Water for Life follows three Latin American Indigenous community leaders…
The Man We Called Juan Carlos
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
Wenceslao Armira, the man we called 'Juan Carlos,' was a farmer, teacher, guerilla, priest - and father of two children murdered by death squads.
This film is the extraordinary story of an 'ordinary' Mayan from the highlands of Guatemala, who, in unexpected ways, affected the lives of the filmmakers for over 25 years, as they recorded his life. A very personal story, it explores the intersection of disparate lives, North and South, through coincidence and timing, across borders, and history. The life of 'Juan Carlos' raises difficult questions about all of our connection to human rights, and social justice, and how we choose to make a difference in the world.
'This sophisticated, troubling film raises important questions about human rights, the personal price of refusing to assent to evil and the responsibility of the 'objective' journalist who bears witness at somebody else's cost.' Stephen Hume, Vancouver Sun
'It avoids all exaggerations and puts the emphasis clearly on the ongoing determination of a courageous man who did what he thought was just.' Ed Broadbent, former president of the International Center for Human Rights
'A haunting documentary that chronicles two decades in the life of Wenceslao Armira, an ordinary Mayan who paid a horrible price for human rights. The film provokes viewers to look at life's ethical and moral choices, social justice - its cost and consequences.' Cindy Harnet, Times Colonist
'Perhaps for her Western audience, this is where the film will resonate the most-and serve its greatest purpose. As MacAndrew questions her own privilege, she asks the viewer to do the same...While the justification for war has changed from anti-Communism to anti-terrorism, the underlying desire for economic gain and control has not. As Wenceslao Armira teaches us, let us not sit complacently by.' Jennifer Morley, YES! Magazine
'Engrossing...the film raises many difficult issues, including the role of U.S. foreign policy in Guatemala, the individual's responsibility to fight for human rights and social justice no matter the cost, and the obligations of the 'objective' journalist. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.' Library Journal
Citation
Main credits
MacAndrew, Heather (screenwriter)
MacAndrew, Heather (narrator)
MacAndrew, Heather (film director)
MacAndrew, Heather (film producer)
Springbett, David (film director)
Springbett, David (film producer)
Other credits
Music, Bruce Cockburn; editors, Barton Hewett [and 4 others]; camera, Bill Weaver [and 5 others].
Distributor subjects
Anthropology; Biography; Central America/The Caribbean; Developing World; Ethics; History; Human Rights; Humanities; Immigration; Indigenous Peoples; International Studies; Latin American Studies; Media Literacy; Social Justice; Social Psychology; SociologyKeywords
WEBVTT
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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[music]
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I very well knew that they\'ve been killed.
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They were indeed captured and in
those days if someone was captured,
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they were tortured or killed.
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[music]
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Because my brother and
sister were murdered,
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my mom stopped loving my father.
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He always said you have to struggle
for the people, for the children,
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but for me there is nothing
because I lost two children.
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Years later, their father spoke
of his children\'s murders.
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But I keep saying they are not dead.
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Their blood, their example,
shine in the path of life.
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They were an example for all the children.
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They gave their lives for
the love of humanity.
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[music]
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[sil.]
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For the love of humanity. That\'s
how their father saw it –
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or maybe he had to see it that way.
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[sil.]
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Their father, Wenceslao Armira, was a farmer,
a teacher, and leader(ph) guerrilla fighter.
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He renounced his passivism
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to join the armed rebels
in Guatemala\'s civil war.
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He felt he had no other choice.
That decision cost him his marriage
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and two of his children. They were
murdered by an army death squad
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in March 1984.
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Wenceslao had lived for what he
believed in working for social justice
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and he paid a terrible price.
He did let all of us know
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and feel (inaudible). He lived his values.
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Is that why his story has
prompted me for so long?
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Because it challenges all of my privilege,
fears, and confusion about the choices
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I\'ve made? But who really
was Wenceslao Armira?
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Because I never met him,
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how much was gleaned from images and
sounds on film we gathered over 25 years?
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I learned that he had bought and sold arms,
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trained guerillas, had bouts of drinking.
Maybe he had killed.
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How much was he the man I wanted him to be?
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[non-English narration]
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In looking back over 25 years and
trying to put it all together,
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everything is shaded by point of
view, clouded by selective memory.
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At least that\'s how it is with me
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and the man we called Juan Carlos.
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[music]
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The civil war raged in Guatemala
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in the 1980s and 90s.
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Over 200,000 people were killed,
most of them Mayan Indians.
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Their government, supported
by the United States,
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said the issue was communism.
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The national security of all the
Americas is at stake in Central America.
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The armed opposition said it
was poverty and inequality.
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In North America, this
was largely invisible
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subverted by the rhetoric of the cold war.
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A lot has change since we
first filmed with Wenceslao.
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The Berlin Wall has fallen,
the cold war has ended.
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But a lot hasn\'t changed.
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Borders of all kinds are still with
us – political, religious, tribal,
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and always those between rich and poor.
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Do we know any more now than we did
then about achieving social justice?
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The civil war in Guatemala
ended with a fragile peace.
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Did Wenceslao\'s sacrifice
make a difference?
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[music]
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In the beginning, it was a
film about growing better corn
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that brought us to Guatemala in the 1970s.
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I certainly didn\'t know then how long
I would stay connected to this man,
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worlds away from my comfortable
Canadian home or why.
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[sil.]
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I learned that Wenceslao\'s background was like any other
Mayan in the San Martin area of Guatemala\'s highlands.
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He was born in the 1940s,
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a few years before myself. His
first language was Kaqchikel,
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his second, Spanish. There was no school,
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so he remained a literate until
adulthood barely able to sign his name
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when he married Guaya in his early 20s.
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They had four children in rapid succession.
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[music]
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There were about 20 families in
Wenceslao\'s rural (inaudible)
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a community.
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They lived a life of subsistence farming,
their days measured by the rhythms
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of planting and harvesting.
And in the Mayan tradition,
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land was honored as the mother of all
life, a profound spiritual connection,
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but also an economic and
political one as well.
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I was born on a farm in (inaudible)
because my parents are from there.
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Most of their lives,
they worked on that farm
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as they had no land themselves.
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The land that we had was
completely impoverished
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and so we thought that
this is why we were poor.
00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:14.999
Wenceslao\'s life might have gone
on like this if it hadn\'t been
00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:19.999
for the arrival of an American development
agency, World Neighbors in the early 1960s.
00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:24.999
[music]
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Roger Bunch first arrived here, just out of
high school in 1970 to visit his brother.
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Sons of a Methodist
minister, they had grown up
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discussing social justice issues at the dinner table.
Helping the poor was done as a matter of faith.
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Yeah, I dropped into that as an 18-year-old
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believing that what I wanted
to do was help the poor people
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and I was moved by the
malnutrition and things I saw here
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and was also impressed with the kind of the
work that my brother and Wenceslao were doing
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that was really exceedingly effective.
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His frequent trips to Guatemala
and his friendship with Wenceslao
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would influence him all his life.
He was an impressive person to me,
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impressive to a lot of other people. It was always
amazing just watch him talk to other Indian people
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that he could convince them in a way
that I never have seen anyone else do.
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He was, I think, probably that
was, it was real clear his concern
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for them and that he was always
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really based his decisions and his ideas on his
principles and I think that always showed through
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and I think that was part of what made him
a person that he was and the person that
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many people admired and the
person that was a leader
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to the extent that he was.
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In the Guatemala, Wenceslao
was born into in the 1940s,
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2% of the people owned 80% of the land.
It is a balance of power
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that continues to keep a
few very wealthy and many
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in grinding poverty. The
landowners were largely of Spanish
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or European descent. They had kept the
indigenous majority of Mayan Indians
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poor and powerless since
the Spanish conquest
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300 years before. That racist
domination was political,
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economic, and religious and it permeated
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Guatemalan life.
00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:44.999
Maria Celestina is a Mayan and a
longtime friend of Wenceslao\'s.
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As indigenous people,
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we have always been discriminated against. We
have always been looked down by the Ladinos
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because they say we are dirty, we are
illiterate, we don\'t understand anything,
00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:04.999
things that I don\'t agree with.
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I don\'t think I\'m ignorant
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or any less than that and I don\'t
think any of us are ignorant.
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What I think is that we lack opportunities.
00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:28.000
[sil.]
00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:34.999
For decades, the largest land owner in Guatemala
was the American United Fruit Company.
00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:39.999
Like other multinationals, it was attracted
by Guatemala\'s costal soil, climate,
00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:44.999
and cheap Indian labor.
00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:49.999
Growing crops for export was and is highly
profitable to land owners and corporations.
00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:54.999
However, few of these profits
stay in the country,
00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:59.999
let alone trickle down
to the Indian majority.
00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.999
To make way for the
plantations, most Indians
00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.999
were relocated to the least arable land.
00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:14.999
People were poor
00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:19.999
because they didn\'t have much land
and calculated it to be about an
00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.999
acre per person as necessary to
sustain a family. Now as the
00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:29.999
yields improve, then they
could get by in less land
00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:34.999
but they were poor because they basically
didn\'t have land. Often they were renting land
00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:39.999
from large landholders.
00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:44.999
Hopeful change came in the mid-50s
when Wenceslao was about 10
00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:49.999
with a democratically elected socialist
government of Jacobo Arbenz.
00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:54.999
Arbenz attempted to carry out land reform
00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:59.999
but the United Fruit Company lobbied
its friends in the White House.
00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:04.999
The Secretary of State, John Foster
Dulles and his brother Alan,
00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:09.999
the head of the CIA, held
shares in United Fruit.
00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:14.999
In 1954, the CIA, denouncing
Arbenz as a dangerous communist,
00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:19.999
secretly backed a right wing
coup and removed him from power.
00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.999
Land reform was stopped
00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:29.999
and the status quo maintained.
00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:34.999
With training by the US,
the Guatemalan army became
00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.999
the most lethal in Central America.
00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.999
It was into this history that
World Neighbors arrived.
00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:49.999
[music]
00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:54.999
When I first came here in 1970 there was
really much more of the sense of hunger
00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:59.999
being right outside the door and I think I really saw that
change. I saw people becoming a little more comfortable,
00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:04.999
be able to educate themselves more, and
start thinking about other kinds of issues
00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:09.999
than just where they are going to get their next
meal. I really kind of sense the town change
00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:14.999
during those 10 years. World Neighbors
was the catalyst for this change.
00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:19.999
Conservative and Christian,
one of its mottos was:
00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.999
A hand up, not a handout.
00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:29.999
At that time an agricultural teacher came
00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:34.999
and asked us what we thought,
is the land yielding
00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:39.999
what it should or not. And so he
began to raise our awareness,
00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.999
to give us good ideas.
00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:50.000
We said that we agree.
00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.999
They brought us seeds. They said
let\'s do these level curves,
00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.999
let\'s do this, let\'s do
that, all kinds of things
00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:09.999
that we didn\'t know how to do.
Our harvesta became very good.
00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:14.999
Just look at my field over there.
00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:19.999
[sil.]
00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.999
Unlike most other development agencies of that time,
their work was bottom up(ph) and participatory.
00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:29.999
This was a radical approach although
they never would have called it that.
00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:34.999
To them it was common sense and it worked.
00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:43.000
[non-English narration]
00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:49.999
I think the second year that he was
working in the agriculture program he was
00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.999
getting, I think, 16 times
as much corn as he had
00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:59.999
uh…ever gotten on that piece of land.
The neighbors around here saw
00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:04.999
what he was doing and they came
to him wanting more classes
00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:09.999
and it was just really evident. I mean you could see,
clearly see the difference between his cornfield
00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:14.999
and the cornfields next to his.
00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:23.000
[sil.]
00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:33.000
[non-English narration]
00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:39.999
World Neighbors\' work relied on the development
of local leaders and in a few short years,
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.999
Wenceslao went from farmer to
teacher to community organizer.
00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.999
[non-English narration]
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
People like his work. Everything he learned
he would always go out to teach other people.
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.999
He worked with World Neighbors
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.999
and received training to teach others
showed them how to plant corn and beans
00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.999
so they would produce more.
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.999
He said this is not for me but maybe you
and our children will benefit from this.
00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.999
[sil.]
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.999
Each one teach one, knowledge was shared.
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:29.999
Each person became a teacher
and the village, a school.
00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.999
Classes in literacy, health and nutrition,
00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:39.999
and (inaudible). But what
no one really understood,
00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.999
at the beginning anyway, were the
political repercussions of this work.
00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.999
[music]
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.999
My world couldn\'t have been
more different from Wenceslao\'s
00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.999
middle-class, United Church Canadian, I had
been taught that doing good in the world
00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.999
was the right thing to do.
How was the question
00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:09.999
I struggled with.
00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:14.999
By the mid-60s, I grew wary of true
believers, ideology, and rhetoric.
00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:19.999
Abandoning teenage confirmation classes, as
I would later reject classes in Marxism.
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.999
I still believe the essence of
life was about something larger
00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:29.999
than the individual. The only
thing that seemed within my reach
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.999
was to try to do a little
good in daily life.
00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.999
Hardly an answer to the world\'s
problems, but then what was?
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.999
Cuso, Canada World Youth,
Oxfam and other relief
00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.999
and development agencies sent hundreds
of volunteers to the developing world
00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.999
to do a little good.
00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.999
By the mid-70s I was beginning to work with
my partner, David, in documentary film.
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.999
The documentary was a way to communicate
and maybe even influence social change.
00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:09.999
But it meant being an observer
rather than a participant.
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.999
International media focus
was still on Vietnam
00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.999
but that was about to change. The
movement for social reform in Chile
00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.999
had been forcefully halted
by a US backed coup in 1973.
00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:29.999
The Sandinista revolution in
Nicaragua was just a few years away
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.999
and a nervous US government
00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:39.999
was watching their backyard carefully.
00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.999
In San Martin, World Neighbors
work continued with great success
00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.999
so much so that people
from all over the world
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.999
came to observe first-hand.
Then they took another step
00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.999
a logical but risky step when they
arranged financing for a piece of land
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
for Wenceslao\'s community.
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
It was a move that would have far-reaching
consequences. Buying land in Guatemala
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
for the landless was and
still is a political act.
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
We bought a large piece of land from a
Ladino landowner who wanted to sell it,
00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
divided it up among Indian
people and loaned them each
00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
the money for (inaudible) so that then they would pay us back
and we would have that money as a sort of revolving fund
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
and then but another piece of land. This
became a problem politically in San Martin
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
because it reminded people of after 1954
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
the land reform that happened
which was blamed on communists
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
and which was a very hot political issue.
It was also a problem
00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
because a lot of the large landowners in San Martin who
were Ladinos didn\'t want to see these Ladino lands
00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
falling into the hands of
Indians, things like that.
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
[non-English narration]
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
The development of the people becomes a problem for
many others who don\'t want poor people to develop.
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
That\'s why we have so many problems. You could
see the development of the communities here.
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
[non-English narration]
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
You could see the families
and the children improve.
00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
You could see reflected in the children
a happiness of the communities.
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
The food was better because of
the work we did, the training
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
and formation of the coops. All this
means that people are understanding
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
the causes of malnourishment
in their children.
00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
But this was something that
many other people did not like.
00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
That\'s when we began suffering repression.
00:21:55.000 --> 00:22:03.000
[music]
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
On February 4th, 1976, a massive
earthquake struck Guatemala.
00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
In San Martin area, thousands
of people were killed
00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
and virtually every building leveled.
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
[music]
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
It seemed the quake would destroy all the
development work that had been achieved
00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
in the previous decade but
that\'s not what happened.
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
[non-English narration]
00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
After so much success in our agricultural work and our
cooperatives and so many things that we had built,
00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
the earthquake of 1976
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
destroyed everything.
00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
[non-English narration]
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
But we did not sit there with our
arms crossed. Instead, we got to work
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
since we already knew
how to work in a group.
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
In San Martin, a tradition of working
together meant that Mayan people
00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
could organize quickly
to rebuild, get food,
00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
and not rely on international emergency
relief. They took care of themselves
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
and this too made the authorities nervous.
00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
[non-English narration]
00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
The people in my village did not merely rebuild
what had been destroyed by the earthquake,
00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
they also realized that rich
and poor are worth the same,
00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.999
are equal. In this way,
00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
the new awakening of the people began.
We said, \"Well,
00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
now we are all worth the same. Why
do they sometimes treat us badly?\"
00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
They should treat us like human beings.
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
[sil.]
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
It was the earthquake that brought us into (inaudible).
My partner, David was making a documentary
00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
about the long-term development
as a means to social change.
00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
He chose San Martin as the location
because of its motivated community.
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
The earthquake and the
ensuing relief effort
00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
provided a dramatic context to examine
the role and purpose of outside aid.
00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
[sil.]
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
In November in 1976, David and his film crew
arrived in Guatemala bringing with them
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
all the idealism and rhetoric of that time.
00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
More than most places in the third
world, this was now the place to be.
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
They camped out for five weeks,
living with the community,
00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
gaining their trust, and
slowly recording daily life.
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
I arrived in Guatemala near the end of the
shoot. My first time in a developing country
00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
and first time on a film shoot. I landed
in the middle of intense discussions
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
about how political David\'s film should be.
00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
There were many strident sessions about
Marxism and revolutionary politics.
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
I thought they were full
of posturing and ego.
00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
They thought I was naïve. Once
Wenceslao was away teaching
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
and so I missed meeting
him by a day or two.
00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
We left Guatemala never
expecting to be back.
00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
[sil.]
00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
Back home in Toronto, I
sat in an editing room
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
looking at images from Guatemala.
What impressed me
00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
was that the lives of these people
had purpose, meaning, and optimism
00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
in the face of daunting odds. The
World Neighbor\'s project was
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
in its unassuming way tackling
poverty and creating change.
00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
I thought yes, this is how
you change the world.
00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
The first time I saw Wenceslao on film,
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
I found him impressive in
his obvious intelligence.
00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
But there was something else, something about
the way he carried himself and the way he spoke
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
that enhanced his handsome face even more.
He seemed sure of who he was
00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
and with his purpose in life.
00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
This is what he had to say on camera
about development assistance in 1976.
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
[non-English narration]
00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
Now aid can be good
00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
if in the first place it has to
do with an organized committee.
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
Whether or not there are foreigners in the
group isn\'t important but they should
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
study the situation carefully and
ask what the aid will be used for
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
and where it will be invested.
That kind of aid can be valuable
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
because it can raise
people\'s consciousness.
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
And so Wenceslao was in our first movie.
Thirty-three years old,
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
a farmer and teacher, husband and father,
00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
his life moving forward at a hopeful time.
00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
People came from other countries
to take his agricultural process.
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
He was gaining a high profile and so he
was being watched by the authorities
00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
as a potential trouble-maker.
Being filmed by us didn\'t help.
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
It was a risk made clear to us at that
time and so that is why Wenceslao
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
was given the pseudonym, Juan Carlos.
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
We sent a print of the film
00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
to Wenceslao through World Neighbors,
never thinking this might be dangerous.
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
Yeah. Wenceslao used the
film in a number of ways.
00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
(inaudible) to do something like a film would attract
a lot of people but I think the most stunning thing
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
about the film was that people were just amazed
that somebody on film could speak Kaqchikel.
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
They saw people speaking Kaqchikel and the
audience would just go silent for a moment
00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
and people would start laughing and talking
00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
and were just amazed by that. But it showed
his work in a number of different ways
00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
and it brought people out to see the
movie and one of the things also
00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
that was interesting about it was that
some of the reputation that Wenceslao had,
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
some part of it may have come from that
movie, I know at least that some of the…
00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
the Ladinos in town resented the fact
that it was an Indian who was in a movie.
00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
[music]
00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
The next three years saw San Martin go from a model
of a successful development, progress, and hope
00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
to a place of apprehension
and fear as it became
00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
one of many Mayan areas targeted by the Guatemalan
government for alleged communist activities.
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
Far away in Washington,
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
the Reagan administration was determined not
to have another Vietnam style humiliation
00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.999
and so his cold war in America\'s
backyard began in earnest.
00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.999
No longer can it be said that
conservatives are just anti-communist.
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
We are and proudly so, but we are also
the keepers of the flame of liberty
00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
and as such we believe that America
should be a source of support both moral
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
for all those on God\'s earth
who struggle for freedom.
00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
[non-English narration]
00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
For example, at one point they
labeled us as communists.
00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
What did they mean by that?
Did development,
00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
did learning lots of things in order
not to suffer from hunger, illiteracy,
00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
malnutrition and the poverty we
are in, did that mean communism?
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.999
He began to believe that
00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.999
as this… as the political situation
deteriorated that it was very important to…
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
to talk with groups of people about that and
so often after his agricultural classes,
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
this found out many years later, he would talk
about politics for a while with his students.
00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
[non-English narration]
00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
I worked in water and soil conservation but we
could see how it wasn\'t productive anymore.
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
Soil conservation is good work
00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
but a different kind of struggle has to be
waged. That\'s why we try to organize people,
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
to tell people not to allow
this to happen to them.
00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
That\'s what we began to
do from 1976 to 1980
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
when everyday we would organize
groups in the communities.
00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
There was a priest from
Oklahoma here who was killed
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
also for his work with the Indian people.
00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
He said that to shake the hand of an Indian
person is a political act in Guatemala
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
and somewhat innocently and unbeknownst to
me anyone really who was helping poor people
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
was generally considered to be communist
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
and generally considered to be against
00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
the government and generally that was not a
safe place to be to help the poor people.
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
[music]
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
What is the purpose of development
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
if not to empower the poor?
00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
The Guatemalan government\'s response
was with soldiers and bullets.
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
They were playing for keeps (inaudible).
00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
The armed resistance
accordingly gained momentum.
00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
In June 1982, an Oxfam
America report on Guatemala
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
was released to the press but to no avail.
00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
It stated that Guatemalan government\'s program
of political violence is less an attempt
00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
to wipe out a guerilla insurgency than an effort
to suppress a rural development movement.
00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
[non-English narration]
00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
People were being persecuted and killed.
00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
This is a tragic thing
because you begin to think
00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
you have no right to live.
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
Just when you\'re beginning to see
change they can\'t sue(ph) you.
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
They finish you. They kill you.
00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
In the face of escalating violence,
World Neighbors offered Wenceslao
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
teaching jobs in Honduras. At
that time he was offered jobs
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
that were, to an Indian
person, extraordinary wages,
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
extraordinary salaries but then kept hearing
about people being killed back here
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
and just didn\'t feel comfortable
00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
there in Honduras having a good life, making good
money, while people back here were being killed.
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
Students, trade unionists,
and many Mayan communities
00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
came under increasing attack.
00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
Canada and other countries
suspended their bilateral aid.
00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
[non-English narration]
00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
Now they were ransacking whole
villages destroying everything
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
that we had that was beautiful.
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
Those plots of land that
were so well tended,
00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
the homes that we had built, our animals,
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
they stole everything.
00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
They burned the houses. They
massacred the families,
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
ransacked the village.
00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
It was a disgrace.
00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
[non-English narration]
00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
There was this scorched-earth campaign in the
80s that you know of. There were massacres.
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
There was burning of whole villages.
They burned houses,
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
they burned crops. They killed the elderly
because they had traditional knowledge
00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
and life experience. They knew
that by killing the elderly,
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
they would finish us off.
00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
Wenceslao had to make a choice.
Basically at that point
00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
uh…he was on so many hit lists that
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
partly for his own protection and partly out of his own
political analysis of the situation he joined the guerrillas.
00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
I was in the 6th grade when he left.
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
After that we never lived
together again as a family.
00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
He was a very good man. He gave
us the example of hard work.
00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
He taught us a lot of things but when
he left, we really missed him a lot,
00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
especially me because I was the oldest.
00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
I did have my mom but it wasn\'t
the same as having both of them.
00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
[non-English narration]
00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
More than anything, it was him
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
who got involved with the guerrillas.
I didn\'t agree with that.
00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
I said to him that I didn\'t agree
00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
because of the children.
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.999
[music]
00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
And then she asked me a question.
This work you\'re going to do,
00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
isn\'t it a sin? You\'re going
to learn how to murder?
00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
And I answered that it wasn\'t. That anyone
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
who defends himself against
persecution is not sinning.
00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
Now, I\'m certainly not saying that real development
leads to having to join the guerrillas
00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
but I think it does lead to at some point
00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
to some kind of political or
power conflict or struggle.
00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:18.000
[music]
00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
Is there a difference between acts
of faith and acts of politics?
00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
[music]
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
For over 10 years, Wenceslao lived with the
guerrillas in the jungles of the (inaudible).
00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
We didn\'t know if he was dead or alive
00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
until out of the blue we got a phone call
from a friend of his living in Nicaragua.
00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
Would an interview with a guerrilla give North American
audiences an understanding of Guatemala\'s war?
00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
Wenceslao was willing to talk on camera.
00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
Would we come down to Mexico City
and interview him? Take number one.
00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
The farmer from San Martin
00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
was now living in political
exile, estranged from his wife,
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
separated from his children and community.
00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
During a break in the filming, we
asked Wenceslao about his family.
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
He said confidently
they\'re in a safe house.
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
They are alive. They are fine.
00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
But they weren\'t.
00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
Years later we found out that as
he was reassuring us and himself
00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
that his family was okay, two of his children
were being abducted from their safe house
00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
in Guatemala city. Kareena(ph) was 15.
00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
Monito(ph) just 12.
00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
[non-English narration]
00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
This happened in the capital city
in Zone 18. We were renting.
00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
[non-English narration]
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
Ponito(ph) went out to a company of women
00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
and he never came back.
That\'s how it happened.
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
Two, three, four days without knowing.
00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
I think it was five days later
00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
they came to pick up Karina(ph).
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
That was it. I never saw them again.
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
[sil.]
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
In March 1984, our own son
was just 18 months old.
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
0His birth had profoundly changed our world
00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
and in ways we couldn\'t have previously
imagined. No one can tell you
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
how much you love your own child.
You\'ll do anything to keep harm
00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
from coming to him, anything. The
instinct to protect your own
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
makes you capable of what
you never dreamed possible.
00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
Wenceslao believed his
own children were safe.
00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
He also knew that both children were running
messages for the guerrillas in Guatemala City.
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
They are fine as far as I know and
they are alive. They are fine.
00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
[music]
00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
If their fate was like so many of the others who
disappeared, (inaudible) was likely blindfolded,
00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
his arms tied in a corner
of makeshift prison,
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
questioned about his own activities,
but mostly about his father
00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
and tortured until he might
reveal his sister\'s whereabouts.
00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
Sometime after that, he was
probably driven in a truck
00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
along the windy roads of
(inaudible) province to some site
00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
where a bullet was put through
his head and then his body
00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
dumped in a field. And Karina(ph), 15,
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
probably raped before she was killed.
00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
[sil.]
00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
[non-English narration]
00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
It was very difficult because I was
with him. We were in the same place
00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
when he received the news. It was very hard for
him because he loved his children very much.
00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
From the time I first met him,
00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
he always was with his children.
They always accompanied him.
00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
Because he didn\'t have a
chance to a formal education,
00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
his wish was to see his children have
the chance to study and be different.
00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
He used to say, \"Well, I
didn\'t have that opportunity
00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
but for my children, I want them
to be what they want to be.\"
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
But unfortunately it wasn\'t like that.
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
[sil.]
00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
Back home in (inaudible) we had a two-hour
interview in Spanish that nobody wanted to hear.
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
We wanted a film that would raise awareness
of Guatemala\'s war and its causes
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
but it was an impossible sell.
00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
Guatemala was still in the media\'s
backburner and soon our film was as well.
00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
Television priorities were elsewhere.
00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
No funding, no time, no interest.
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
Discouraged, we abandoned the project.
00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
Wenceslao had taken huge risks and placed
great trust in us in doing that interview.
00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
I felt we had betrayed him with our inability
to hold up our end of the bargain.
00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:13.000
[music]
00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
After years of civil war, the Guatemalan government
entered into negotiations with the guerrillas in 1995.
00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
We made some calls to see what
had happened to Wenceslao.
00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
Miraculously, he was still alive
00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
and working as a Mayan advisor as
peace accords were being written.
00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
He was also studying to
become a Mayan priest.
00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:48.000
[sil.]
00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
He was now dividing his time between the Mayan
rights group he had established in Guatemala City
00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
and in (inaudible), his adopted
home near the Mexican border.
00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
Computers, telephones, and faxes
were now a part of his life.
00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
Unable to reconcile with
Guaya, he had a new wife,
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
Virginia, and a young daughter. He
grew some crops in (inaudible),
00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
once again close to the land he loved.
00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
Wenceslao\'s life was in
a sense a testament to
00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
(inaudible) even a study in development and
the different stages that he went through
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
in first making himself literate,
trying religion, and realizing then
00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
that people were hungry and
out of that religious belief,
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.999
wanting to try to help those
people who are hungry
00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.999
and he did that through agriculture.
And then soon came to see
00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
that there were limitations on that had
to do with the land that people owned
00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
and the fact that people
didn\'t know (inaudible) and so
00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
at that point he started working
for the rights of the Mayan people
00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
and trying to help create a pluralistic
society where everyone had rights.
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
He was never content that what he
was doing was all that could do
00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
and as he began to see ways that he could
00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
make more significant
changes, he tried new things.
00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
[sil.]
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
In a sense, Wenceslao had come full circle
with a renewed spirituality fully integrated
00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.999
with his political work and
both rooted in the land.
00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.999
In the summer of 1997,
00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.999
he was diagnosed with cancer of the liver.
After cheating death for so many years,
00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
in late December 1997, at the age of 54,
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
Wenceslao died. His companion,
Virginia, was with him at the end.
00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
[non-English narration]
00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.999
When my brother and my son came,
he said I want you to pick me up
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
and hold me standing up. So they
both grabbed him by the arm.
00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
He said, \"Okay, this is good.
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
Now I want you to take good care
of yourself because I\'m leaving.\"
00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.999
He was standing up and he
was like he was sleeping.
00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
He died on his feet.
00:46:55.000 --> 00:47:03.000
[music]
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
In June 1999, we traveled back
to Guatemala with Robert Bunch.
00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
We drove to Wenceslao\'s small (inaudible). There
was now electricity and more vehicles on the road.
00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
The school had expanded. Crops were good.
00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
Small changes.
00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
[music]
00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
There was a little evidence of the recent past except
the scars etched on the faces of people like Guaya
00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
who has rejected her Mayan heritage and now
00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
just wants to forget. I already
forgave him in front of God.
00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
I forgave him. I want to forget everything.
00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
Everything he spoke.
00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
Yeah, I grew up pledging allegiance
to the flag very much believing it
00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
and believing that the United States was the best
country in the world. I don\'t believe that anymore.
00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
I think that my experience in Guatemala radicalized
me or at least changed my mind on that.
00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
[sil.]
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
Roger showed us an internet copy of an army
diary that had just been leaked to the press.
00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
In it were listed over 200 people
who had been captured and killed
00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
by army death squads in
one short period in 1984.
00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
Turning the pages, we found
Wenceslao\'s son and daughter.
00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
It was confirmation of what had
been suspected but never proved.
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
It was only then that I realized the tragic timing
of the children\'s abduction with our 1984 interview
00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
with their father in Mexico.
I thought about my own son,
00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
now a teenager, his whole life ahead of him
00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.999
and Wenceslao\'s kids would have
been 27 and 30 had they lived.
00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.999
But my son is alive and
Wenceslao\'s children are not.
00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
[sil.]
00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
In March 1999,
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
15 years almost to the day of the children\'s
murders, the United States admitted
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
it\'s complicity in Guatemala\'s
war and apologized for it.
00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
For Wenceslao, the apology came too late
00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
but history\'s hideous irony was
not lost on him even in 1984.
00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:48.000
[non-English narration]
00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.999
We had been receiving aid from
humanitarian organizations,
00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
Christian organizations from the United
States in order to do development work
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
but the government of the United States
00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
was also giving economic
aid with arms and training
00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
to the army of my country in order to
help them finish massacring my people.
00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
[non-English narration]
00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
This is my question. And for
me, it is the saddest thing
00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
that some of them help us to build
00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
and others to destroy.
00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:40.000
[music]