Santiago Atitlan Massacre

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During the 36-year Guatemalan civil war (1960-1996) government soldiers kidnapped and murdered many people. The Commission for Historical Clarification estimates over 200,000 people were killed or disappeared during the conflict. Government soldiers often rounded up men and boys from villages and executed them to instill fear into the residents. These soldiers were often supported or trained by the U.S. In fact, in
1999, President Clinton expressed regret to the Guatemalan people for
the role the U.S. played in the Guatemalan civil war. I talked with individuals who experienced this terror and who lost fathers, husbands or sons in the violence.

In spite of, and in the face of, this violence many Guatemalans hold on to hope for peace and justice in their society. They are determined the horrors of violence and war will never again envelope their country. In the next several blog posts I will chronicle several past and present efforts to demonstrate this commitment to peace and justice.

The Santiago Atitlan Massacre, December 2, 1990: (Documentation of this event is given in the Americas Watch and Physicians for Human Rights Report)

During the civil war there was an army garrison in Panabaj, a small village about 1 mile from Santiago Atitlan. Santiago Atitlan is a beautiful city of about 40,000 people, located 45 miles from Guatemala City and situated on the shore of Lake Atitlan. For many years the army had been harassing local residents, indiscriminately killing farmers and other citizens. On December 1, 1990, four soldiers entered a bar and began harassing patrons. As the evening progressed the soldiers visited other bars and became more rowdy. People gathered and a struggle ensued. One of the soldiers fired into the crowd and injured an 18 year old boy, Diego Ixbalan. The soldiers then returned to their garrison.

A group of citizens then went to the Catholic church in town and at 1:00 a.m. rang the church bell for an hour to summon the town people. Over 3 thousand people, including the town mayor and mayor-elect, gathered in the middle of the night and marched to the army garrison one mile away in Panabaj. The purpose of the march was to peacefully demonstrate against the violent actions of the government soldiers. As the mayor and mayor-elect asked to speak to the army commander, the soldiers opened fire on the gathered citizens. Thirteen people, including a number of children, were killed.

In the days that followed, thousands of people signed a petition asking the government to remove the military garrison. Under pressure from the citizens and human rights groups, the government miraculously agreed to the demands, and by the end of the month the military post was abandoned. However, the soldiers responsible for the massacre were never held accountable. The people of Santiago Atitlan formed their own security patrols "armed" with only whistles and white banners. Several months later army patrols attempted to enter the city but were driven away by the residents.

Today a peace park has been constructed at the site of the demonstration. Stones from the army garrison were used to build the park. Memorials for the massacre victims are in the park.

On October 5, 2005, the village of Panabaj suffered another catastrophe when rains from Hurricane Stan triggered a massive mudslide on a mountain adjacent to the village. Several hundred people were buried in mud that was 10 feet deep in some places. But again, people gathered together with resilient hope and rebuilt the village. I visited the village in January and saw mud-stained buildings - evidence of the mudslides more than three years ago. I stayed with a woman named Ana and her family in her rebuilt home. Ana belongs to ANADESA, an organization formed to provide employment for women in Panabaj and to promote tourism in the area. Juan Carlos Azurdia worked with ANADESA for a year after he returned to Guatemala from Goshen.

Update

Today several of my family members arrive in Guatemala - Eileen, Rachel, Tex and Josiah. We will travel for a week, then return home on March 4.

As I write this, they are 37,000 feet in the air over Tennessee traveling at 550 mph. For those who are interested, you can track any commercial airline flight in real time at http://flightaware.com/

I will not have computer access during most of the time we are traveling, so there will not be any posts to this blog for a while.

However, I have many more interesting stories to tell and many pictures to post. So come back and visit this blog in about 8 days. I will continue posting for a while after I return home.

Floyd

Ensamble de Marimbas y Ballet Folklórico

Link to pics/videos of Marimba Concert
Link to pics/videos of Ballet

During the month of February there has been an international festival, Festival Internacional de Cultura Paiz , in La Antigua Guatemala (Antigua). The program includes theater, dance, ballet, concerts, opera, art and much more. The city is absolutely crowded each weekend. One of the CASAS volunteers, who did not know about the festival, went to Antigua a week ago and could not find a hotel room. Antigua is about 30 min from my home, so it is easy for us to quickly drive there on a Sunday afternoon. We attended two events: two weeks ago a marimba concert, and today a ballet.

Marimba music is very traditional in Guatemala, and the concert drew a large crowd. It was in Parque Central, a very beautiful plaza in the center of Antigua. There were four marimba groups; each group had about 8 marimba players. They all played together, so the music was an amazing blend of sound from 30+ marimba players. The concert went on for two hours straight - no intermission! Click this link for pictures and videos of the concert .

Today we attended a modern ballet with a traditional folklore theme. On our way to the ballet we stopped at a cathedral in San Felipede Jesus, a small town outside Antigua. The cathedral has several carved images of Jesus and is very well known as a place to come and pray for miracles. Jose Luis' father prayed for a miracle at this church in the 1920s and paid to have a plaque of gratitude placed on a wall of the cathedral. We saw the plaque, but Jose Luis does not know what his father prayed for or what miracle he might have experienced.

After lunch in a small traditional restaurant, we went to the ballet. The characters portrayed in the ballet included mythical beings, animals, and a variety of folkloric and historical characters. I was not able to follow everything, but did not feel so badly when Jose Luis and Olga said they were not familiar with all that was portrayed. There was a mix of Mayan and Christian religious themes, the devil with an apple, Spanish conquistadors, and African, Mayan and Spaniard characters. The pictures at this link will provide a much better description than I can give in text. Of course, there was a marimba band to accompany the ballet.

Volcan de Pacaya

Click this link for more pictures and videos of the volcano.

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Sunday, after church and lunch, my family and I headed out to climb the volcano Pacaya. It is one of the most climbed volcanoes in Guatemala (in total there are over 30 volcanoes here). Currently Pacaya has been active since the 1960s. The last major eruption was in the 1980s. Most of the time the volcanic activity is a number of slow lava flows from various places on the side of volcano.

Our group included Jose Luis, Olga, Claudia, Jorge, Juan Carlos, a friend of Juan, and me. We arrived at the park around 3:30pm and started up the path. Jose Luis and Olga did not climb the volcano, they stayed at the bottom near the park entrance area while we "younger ones" did the climbing. I was the oldest, Claudia is 34, and the others are in their late 20s. The younger guys often ran ahead, Claudia moved along at a constant pace, and I brought up the rear stopping many times to rest. The climb was one of the most physically taxing things I have done in a long time. However, I do admit that what I consider physically taxing at this time in my life would have been less taxing 20 years ago! It did not help that I had also climbed the mountain behind our house the day before we tackled the volcano, and my legs were already tired.

The first part of the climb was through a forested area around the base of the volcano. The path is not difficult, but is steep in a number of places. The most difficult aspect for me was the lower concentration of oxygen at the 7,500 ft elevation. Most of the time, while walking in the woods, we were in the clouds, and the the landscape had a deep mystical character.

After about one hour we arrived at the part of the volcano that is volcanic rock and totally devoid of vegetation. Some of the rocks are small pebbles; other rocks are large with extremely sharp edges. Climbing was similar to, though much more difficult than, climbing a steep sand dune. Each step forward often resulted in a backward slide of 1/2 to 1 1/2 steps! Along the way we encountered (or started!) several small rock slides - one rather large rock came within inches of Jorge. We passed large areas of cold solid rock that still displayed the folds of molten lava. We also passed by several areas where we could feel the heat from molten lava under the rocks. At this point we joined with a small group of people who had hired two guides. These guides took us off in a direction different from where the large tour groups headed. In the end this turned out to be a good decision.


We climbed up the lava rock bed for another hour and arrived at a spectacular site of molten lava oozing out of the mountain. Words cannot fully describe the experience. I was 8-10 feet from flowing molten rock that was likely around 1,500 degrees F (I checked scientific reports on lava temps for Pacaya). We spent about 1/2 hour at the site - taking pictures, watching the lava flow, poking at the lava, and toasting marshmallows! The lava flows slowly and keeps changing as you watch. After several minutes of flowing from one spot, the lava started flowing from another place. Juan Carlos has climbed the volcano numerous times and said this was the largest and best lava flow he has seen.

Around 6:00pm we started down the mountain - by this time darkness was setting in. The descent over the lava rocks was more difficult than the ascent. Each of us fell a couple times. On one of my falls I received several cuts on the palm of my hand from the sharp edges of the lava. At one point Jorge just sat down and slid down the rocks. By the time we reached the main path leading into the woods it was totally dark. As we looked back up at the mountain we could see a long red river of lava flowing down the side.

There were many groups in the area led by several guides, so we felt quite safe. I had a small LED flashlight with me. Claudia, Juan Carlos and I were at the end of the returning groups. I stopped to look at the stars and that caused us to become separated from the group. We continued along the path but saw no one. After a while we saw two men up the hill from us and they told us (in French) that we were on the wrong path. We thought we recognized them from one of the groups. So, we crawled through a barbed wire fence and went up the hill. However when we got to the top the men were gone. Using my small flashlight, we looked around and found another path. We went through two closed barbed wire fences and eventually joined another path that I believe was the first path we were on. After about 10 minutes we caught up to the main group and felt quite relieved! For a while I wondered if we had been duped into leaving our first path and lured into an ambush. The volcano park is quite secure now, but 5 years ago there were problems with robbers attacking hikers.

The total time for our excursion on the volcano was 4 hours: 2 hours up; 1/2 hour at the lava flow; 1.5 hours back down.

Click this link for more pictures and videos of the volcano.

R & B

(Click on the pictures below to enlarge)

Click this link to my photo website for more pictures.

For most North American readers of this blog, the title "R & B" will bring to mind "Rhythm and Blues" - a music genre that is high on my list of favorites. In fact, thanks to internet technology and online radio stations, I'm listening to some good R & B music as I write this blog entry.

However, my readers who have been to Latin America will also think of "Rice & Beans" or "Arroz y Frijoles." It's not possible to go through a day without arroz y frijoles in Latin America, and frijoles (beans) are are served with everything. I've found I actually like beans. (My daughter, Rachel, will likely say I still like them because I have not eaten them often enough.)

Today Jose Luis and Olga asked me what I like best for breakfast, and my answer was heuvos y frijoles (eggs and beans). Olga provides a variety of breakfast foods - mush, fruit, granola, rice & beans, and pancakes (on Saturdays). They were a bit surprised that I said eggs and beans are on my list of favorites. Jose Luis said he thought that when Eileen arrives she might ask why my skin is so dark, and that I might reply, "Because Olga feeds me only beans!!"

In our house the beans are soaked in water and cooked in a large slow cooker for a couple days. There is always a pot of beans on the stove ready to be reheated. Sometimes we eat the beans whole, and other times the beans are pureed in a blender to form a bean paste.

We do have a good variety of food. This evening we had fish, lettuce and cucumber salad, and, oh yes, rice and beans! We also have chicken dinners, beef, wonderful soups and a variety of vegetables - red beets, carrots, potatoes, squash, green beans and plantain. Check out the photo website for pictures of food.

El Mercado en San Lucas

Link to photo gallery of more market pictures.

(Click pictures in blog for larger view)

Today is Saturday - market day for my family. Jose Luis invited me to go with him to the San Lucas market. San Lucas is a small town about 2 miles from our house. My family does most of their shopping there in local shops and in the local market. There are larger more convenient supermarkets, but items there are much more costly. We stop in San Lucas almost every evening on the way home from Guatemala City to buy fresh bread and a few other items for dinner. However Saturday is the day you go to purchase your week's supply of meat and vegetables.

The market is in a large enclosed building with some shops under eaves along the outside walls. Compared to the main market in Guatemala City, the San Lucas market is small. However I was quite impressed by the size of the market and the wide variety of items available. What do you want? OK, no problem. You can likely get it at the San Lucas market. Beef, chicken, pork, ham, beans, rice, vegetables, fruit, cheese, eggs, canned and boxed goods, clothing, ... eat breakfast, wash your clothes, buy furniture. You name it, and it is likely available.

Sanitary practices with meat are lacking. It is not as bad as Eileen and I experienced in Nigeria, but still, meat hangs unrefrigerated and uncovered in the open air right where people are passing, talking, sneezing.... etc. Fortunately the weather is not hot, and there are virtually no flies or other insects (at least at this time of the year). Most stalls have refrigerators for longer term storage of meat.

Colors. Ah, the mixture of colors in the market is wonderful. From the clothes people wear, to the fresh fruits and vegetables, to the mixture of goods and items displayed in the stalls - everywhere your eyes feast on color. I think one reason colors are so noticeable is that a large variety of items are displayed together in one small area. Also the fruits are ripe and colorful. Come along and join me on a walk through the market in my picture gallery.

Hace Frio!

Hace frio!!! It's cold!!! Tonight the low temperature in Guatemala City is predicted to be 49F - it will be colder out here on the mountain. To those of you in northern climes, 49F might seem quite balmy. But I'm in a house with no heat - that is not, "no central heat", it is no heat period! And the house is designed for warm weather. The windows are not caulked and do not seal tightly, and the floors are bare concrete.

Last night it was also cold and windy. Around 5:30am the electricity went off due to a downed power line. My CPAP machine (for sleep apnea) went off and I couldn't sleep any longer. I got up at 6:30 to shave and shower. When I turned on the shower I did not hear the familiar growling noise of the small water heater on the shower pipe. Duh, Floyd, no electricity! I had a haircut yesterday and really wanted to wash my hair. So I stuck my head under that wonderfully cold water fresh from the mountain spring. Wow! It was so cold it was actually painful.

Everyone complains about the cold - this has been the coldest winter in quite a while. Today Albertina, my Spanish instructor, decided I brought the cold weather with me.

In the picture I'm sitting at my bedroom desk wearing a t-shirt, two other shirts and a jacket. With all that on I'm still a bit on the short side of comfortable. Fortunately my bedroom is upstairs and is slightly warmer than the downstairs rooms. During dinner we warmed our hands over candles. Tonight I will sleep in my jeans, t-shirt and at least one other shirt. I will wrap myself up in three blankets and hope I stay warm.