El Estor to Rabinal
After breakfast, we all pilled on board the bus to head for Rabinal. This bus ride didn't feel too long, and the conversation was good the drive was even more exiting. Not only did we this on the bus, yet even traffic by itself is pretty exhilarating in Guatemala
Although there is paint on the road dividing the lanes, many people end up driving in which which ever lanes are free. The mentality is that if your not passing whoever is in front of you, your not going fast enough. This applies in all places, all times. It is not affected by how narrow or twisty the road is, how busy the road is or how blind of a corner it is. If there is an opportunity to drive in the other lane and pass, it must be taken. Luckily we were in a bus, giving us the upper hand in 85% of the encounters that we would have on the road. and after this extended trip, I now have a better idea of why camionettas are called "chicken busses"
On some of the mountain pass roads, the bus would have to cut the corner abit to make it around the turn. This becomes a problem when speeding cars on the descents need to go wider than usual. This creates some dicey situations. As safeguard, our driver would blast the horn going around every turn. It worked pretty well for us, because we made it to Rabinal unscathed.
In the sleepy streets of Rabinal
We stopped one the highway down to the Rabinal Valley. We could see the small communities scattered on the hilltops. Grahame told us that this highway had been built by hand, by forced labour under the Ubico regime. He also told us stories of how this was one of the centers of the violence during the civil war. It was a spectacular view, and the stories were only a taste of what was to come.
A vista of the Rabinal Valley
The next morning, we had a bit of time to grab breakfast before we started the day. First stop, legal resource center. Second stop, the cemetery, to visit the memorials that have been build for the victims. Third stop, the community museum that also acts as a more informative memorial. Fourth stop, visit the community that houses the survivors of the Rio Negro massacres. Fifth stop, attend a presentation by another massacre survivor to talk about the past and ongoing struggle that surrounds the Chixoy Dam Project and the affected community.
Cemetery in Rabinal, close to the memorial
The sign read "Proyecto Reconciliacion: Oficina de la Mujer Achi" which translates to "Reconciliation Project: Office of the Achi Woman". Achi is the indigenous Maya language in this region of Guatemala and this office exist to provide some legal recourse and protection to the victims of violence, past and present. The visit consisted of a 15minute documentary about the life of Jesus Osorio Chen, and the the culture of legal impunity which allows the intellectual and material authors of the Rio Negro Massacres to go unpunished...
Grahame sharing some more knowledge
In 1978, during the civil war, the Guatemalan government proceeded with its "economic development project" which included the construction of the Chixoy Hydroelectric Dam. Financed in large part by both the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. To complete construction, the government completed voluntary/forcible relocations of dam-affected communities from the fertile agricultural valleys to the much harsher surrounding highlands.
The 'Damn' Wall...
When hundreds of residents refused to relocate, or returned after finding the conditions of resettlement villages were not what the government had promised, these men, women, and children were kidnapped, raped, and massacred by paramilitary and military officials. More than 440 Maya Achi were killed in the village of Rio Negro alone, and the string of extrajudicial killings that claimed up to 5,000 lives between 1980 and 1982 became known as the Río Negro Massacres.
A woman resting, as seen on the way to the cemetery
Part of the memory, truth and justice approach to coping with these massacres is the creation of memorials around Guatemala. Rights Action started its work in the early 90's by helping raise funds for the construction of some of the first memorials. Early on, there were threats, vandalism and even outright destruction of the memorials. As more funds came in, they were able to build the memorials stronger and bigger, listing all the names of those who had been lost, and even sometime those that were responsible. Eventually, a wall was built around the memorial blocking it from public view. The community started to use the wall as the canvas for an even bigger memorial, that stretched all the way around the cemetery.
...listening about legal fight with the Chixoy Project
The memorials are an important step, but there were future struggles that we needed to hear about. When the Chixoy dam went in, the change in water levels also displaced 37 communities, many of which had been affected by the Rio Negro Massacres. Entire villages, swallowed underneath the green water, their inhabitants never able to return. We listened to an activist who had dedicated his life to spreading the word about the injustices, past and present, and who was seeking to hold the IFI's that funded the project responsible.
Whew...what a day. We had some beers to decompress, and hung out in the hotel. The next day, we were going to head out, by bus and by boat, to visit Rio Negro itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment