A few notes on the history of Guatemala (completly and totally swiped from the ¨Culture¨ section of my Footprint Central America guidebook), interspersed with my shots of it´s people and their miraculous textiles:
-Guatemala is comprised of two broad social/ethnic groups: ladinos, or those who speak Spanish and wear modern, ¨Western¨ clothing and the indigenos, who adhere to the tounge and customs of Mayan tradition. Indigenos make up 40%-60% of the country´s population today.
-Like in most countries on this here crazy Earth of ours, Guatemala´s indigenous population has been subject to extreme harassment and institutionalized displacement. This tradition dates back to the arrival of the Spanish in 1524, who conquistadored Mayan lands and forced the Mayans to work plots once their own and pay crop tithes to their new, belligerant neighbors. As recently as 1931, ´anti vagrancy´ laws were instituted, requiring indigenous individuals to work 150 days a year on the farm of a ¨landlord.¨
-Teacher Juan Jose Arevalo, after being elected to Guatemalan presidency in 1944, instituted new liberal institutions like an Office of Social Security and acceptance of all political parties. These were surprisingly unpopular ideas with some folks. He somehow survived 20 military coups.
-But as far as hapless liberals go, Jacobo Arbenz Guzman, takes your need-to-know-about cake. This is because Guzman, Arevalo´s successor, was the first to challenge American business megolith United Fruit Company. He did it by expropiating under-utilized land from corporations, reimbursing them for the land´s stated value and turning it over to the landless poor. Sadly for them, United Fruit had been under-reporting the value of their acres for years for tax purposes, like by a factor of twenty. Goodbye, fallow banana fields!
-Obviously, our country and proud parent of these lights of capitalism would not stand for this clear act of Commie Reds. Deciding Guatemala was no longer conducting its business in a satisfactory manner, the US opened military strikes on the country in 1954. They exiled Arbenz, the democratically elected leader of his country, and opened to door to 38 years of armed conflict between the forces of the new government and the pissed off landless poor.
-Though this may not be news to any of my readers at home, seen from the standpoint of Latin America, the United States sucks.
-Since a peace treaty was signed in 1996, Guatemala has made certain gains towards healing the wounds of a country torn by civil war. Mayans have assumed something much more in resemblence of fair representation in government. Rafael Colom, upon his most recent election as the country´s president, promised to put forth a ¨new Mayan face¨on the administration of Ecuador.
-But sadly, we´re hitting Guatemala at what would appear to be the end of tranquil political times. Following the recent murder of a politically-involved attorney, a posthumous video was played at the man´s funeral in which he claims to have been killed in relation to a client who sought to expose government corruption. In the clip, he fingers the president, his wife and staff. The bombshell has led to marches of thousands of white-clad protestors through Guatemala City, calling if not for the resignation of Colom, than at least a thorough investigation into the matter. So who knows, we may be witnessing regime change in action here.
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In more personal news, we continue to be stuck in San Marcos after a day trip yesterday to the town of Santiago Atitlan, where the men are renowed for their kick-ass embroidered, bestriped shorts.
Check it out, this cat has a nature guide´s worth of tropical birds embroidered on his. I stared, perhaps more than strictly polite. He rocks.
Again, becoming quite a fan of Mayan style. They are brilliant social crusaders and fashionplates from since back when that word didn´t even exist. In light of this newfound obsession, I had my Mayan horoscope read the other day. I am a White Spectral Wind, which is very exciting.
Con Amor,
Your favorite White Spectral Wind,
Caitlin
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