“I’m from where people worship the gods of their conquerors and practically every president’s a money launderer...”
Immortal Technique, The 3rd World.
“The Army killed us like chuchos...” (95)
This was again, a powerful reading. The first thing I can think of as I look back at all the chapters, is the feeling that first: the reading tied towards the end clearly with the Argentina case study, in particular with the ‘gringa’ character in the end and her mission, eerily reminiscent of the Argentine Madres. Second: that the two case studies for the session seem to represent the common experiences of the ‘Southern Cone’ with its dictatorships, and of the nations from Guatemala on down to about Bolivia, with their very much contemporary history of internal (although with plenty of external [U.S.] help) insurgency-state conflicts.
The first chapter we read, Nebaj, drew my attention from its second paragraph to the centrality of the institution that is the military in Guatemalan society. This was through its description of the barracks's placement in the town, although it would become evident throughout the readings as we learned of just how far Guatemalan life experience has been dictated by its Army in recent decades (centuries?).
I did feel as though Nebaj’s historical context was a bit too Jared Diamond (which I don't particularly enjoy). From this chapter, I drew a parallel between the initial militarization of haciendas to the same process through which Colombia’s paramilitary nightmare was created.
A clear theme here was a feeling throughout all chapters of a continuation, or rather a continuum, of The Conquest. The labor situation that first led to the arming of the peasants and guerrillas, was not anything unlike the slavery and peonage that has been occurring for 500 plus years now. And of course, the zealousness with which so many denominations of Christianity were salivating for the souls of the Guatemalan Original People also added to this theme significantly.
In fact, the biggest theme perhaps, was that of hypocrisy: Absolute Christian hypocrisy, killing and torturing in the name of the lord, of civilization or of whatever else. Political hypocrisy, fighting an alleged global communist conspiracy with methods of turning the populace against itself clearly reminiscent of the Soviet Union and East Germany. Military hypocrisy, first immersing the population into a course on cruelty and torture, and then expecting peace to grow out of this.
For the sake of business, of cheap labor, of modern day slavery, the Church, military and the law all came together to beat on the population that they are all supposed to service. Man, this reading pissed me off.
I enjoyed the rebellions in the farms. It was reminiscent of Fernando Soto Aparicio’s La Rebelion de las Ratas. The author’s quick blame of these actions as causing more trouble to the population, while true, do seem quite a bit paternalistic, as it is clear that the authors would have needed generations of personally suffering torture, humiliation and death in order to give an informed judgment on why it was a stupid thing to act that way. Clearly, it was a time in which no logic held any kind of ground. This paternalism reared its ugly head, at least in my opinionated opinion, at the end, when it is suggested that the struggle of the Guatemalan people for the past few decades was only in need of a brave white woman to make real progress. I thought that was a tiny bit of BS, in particular due to the fact that, whatever the temporary hubbub in Washington, nothing really changed in the hills of the Ixil.
Anyways, the emotions that this reading brought up have led me to rant. I will end by saying that this reading clearly demonstrates why in the culture that is Hip Hop, the letter agency so prominently involved in this case study (both parts) is known either as Criminals In Action, or the Cocaine Importing Agency.
-Also of great interest: the word ‘racism’ never came up. Plenty of talk about ladinos this, Mayas that, Christians and gringos the other, even ethnic cleansing. Can we acknowledge that a lot of this is rooted in basic and pure racism?
-And... what’s up with all the Satanism references? The pope was satanic, Gorbachev was the Anti-Christ, Rios-Montt, criminal-against-humanity par excellence was there to usher in the second-coming of Christ! .... Religious Psychological Warfare 101.
Peace.
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