Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Parque do la paiz/Santiago



Peace park.




The peace park was created after, towards the end of the thirty-odd years of civil war in Guatemala, the villagers of this little area had had enough of the army's misconduct towards them - I won't go into detail about what the army did, (or rather was accused of doing, since they'd probably deny most of it) but things had, after quite some time, finally reached a boiling point.



Confronting the army in the aquare accross from their base, the villagers were demanding that two soldiers that they had proof against and had tried to take as prosoners be returned to them when someone of other gave the order to fire.



The villagers fled of course, but many were killed - thirteen I believe - before the shooting was done.



At the time of this incident, the eyes of the world were on Guatemala because of the growing reports of terrible crimes being committed by the military against the indigenous Mayan population, and so this event caused such an uproar that the army, for the first and only time, was forced to leave the town and sign documents stating that they would never return - which to this day, they have not.



This, sadly, is only one story os probably thousands of saimilar incidents - the difference? People noticed this one, whereas the rest are tales generally only known by those who lived through them - and about half the population of Guatemala was either too young at the time to remember the war, or wasn't born yet.



We heard the story from an eyewitness to the event, who happened to be on his way home from cutting sugarcane when he saw us in the park. It was a tragic event of course, yet so often it takes a tragedy before anyone really sits up and takes notice, much less does anything. The graves in the park are a sad reminder of that, most of those killed were very young, almost all too young to have ever seen their country in any state of what we would call peace.



Santiago



After the peace park we drove into Santiago and visited the main Cathedral there. Here we heard the story of the priest, Stanley Rother, who in 1981, although he was from Oklahoma and had been warned by the authorities in Guatemala to be quiet or stay away, returned to Santiago to his congregation and at one time said - quite famously "the pastor shouldn't flee" - and so he stuck by those words, until one night two gunmen came to the church and murdered him in the rectory where he lived.



This again was a common occurence during the war, in the rural areas many priests dissappeared, while in the cities it was dangerous for professors at the colleges and universities - both (priests and professors) were often warned to be quiet, and if they did not comply (and probably best to leave town too) they would be kidnapped and either never seen again, or found dead.



For villagers the war was a time of constant peril - gatherings of more than just a few people were suspect, and so many were too scared even to attend religous services. At the same time, many churches opened their doors at night to let villagers come and sleep in their relative safety, rather than risk a night time visit from the military, who in many areas were bored most of the time and had a tendency to drink and cause trouble.



That's the best I can try to explain it - there's probably a lot more that could be said, but I would hate to give the impression that everyone in the military was evil or corrupt, what happened in Guatemala continues to happen all over the world, every day - people are people, and it is situations (in my opinion) bring out the best and the worst of humanity. Both the stories I related, while in one way being horrible, are also stories of people doing incredibly brave things, and it is that part of the story that is important to remember. In North America it is easy to look at other places and judge them, forgetting that our own history is also filled with stories both of persecution and honor - so it's important to remember, when we think of a place like Guatemala, that the country is still in the early stages of climbing back up from a difficult time, and so it's not our job (or our place) to try and fix the country, that's something they can figure out for themselves.

4 comments:

  1. This is really thoughtfully written and you have summed things up well.
    It must have been hard to see those graves and to think of the young people who lost their lives, not even understanding why ... of course, even now we don't understand the "why" of such insane acts.
    It does sound from your writing though, that Guatemala is slowly building itself up, educating its young people, and working towards a better day.

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  2. Such a dark history, but isn't it amazing how the Mayan people have persevered! We were struck by how gentle some of the people seemed, especially considering the violence they have endured. We didn't get to Santiago, so thanks for the pics & notes....what an interesting trip you're having!!
    Kath

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  3. Parque do la paiz - I think, despite how horrible the story is, that it's a good thing to remember and to pass it down through generations. And it's a good thing to spread the story around a bit as well - in case anyone ever happens to think they've got it rough. In a year or so you'll reread your blog and remember all of this all over again. The beauty of a blog is in the inability to lose it or hide it in a box when you move :)
    Santiago - I love the story of the priest. You just don't see that kind of dedication very often, ya know?

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  4. p.s. clearly my comments are working again!

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