1940s democratic/socialists began to organize and
gain support. They won the presidency in the late 1940s with
Arturo Arbenz Guzman.
Arbenz Guzman nationalized land, taking it from the
landowners and giving it back to the people.
But, in 1954, in a “revolution” lead by the elites and supported
by the CIA, in cahoots with United Fruit, the US military and
the Guatemalan military (trained by US troops) killed the
president, took control of the government and established
military rule. The land was returned to the wealthy; the
indigenous were once again mostly landless and dependent on
the low wages of plantation work for survival.
Another thing Menchu left out
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This invasion by the US, created a band of outlaws or guerillas
who fled for the mountains. They were mostly socialistic or
communistic in their thinking. They were not predominately
members of local indigenous groups. Instead, they were fairly
well educated and sometimes even from the upper classes.
These guerilla groups tried to organize the civilians –
indigenous and ladino – to fight against the government.
Civilians often felt caught between the proverbial “rock and a
hard spot.” The guerillas would plague them if they didn’t
fight with them and the army would kill them if they did.
Though many more deaths – somewhere in the neighborhood
of 150,000 – were the result of army brutalities, the guerillas
were also responsible for some of the killings. These guerilla
groups were active, even though they were mostly defeated,
until the late 1990’s
Independence?
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From 1954 until 1994, violent military rule was the thing.
Castro’s rise to power and the “communist menace” in Cuba,
lead to the US development and enforcement of the Monroe
Doctrine to prevent communism from creeping into the US
from our southern neighbors.
The Guatemalan army was fully supported by the US military.
The Guatemalan govt. had US government and business
support.
Young Mayan men were routinely abducted and forced to
serve in the military.
“Disappearances”, torture, murders were commonplace for
anyone publicly opposing those in power or organizing for
changing the conditions.
Progress?
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During the mid 80s and throughout the 90s,
there has been a large growth in manufacturing
production by multi national companies in
Guatemala. Mayans represent a very
inexpensive, desperate work force, which is
close to the US. Union organizing in plants is
met with violence, firings, and repression.
Democracy?
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Rigorberta Menchu won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 and the
international community brought pressure to bear on the
Guatemalan government for its human rights violations against
the indigenous population.
In the early 90s the govt. declared that elections would be held
as a way to end the civil war. Most people, however, were
afraid to participate because of potential repercussions.
In 1997, the government begins “truth commissions” to look
into the events of the previous 40 years.
In 1997, a manufacturing union is allowed in a maquiladora
plant.
In 1998, the rebels announce that they will form a political
party and give up the violent struggle.
Progress??
On May 12, 1999 Roberto Belarmino Gonzales, leader of the
Frente Democratico Nueva Guatemala, the only leftist party
currently in the Guatemalan Congress, was gunned down
while leaving his house.
Two days later, in a national referendum, more than 70% of
voters rejected a constitutional reform that guaranteed certain
indigenous rights, recognized Guatemala as a multiethnic state
and limited the power of the military, but failed to finalize the
peace accords between the army and guerilla.
In Nov. 1999 Alfonso Portillo Cabrera was elected president of
Guatemala. He represented the Frente Repbulican
Guatemalteco, a Christian Right party formerly headed by the
leader held responsible for the worst campaigns against the
indigenous population in the 1980s. More than 62% of the
electorate abstained and 6 % cast blank or annulled ballots.
Think about it . . .
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Take a few minutes and organize your
reactions to the reading and the lecture
material we’ve worked with since Wednesday.
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What impressions are most powerful?
What critical questions do you have?
How does the text or the questions you’re raising
relate to the theory that we’ve read?
What connections can you make between
Menchu’s text and the novels we’ve read so far?
In Small Groups
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Formulate some of these thoughts in to
questions. Present these to the larger group as
quiz questions.
(Each group will turn in a set of questions to
me before you leave for the day. Your quiz
grade for the day will be determined by the
complexity, breadth, and significance of the
questions you submit.)