More on Maria Margarita

Forgive the lack of posts, it hasn’t been for lack of material. I have my hands more than full enough with what is going on, on a daily basis.

At the most basic of levels, the violence and unrest ongoing in Polochic is the product of almost 500 years of pillage and oppression. As throughout history, the current state of affairs situates indigenous communities on one side, opposed by large industry and landholders on the other. Through trickery or force, many communities have been divested of ancestral lands. In recent times, when they challenge this marginalization, they are met with bullets and machetes of private security forces, which seek to wipe them out. Meanwhile, the State looks away, or worse, lends a helping hand to these landed interests. Although this is indeed an oversimplification, it is with these same broad strokes that many histories throughout the Americas have been painted in kind. I need only leave my hotel room and venture into communities around El Estor to see this reality.

Thinking back to the case of Maria Margarita – why would something like this happen to a wife and mother of two in a small community outside of El Estor? By all accounts, she lived a life of service for her family, her community and the Q’eqchi people. Those that survive her suspect that it are these last two features that made her an identifiable target. Her role as a community leader extended beyond just Parana: because of the relative isolation of these areas, there is little national or international support. As a result, the affected communities need to rely on each other for resources, strength and support. This also seems to be a potential weakness that the company tries to exploit. If they can divide the communities, and created rifts inside and between them, they can further isolate them in a classic divide-and-conquer scheme. This was a killing that, as many suspect, was politically motivated, a move to further intimidate and divide campesino communities. Her death was not simply a murder, it was an assassination.

Business as usual in the Polochic Valley?

I got a call this morning at around 5:29am.

It was Raul, one of the community leaders in the El Estor region that I had been working with. Unfortunately, I wasn’t awake to take the call. I called him back shortly after 9:00am. He asked whether I had talked to the other community leaders, which I hadn’t. He said to wait for another hour, or for their call, whichever came first. But, no one was picking up, or calling. At 11:40am, I got a call from Rights Action. I was told that there had been a killing during the night, almost exactly 12 hours earlier.

Maria Margarita Che Chub was a 37-year-old Qeqchi midwife and community leader in Parana de las Sierras de las Minas, located in the Polochic Valley. After finishing some chores in the kitchen, she headed out to her pila to bathe. As she started to take off her clothes, she was shot in the back and killed. She is survived by her two children. The Ministerio Publico arrived in the late morning to retrieve her body.

I’m shocked, but not surprised. This assassination fits the broader campaign of fear and repression used against the campesino movement during their struggle, which has been ongoing for a long time in the Polochic Valley. All too recently, Oscar Reyes was assassinated, and three others severely wounded, on May 21st in a conflict with the Chabil Utzaj sugarcane company. I’m meeting later today the leaders from El Estor to discuss what to do next. We had been planning a trip into the Polochic Valley on Monday, but none of us imagined that it would be for a funeral…

Briefing on El Estor

Sorry for the lateness of this post,

According to my previous plan, I should’ve been back in Canada three weeks ago – but I’m still in Central America. After a few days in Copan Ruinas, I was ready to press on towards El Estor Guatemala. El Estor is where I will stay until late June... So, how did I end up where I am, and what the hell am I doing?

During the Guatemala semester, the class went on a delegation with Right’s Action, led by Grahame Russell, to visit a number of communities and sites throughout Guatemala. This was a no-holds-barred trip, starting with the FAGA exhumation process in Guatemala City, to the isolated community of Lote 8, and finally the community of Rio Negro. These sights and experiences combined to create a powerful cross-section of both the contemporary struggles and historical scars that have defined Guatemala. The other thing worth noting is, the resultant definition makes Guatemala both incredibly unique and at the same time, a classic archetype for the troubles that have, and continue to plague other countries throughout the Americas. This trip made Guatemala’s troubled existence real in a ways that reading an article never could.

After visiting Lote 8 with the class, I wanted to do more. At the time, I wasn’t sure what – or how for that matter. Just as in many countries around the world, the problems are discouragingly complicated, even more so when one is thousands of kilometers removed. So, if I was going to try to do anything, the best time to do so would be as I was present, living in it. With that in mind, I changed my plane ticket to buy more time. This allowed me to go on the delegation to Honduras during the end of May, and opened up almost another month after that to do what ever I could get organized through Rights Action.

Well, that covers the ‘how did I get here?’ part, but the ‘what am I doing here?’ part remains. As the Honduras delegation wound down, the final details were set for a placement in El Estor. The work is going to be a mix… part human rights observer, part protective accompaniment and part writer. As a human rights observer, I’ll be doing trips to communities that have been touched by violence and repression both past and present, such as in Polochic. As a accompanier, I will be in close contact with three community leaders from the El Estor region as they continue to organize in their ongoing struggle for land, dignity for themselves and a future for their children. As a writer, I’m going to try to keep up this blog, among more ambitious ventures.

Another basic question is of course the simple ‘why?’ – to that, I would answer ‘why not’. Stay tuned, funny story coming up next.

A Thought from Open Veins...

I started Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano a few days ago. Only 80 pages in, and I would highly recommend this book to anyone with any kind of interest in history or politics. When Ally was hiking the Inca trail in Peru, she mentioned that tourists could rent a porter for a certain sum of money. This jumped back into my mind as soon as I read the following passage.

“Until the revolution of 1952 restored the forgotten right of dignity to Bolivian Indians, the pongo sleep beside the dog, ate leftovers of his dinner, and knelt when speaking to anyone with a white skin. Four legged beast of burden were scarce in the conquistadors time and they used Indian backs to transport their baggage; even to this day Aymara and Quechua porters can be seen all over the Andean altiplano carrying loads for a crust of bread”

Just a quick FYI, pongo is the conjugated form of poner, which means to place, to set or to arrange. So, although “carrying loads for a crust of bread” might be a tad dramatic in 2011 terms, there is an undeniable amount of truth. The Inca Trail is one of the toughest hikes in South America and the porters wake up earlier, do it faster, carry more than anyone else and go to bed later at the end of the day…all for what we would consider pocket change. I’m not saying that the situation hasn’t improved for the indigenous peoples of Bolivia, I’m just saying that the similarities between the contemporary period vs the conquista would make me a little bit...discomfited.

Bienvenidos Mel!

Zelayas' return was the most historic thing I've ever witnessed...

An ousted president returning to thousands of his supporters. Although the idea of 'coming home', gives a sense of resolution or finality, it is not so in this home-coming. That being said, the excitement was undeniable. Every time a plane was spotted in the air, thousands of people would jump to their feet, and surge towards the fences surrounding the air field.

Once we realized that it was a commercial charter...we all sat back down in disappointment. I've never had to wait so long for a dignitary to arrive. He was due in at 11am, and he touched down closer to 2:00pm or 2:30pm. My goodness man! As the rain started to come down, I started thinking about leaving...

The thing that stuck me was the role of Mel Zelaya, as a political figure, in this whole situation. After talking to a handful of people during my stay in the region, it was clear that his position as a political figure is a relatively insignificant part of the political situation in Honduras.

Although there is a widespread hope that Mels' return signals a new chapter of democracy in Honduras, nothing is certain. In fact, his return could even be construed as being more negative than positive by some perspectives. Consider that his return paves the way for Honduras to be re-admitted into the Organization of American States (OAS). This would normalize political and economic relations between the other American states and Honduras. Although this is generally a good thing, it would also mean that the 'Pepe' Lobo regime, and its aggressive neo-liberal economic policies, would become legitimized. This would legitimize and act as an acceptance of the new stats quo for the way business is conducted in Honduras. In other words, the resistance looses legitimacy in denouncing 'Pepe' Lobo when his administration gains legitimacy. This undermines the leverage used by social justice groups to try to soften the harsh economic policies of the regime. I call these policies harsh, because large energy projects, privatization and agro-industrial expansion are often forced on the people of Honduras through intimidation, fear, and at times violence.

Also, the question of what to do next could affect the Resistance. Some say the movement could splinter, yet others say that this has already happened. What IS clear is the demand for the constituyente [process of constitutional reform] seems universal. The problem remains, how can they avoid another crisis similar to the one that led to the crisis in the first place? Another dilemma is that Los Liberales en Resistencia want to take the FNRP to the level of a national political party, but this is opposed by the more radical elements of the resistance. What to do...what to do?

These questions aside, this was not just an important moment for Honduras...this was an important moment for Latin America. It proved that Latin America is not just a market, and that it is its own continent, able to manage its affairs without the guiding hand of the US.

Bienvenidos Mel, y viva la Resistancia Popular!

Zelya Returns and other unfinished business...

Right now, I'm on my own sitting in the lobby of hotel CADETUR in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Tonight is the eve of Mel Zelya's return after a constitutional crisis and a coup removed him from office on June 28th, 2009. After a few years of relative silence, the charges against Zelya were officially dropped on May 2nd 2011, sparking everyone in the country to speculate about his possible return. The co-signing of an accord with "Pepe' Lobo on May 22nd made his hypothetical return imminent. The street-vendors have long since started to cash in on the hype by selling laminated 1000 Lempira bills with his face on it.

Members of the FNRP and other groups from throughout Honduran society will be descending on the capital. Some will be their supporting Zelya, others supporting there to support the demands for a Constituyente, others will denounce his return aswell. And there will be others like myself, simply there to observe the proceedings.

Protests after the coup in 2009

To bring anyone who cares about what I've spent the past two weeks...

I've traveling to some hot-spots within the country with Karen Spring (Right's Action, http://www.rightsaction.org/) and some classmates and peers (Syndicateffect). We have visited..

...The COFADEH office, and a talk with Adrienne Pine

...The hunger-striking teachers in Tugucigalpa,

protesting the loss of IMPREMA through corruption.

...One of many disenfranchised Garifuna communities

near Trujillo. Then we followed up with OFRANEH.

...A natural hot-spring, which was near...

...The communities affected by mining around El Porvenir...

...and campesinos locked in a a deadly struggle for land

in Guadalupe Carne. R.I.P. Sixto Ramos May 18th, 2011...

[Yes, it's his truck is pictured above]

In just under two weeks, we covered a few issues in depth, and have emerged with broader understanding of the country's history and current political situation, although the surface has only been scratched.

Tomorrow should be interesting, as I plan to meet with a couple of the people that I have had the privilege of talking to during my stay in Honduras, but this time...on the streets of Tegucigalpa!

As to the two months of missed info about Guatemala. I will share my reflections on the events and experiences that worth sharing. It won't be a chronicle of the events by any means, but it should be a bit more thought provoking.

Another post coming tomorrow...

On Parting Ways...

"And it came to me then. That we were wonderful traveling companions but in the end no more than lonely lumps of metal in their own separate orbits. From far off they look like beautiful shooting stars, but in reality they're nothing more than prisons, where each of us is locked up alone, going nowhere. When the orbits of these two satellites of ours happened to cross paths, we could be together. Maybe even open our hearts to each other. But that was only for the briefest moment. In the next instant we'd be in absolute solitude. Until we burned up and became nothing." - Sputnik Sweetheart, Haruki Murakami