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I am married with 3 children, 7, 12, and 17
years old. I have only eight parcels of land to support my
family. I work hard to make sure my kids receive an
education.
During the war I was displaced from Rio Azul and found
refuge in Santa Clara, C.P.R. de la Sierra.
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This war ravaging
Guatemala - it was the hardest experienced of my life.
Since then I have seen some
changes for the better. At the Movimiento I enjoy working
closely with my friends and neighbors. I am happy to be with
my wife, we haven't divorced - we live together. We may not
have enough money but we still somehow manage to support
ourselves. On the negative side though I see the still
persisting human rights violations, the lack of
opportunities, the minute progress we seem to make.
National politics affect us greatly, especially when it
comes to land rights. What was taken from us was then given
to other families who hold on to it today. Take me for one:
My only chance to receive a formal education was already
lost to the war. If I could at least recover my land, my
kids could be afforded a decent education.
Our history is not easily forgotten. We are part of
Guatemala, Guatemalan citizens. Still, our rights were
violated. Our families lost their harvest, livestock and
land - so many lost their lives. I tell my children about
everything that happened - the persecution by the army, the
shelling, the arrests, the massacres on whole villages. I am
bereaved how the military killed innocent people, people who
knew nothing of the Guerilla. They even killed children and
pregnant women. This was a dirty war - a terrible crime
against us.
Most important now is to reactivate our productivity, to
settle the lingering land disputes. Without this, I don't
have much hope for my own family or for my community. We
were hit too hard. We are remaining poor - extremely poor.
We still have not recovered.
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