Boldly exploring the boundaries of fiction and documentary, up-and-coming…
Between the Americas, Ep. 3: The Silence of Guatemala
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
View on the Pragda STREAM site
If we listen attentively to the stories of the Maya people, we will encounter a silence that has endured for 40 years. This silence surrounds the genocide that occurred under the rule of General Efraín Ríos Montt.
Termed 'The Silence of Guatemala,' it reflects the lack of recognition for the mass slaughter of indigenous people. Is the time now ripe to break this silence?
Series Description
For a long time, Central America seemed to be on the rise, but opposing forces have hindered any positive developments. There have emerged two Americas, and in between these two visions, journalist Stef Biemans listens to the stories of Central America. Biemans has lived and worked in the region for more than 15 years and brights to light the delicate situation of many Central Americans in a calleidoscope of sounds and stories.
“What we hear and see in Between the Americas is beautiful poetry and deeply disturbing.” — NRC Handelsblad
“This series feels just as colorful and double-edged as a fairy tale. In between the ominous stories,
you can find hope and humanity, just like in a real fary tale.” — Trouw
“A documentary maker wants to portray an unkown area with the sounds of a small recording device.
If I would be in charge of a network I would tell him to get lost. But if the documentary maker is Stef Biemans and the area is Central America, I hope I will have the wisdom to say yes.” — Groene Amsterdammer
Citation
Main credits
Biemans, Stef (film director)
Biemans, Stef (narrator)
Frints, Nicole (film producer)
Other credits
Cinematography, Remco Bikkers; editing, Joël Hielckert & Stef Biemans.
Distributor subjects
Geography; Central America; Culture + Identity; Economics + Social Class Issues; Environment + Sustainability; Indigenous Peoples; Latin American Studies; Sociology; Fascism + Repression; Human RightsKeywords
00:00:08.120 --> 00:00:11.960
The idea is for you to kick the door...
00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:14.560
...while I record the sound.
- Okay.
00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:26.760
This story begins with a search
for six sounds.
00:00:26.880 --> 00:00:35.600
Footsteps, a radio, a banknote,
a machete, a barking dog...
00:00:35.720 --> 00:00:37.880
...and finally a door being kicked.
00:00:40.280 --> 00:00:41.960
Okay, that was good.
00:00:42.080 --> 00:00:45.240
A strange request, right?
- Yes.
00:00:45.360 --> 00:00:47.480
Thank you very much.
00:00:49.800 --> 00:00:53.400
Together, these sounds tell a story
about Central America.
00:01:05.240 --> 00:01:09.240
I have lived and travelled
in this region for 15 years.
00:01:09.360 --> 00:01:12.760
Sounds are around you all the time,
everywhere.
00:01:12.880 --> 00:01:17.880
I'm recording the sounds of this square.
All kinds of sounds.
00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:21.280
You can call it noise,
or the joy of life.
00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:25.800
But silence is rare.
00:01:26.800 --> 00:01:28.800
And yet, if you listen carefully...
00:01:28.920 --> 00:01:33.280
...you will hear a silence
in this specific story.
00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:37.320
It sounds complicated,
and a little pretentious.
00:01:37.440 --> 00:01:39.400
But it will become clear.
00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:50.560
Hands.
00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:21.840
Between the Americas
episode 4: the silence of Guatemala
00:02:26.040 --> 00:02:28.520
Where are they?
00:02:28.640 --> 00:02:35.040
All the men and women
abducted during the war.
00:02:35.160 --> 00:02:38.920
What was done to our loved ones?
00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:44.680
We have kept quiet for a long time.
00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:49.200
For us, the indigenous population...
00:02:49.320 --> 00:02:56.040
...it was a silence of terror,
trauma and pain.
00:02:57.320 --> 00:03:03.720
We bottled up all our emotions...
00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:07.640
...because we couldn't talk about it.
00:03:07.760 --> 00:03:12.520
How long has this silence
been going on?
00:03:12.640 --> 00:03:16.360
More than 36 years.
00:03:16.480 --> 00:03:22.520
That's a very long silence.
- Yes, it feels endless to us.
00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:27.840
In essence, this story is about
the silence of this woman...
00:03:27.960 --> 00:03:31.760
...and of her husband Felipe Poyon.
00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:38.920
You might say that together
they symbolise Guatemala...
00:03:39.040 --> 00:03:41.920
...then, now, and always.
00:03:42.040 --> 00:03:48.240
What happened to them has everything
to do with the six sounds I mentioned.
00:03:48.360 --> 00:03:50.960
I found the kicks against the door.
00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:56.360
But how did I get footsteps, radio,
banknote, machete, and a barking dog?
00:04:06.920 --> 00:04:08.320
Hello.
00:04:08.440 --> 00:04:13.520
May I please record the sound
of your footsteps?
00:04:13.640 --> 00:04:15.080
Of course.
00:04:17.200 --> 00:04:23.160
Maybe you could move your feet,
so I can record the sound?
00:04:23.280 --> 00:04:26.640
I mean walk.
- Oh, you want me to walk.
00:04:27.960 --> 00:04:30.200
A little faster.
- Like this?
00:04:46.200 --> 00:04:48.800
What's his name?
- Badminton.
00:04:48.920 --> 00:04:50.840
The kids came up with that.
00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:56.440
Do you happen to have
a twenty-quetzal banknote?
00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:02.960
Perfect. Thank you.
00:05:03.080 --> 00:05:08.560
What is it for?
- I want to add sounds to a story.
00:05:08.680 --> 00:05:11.720
A story about Guatemala.
Thank you, madam.
00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:20.280
I'm looking for the sound of a machete.
00:05:22.760 --> 00:05:24.640
I'd like to record the sound.
00:05:24.760 --> 00:05:28.400
May I record the sound of you
getting your machete out?
00:05:28.520 --> 00:05:31.120
Let's see if we can hear it.
00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:40.480
I managed to record the kicks,
the footsteps, the banknote...
00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:43.080
...the barking dog and the machete.
00:05:43.200 --> 00:05:46.120
Now all I need is
the simplest of the six.
00:05:50.200 --> 00:05:52.680
Hello, sir.
- Pardon?
00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:57.960
I'd like to record the sound of a radio.
00:05:58.080 --> 00:06:02.000
We don't have a radio here.
00:06:02.120 --> 00:06:07.120
You never listen to the radio?
- Just to one of those small ones.
00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:09.520
But not very often.
00:06:09.640 --> 00:06:13.800
Look at that.
It's even an Apple.
00:06:32.960 --> 00:06:36.840
So what do these sounds tell us
about Felipe Poyon?
00:06:36.960 --> 00:06:40.840
We go back 40 years
for an explanation.
00:06:40.960 --> 00:06:42.520
Please follow me.
00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:56.560
Back to a Guatemala
locked in armed conflict.
00:06:56.680 --> 00:06:58.640
Come on through.
00:07:06.080 --> 00:07:07.840
So this is where it happened?
00:07:07.960 --> 00:07:14.200
In 1981, they came to the house
at 11 o'clock at night.
00:07:14.320 --> 00:07:19.920
They came in
and took my husband away.
00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:24.560
The army soldiers forced their way in.
00:07:24.680 --> 00:07:32.320
A man in a balaclava shouted at us
to open the door.
00:07:32.440 --> 00:07:35.080
Then he kicked the door in.
00:07:35.200 --> 00:07:41.760
The man said: 'Felipe Poyon, get up.'
00:07:41.880 --> 00:07:44.880
'Come with us,
we have a few questions.'
00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:49.080
'Then we'll bring you home
safe and sound.'
00:07:49.200 --> 00:07:52.080
They said: Don't cry, don't scream.
00:07:52.200 --> 00:07:59.720
But my husband stayed put. He clung
to the doorpost and didn't let go.
00:07:59.840 --> 00:08:03.160
But the man who was inside
pushed him out.
00:08:03.280 --> 00:08:10.680
When they took him, I said:
'We'll never see him again.'
00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:20.280
This was taken on our wedding day.
It's a wedding picture.
00:08:20.400 --> 00:08:24.680
He's standing here.
- Ah, there he is.
00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:28.280
That's him. Felipe Poyon.
And this is me.
00:08:28.400 --> 00:08:32.520
My godparents,
my mother with no shoes...
00:08:32.640 --> 00:08:37.440
...my father with no shoes.
We didn't have shoes back then.
00:08:37.560 --> 00:08:42.680
This is a picture of my husband.
- Felipe.
00:08:42.800 --> 00:08:47.200
A modest, hard-working man.
00:08:47.320 --> 00:08:52.240
Not a guerrilla fighter?
- No, far from it.
00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:57.840
Did he ever criticise the government?
- Never.
00:08:57.960 --> 00:09:01.400
He was active in our church,
that's all.
00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:13.040
The civil war in Guatemala was
one of the bloodiest in Latin America.
00:09:14.040 --> 00:09:16.600
Run, run. The army is coming.
00:09:20.160 --> 00:09:24.840
It was an ethnic war in which Indians
were recruited to kill other Indians...
00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:27.040
...or make them disappear.
00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:31.120
It started because the American
United Fruit Company...
00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:34.480
...tried to control the banana farmers.
00:09:36.200 --> 00:09:40.120
But they called it
the struggle against communism.
00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:43.480
Just like in El Salvador and Nicaragua.
00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:49.240
The war lasted 36 years.
200,000 people were killed.
00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:53.280
50,000 more disappeared
and were never found.
00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:02.800
I...
00:10:02.920 --> 00:10:10.240
I'm trying to record the sounds
of the genocide in Guatemala.
00:10:10.360 --> 00:10:14.400
Do you remember
the sounds you heard...
00:10:14.520 --> 00:10:18.440
...on the night they took your husband?
00:10:18.560 --> 00:10:23.960
Yes. I heard the sound of boots
as they came into the house.
00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:28.480
There was a lot of noise.
00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:35.080
I heard the barking of the dogs.
They had started to bark.
00:10:38.800 --> 00:10:44.400
I heard how the guy pulled his knife.
00:10:45.880 --> 00:10:52.960
And I heard him taking something
over there. A twenty-quetzal bill.
00:10:53.960 --> 00:11:00.160
He also took a radio. I heard that too.
00:11:00.280 --> 00:11:06.240
I heard the sound of them
kicking in the door.
00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:15.360
And I heard my husband cry.
00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:20.560
He cried as he said goodbye to us.
00:11:20.680 --> 00:11:26.040
So then we all burst into tears as well.
00:11:26.160 --> 00:11:27.880
How did he say goodbye?
00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:35.960
He said: 'Farewell, Carmen, farewell
forever. Look after my children.'
00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:38.160
And then he was gone.
00:11:38.280 --> 00:11:43.480
That voice will be in my head
for all eternity.
00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:50.000
And all of this will be
in my heart forever.
00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:52.080
I will never be without it.
00:11:52.200 --> 00:11:57.480
I feel that by talking about it,
the trauma starts to surface a little.
00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:05.160
It helps me relax.
Because all of this really happened.
00:12:06.160 --> 00:12:08.760
That also goes for the genocide...
00:12:08.880 --> 00:12:13.560
...committed by the army
during this armed conflict.
00:12:17.160 --> 00:12:22.080
What this woman says here,
that it's true what happened to her...
00:12:22.200 --> 00:12:24.680
...is an important part of this story.
00:12:28.040 --> 00:12:30.160
She wants public acknowledgement.
00:12:30.280 --> 00:12:34.720
The sounds of that night
are in her head and her heart...
00:12:34.840 --> 00:12:38.480
...but there is a movement in Guatemala
that won't talk...
00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:42.240
...about the kicks against the door
and the machete being drawn.
00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:50.240
They deny that there were Felipes
who were taken and never seen again.
00:12:50.360 --> 00:12:54.440
The UN has proven that entire
Maya villages were slaughtered...
00:12:54.560 --> 00:12:57.280
...for ethnic reasons.
00:12:59.640 --> 00:13:03.600
But genocide deniers
are in power today.
00:13:06.160 --> 00:13:11.120
So how much does the next generation
know about the Felipes of Guatemala?
00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:17.440
Do you know who these people are?
- No idea.
00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:22.920
What do you learn in school
about these people?
00:13:23.040 --> 00:13:26.320
That they are people of the genocide.
00:13:28.520 --> 00:13:31.080
That's all I know.
00:13:33.640 --> 00:13:40.400
It says: 'victim of state violence'.
00:13:40.520 --> 00:13:45.400
Do you feel they tell you
everything about this event at school?
00:13:45.520 --> 00:13:47.720
No.
00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:52.920
What do you reckon?
- They're hiding things from us.
00:13:53.040 --> 00:13:55.440
We only hear a few parts.
00:13:55.560 --> 00:13:57.960
They don't tell us the whole story.
00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:03.920
Just the part that suits them.
00:14:04.040 --> 00:14:08.480
Do you go to a public school?
- Yes, a state school.
00:14:11.160 --> 00:14:16.000
Thanks for your time and friendliness.
- Thank you.
00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:33.080
Soon after, the whole school lined up
outside the Holocaust Museum.
00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:37.480
An Israeli NGO built it
here in Guatemala.
00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:42.600
A museum showing what happened
in Guatemala itself doesn't exist yet.
00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:52.040
Access granted.
00:14:52.160 --> 00:14:56.840
The only place offering information
about this recent history...
00:14:56.960 --> 00:15:01.480
...is the blue tables
of the Forensic Institute.
00:15:20.840 --> 00:15:25.160
Do you always work in silence?
00:15:25.280 --> 00:15:28.440
I usually have some music on.
00:15:28.560 --> 00:15:30.920
With ear buds.
- What kind of music?
00:15:36.880 --> 00:15:40.800
Heroes of Silence.
00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:49.320
The band name is symbolic
for the silence.
00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:52.920
I hadn't thought of it like that.
00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:17.640
At the moment we're listing
dental information.
00:16:17.760 --> 00:16:20.880
Here we have two types of teeth...
00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:25.440
...because the person was
between 3 and 5 years old.
00:16:25.560 --> 00:16:32.320
So we see milk teeth
as well as adult teeth.
00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:40.440
I record how many milk teeth there are
and how many adult teeth.
00:16:40.560 --> 00:16:44.040
Is it clear to you
what happened to this child?
00:16:44.160 --> 00:16:50.080
Yes. There's evidence of trauma
through fractures.
00:16:50.200 --> 00:16:55.080
The fractures were caused
by a huge energy transfer...
00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:58.160
...that blew part of the face away.
00:16:58.280 --> 00:17:00.880
We think due to a fired bullet.
00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:03.680
The same goes for the thorax...
00:17:03.800 --> 00:17:09.600
...where normally the ribs
are connected to the spine.
00:17:09.720 --> 00:17:13.720
Eye witness reports tell us
that this was a family...
00:17:13.840 --> 00:17:20.480
...who were all shot and killed
by the army, in their own home.
00:17:20.600 --> 00:17:28.520
Since a child's body is only small,
it was riddled with bullets.
00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:33.960
This also goes for the other thirteen
family members. A mother and siblings.
00:17:34.080 --> 00:17:37.120
They were all killed?
- Yes.
00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:42.640
The idea of so much violence
done to a child makes me shudder.
00:17:42.760 --> 00:17:48.920
It's appalling to see this level of
destruction in the body of a toddler.
00:17:49.040 --> 00:17:52.400
A child is obviously not a soldier.
00:17:52.520 --> 00:17:56.600
I mustn't dwell on this.
I have a three-year-old myself.
00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:04.400
I compare my son's bones and
development with this skeleton.
00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:23.280
Does this work get government support?
- No.
00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:28.040
They act like none of this
ever happened.
00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:32.960
It's not on the news.
It's never in the papers.
00:18:33.080 --> 00:18:37.400
Like they want to erase the past?
- It seems that way, yes.
00:19:00.840 --> 00:19:04.680
The next sound is the sound of justice.
00:19:04.800 --> 00:19:08.240
Normally it would be a judge's gavel.
00:19:08.360 --> 00:19:13.240
But in Guatemala the only president
ever found guilty of war crimes...
00:19:13.360 --> 00:19:16.200
...died before the court case was finished.
00:19:16.320 --> 00:19:19.200
So we'll have to make do with this:
00:19:19.320 --> 00:19:24.120
The sound that Jorge, a controversial
artist, and his quiet indigenous friend...
00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:26.720
...make outside the parliament buildings.
00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:43.720
Who are these people?
00:19:43.840 --> 00:19:46.200
Some of these are responsible...
00:19:46.320 --> 00:19:49.640
...for the disappearances
and mass murders in Guatemala.
00:19:49.760 --> 00:19:55.120
They're military men, or men connected
with the army or the police.
00:19:55.240 --> 00:19:57.560
They're important people.
00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:01.960
Big names, then?
- Big sons of bitches.
00:20:03.320 --> 00:20:08.680
But we can't blame the bitches
for having sons that are scum.
00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:13.640
Are these the people
you want to put in the pillory?
00:20:13.760 --> 00:20:17.720
Yes. And then move them on
to the guillotine.
00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:23.240
They all went unpunished.
No one of them were convicted.
00:20:23.360 --> 00:20:28.600
They always get off scot-free.
- Yes. God won't punish them either.
00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:32.960
Is the pillory not a bit medieval?
00:20:33.080 --> 00:20:35.640
We're in the Middle Ages here.
00:20:35.760 --> 00:20:42.400
We may have cars and cellphones...
00:20:42.520 --> 00:20:45.600
...and HD and 4G.
00:20:45.720 --> 00:20:48.400
But life is medieval here.
00:20:48.520 --> 00:20:52.440
This is not a civilised society.
There is no justice.
00:20:52.560 --> 00:20:59.880
This country is kept together by us,
the hard-working people.
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:03.080
That's the only reason why
there's any progress.
00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:09.760
Hopefully one day these medieval
ways of thinking will pass.
00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:53.200
Every year, on 25 February,
the silence is temporarily broken.
00:21:53.320 --> 00:21:58.240
Until justice will be done.
Until we can have the truth at last.
00:21:58.360 --> 00:22:01.800
We will never forget our loved ones.
00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:07.600
The armed conflict claimed the lives
of more than 200,000 people.
00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:13.200
Maya Indians from all over come to
the capital to let their voices be heard.
00:22:13.320 --> 00:22:19.240
They were taken by soldiers,
colonels and commanders.
00:22:19.360 --> 00:22:26.200
Day after day many parents still
wonder where their children are.
00:22:39.880 --> 00:22:42.920
This is a story about the silence
of Guatemala...
00:22:43.040 --> 00:22:47.040
...and about an attempt
to capture that silence in sounds.
00:22:47.160 --> 00:22:49.680
But what good is it to the Mayas?
00:22:49.800 --> 00:22:52.760
Their drama eclipses
any creative initiative...
00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:55.880
...and may be too big
to capture in sounds.
00:22:57.040 --> 00:23:00.600
Perhaps this story should be
about reconciliation from now on.
00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:20.680
What message would you like
to record...
00:23:20.800 --> 00:23:26.440
...for the families of the victims
of the armed conflict?
00:23:26.560 --> 00:23:31.360
Hello, fellow countrymen.
It's hard to lose a family member...
00:23:31.480 --> 00:23:34.920
...if the reason is not the will of God.
00:23:35.040 --> 00:23:37.680
But we must all carry on.
00:23:37.800 --> 00:23:42.960
Be brave and set a good example
for your children.
00:23:43.080 --> 00:23:47.360
I'm here with my daughter.
We support you.
00:23:47.480 --> 00:23:52.240
Courage to all the victims
of this internal armed struggle.
00:23:52.360 --> 00:23:58.160
Here in Guatemala we're entitled
to the truth and to justice.
00:23:58.280 --> 00:24:02.040
This must end. We want justice.
00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:06.080
We continue the struggle. Our country
is strong, together we are strong.
00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:09.640
I took part in the armed conflict.
00:24:09.760 --> 00:24:12.680
I was a soldier in the army.
00:24:12.800 --> 00:24:19.160
I was forced to join in but I didn't
agree with what was happening.
00:24:19.280 --> 00:24:21.840
I have a message for all those...
00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:29.720
...who lost their loved ones
during this conflict.
00:24:29.840 --> 00:24:35.320
I want to ask for your forgiveness.
00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:39.080
I hope justice will prevail soon.
00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:50.200
Mom, what will it take for you
to forgive this soldier?
00:24:50.320 --> 00:24:53.360
Can you forgive him?
00:24:54.800 --> 00:25:01.920
It's hard for me to forgive him
because of all the pain we suffered.
00:25:03.280 --> 00:25:09.240
I won't find forgiveness until I die.
And that goes for him too.
00:25:09.360 --> 00:25:14.840
I can't forgive him
just because he asks me to.
00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:22.400
The suffering he caused
is hard to forgive.
00:25:22.520 --> 00:25:25.760
We were suddenly on our own.
00:25:25.880 --> 00:25:31.800
My mother didn't have enough food
for us sometimes. We were hungry.
00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:36.400
She had to be the father
as well as the mother.
00:25:36.520 --> 00:25:39.400
After my father disappeared...
00:25:39.520 --> 00:25:44.520
...we never heard a thing
about where he might be.
00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:48.400
We never heard anything at all
about him.
00:25:49.400 --> 00:25:54.000
It must be hard not to know where he is.
00:25:54.120 --> 00:25:58.520
He vanished and we haven't got a clue
where he went.
00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:01.080
We know nothing at all.
00:26:20.080 --> 00:26:23.280
Relax, relax.
00:26:24.320 --> 00:26:26.880
Put your hand in the right place.
00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:33.320
There's a lot of sorrow.
A lot of pain. A lot of anger.
00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:37.880
The things Martina went through
are almost identical to Carmen's.
00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:42.440
Your arms are painful.
You carry a heavy burden.
00:26:42.560 --> 00:26:46.120
Husband abducted by the army.
No reason why.
00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:50.600
He was no fighter, not politically
active. She never saw him again.
00:26:50.720 --> 00:26:52.320
So much pain.
00:26:52.440 --> 00:26:56.840
The women try to comfort each other
with alternative therapy.
00:26:56.960 --> 00:27:00.360
You can scream if you want.
00:27:02.280 --> 00:27:06.240
No, don't. This is normal.
00:27:06.360 --> 00:27:08.800
This is part of it.
00:27:11.640 --> 00:27:17.760
Breathe in deep through your nose
and out through your mouth.
00:27:22.040 --> 00:27:26.920
Let all your tiredness and pain
fade away.
00:27:38.800 --> 00:27:46.240
Do you feel better after the therapy?
- Yes. A little better.
00:27:47.240 --> 00:27:49.800
A little.
- Yes.
00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:55.840
A lot of people say nothing happened.
00:27:55.960 --> 00:28:00.160
RĂos Montt, for example,
has denied the genocide.
00:28:00.280 --> 00:28:02.280
But there is a lot of proof.
00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:05.080
While he was in power...
00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:10.240
...entire villages were massacred.
00:28:10.360 --> 00:28:17.040
That's why we are convinced
we can in fact call it a genocide.
00:28:19.560 --> 00:28:27.080
This is a message for people
who deny the Guatemalan genocide.
00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:33.360
A genocide took place.
My father was abducted.
00:28:33.480 --> 00:28:40.320
And he was not the only one.
Several villagers were abducted.
00:28:40.440 --> 00:28:45.320
Not only men, but women too.
The women were raped.
00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:48.320
The men were indigenous men.
00:28:48.440 --> 00:28:53.040
My father had done nothing wrong,
but they took him anyway.
00:28:53.160 --> 00:28:57.520
He had nothing to do with the guerrilla,
but they took him anyway.
00:28:57.640 --> 00:29:01.920
So a genocide did indeed take place.
00:29:02.040 --> 00:29:07.160
If it really were a genocide,
would she still be alive?
00:29:07.280 --> 00:29:11.480
No, she wouldn't. She'd be dead.
00:29:11.600 --> 00:29:16.040
How can she call it a genocide
while she's still alive?
00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:22.800
Genocide is the extermination
of an ethnic or religious group.
00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:27.280
That's what genocide is. Okay?
00:29:27.400 --> 00:29:30.720
No better place
for straightening things out...
00:29:30.840 --> 00:29:33.440
...than this room full of
former military men.
00:29:33.560 --> 00:29:36.440
But before we heard their defence
when accused...
00:29:36.560 --> 00:29:40.280
...of one of the worst genocides
in Latin America...
00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:42.920
...we looked for more evidence first.
00:29:49.160 --> 00:29:52.320
The clothes worn by the individual.
00:29:59.000 --> 00:30:04.520
These are the pants worn by
the individual there on the table.
00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:10.040
Which family member was he?
- I assume he was a son.
00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:13.920
But maybe it was three generations,
with grandparents present.
00:30:14.040 --> 00:30:18.520
I don't think these people
were resistance fighters.
00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:23.760
They were regular citizens.
You can tell by their shoes.
00:30:23.880 --> 00:30:29.360
They're made of the rubber
from car tires.
00:30:29.480 --> 00:30:32.720
They were poor people,
judging by their shoes.
00:30:32.840 --> 00:30:35.040
This is the other one.
00:30:35.160 --> 00:30:39.600
Old car tires were made into shoes?
- Yes.
00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:43.480
That's the reality in our country.
00:30:43.600 --> 00:30:48.080
People can't afford shoes,
so they find other ways.
00:30:48.200 --> 00:30:49.920
Shocking, isn't it?
- Yes.
00:30:50.040 --> 00:30:55.080
It made a big impression on me too
when I first saw this.
00:30:55.200 --> 00:30:59.600
Mainly because of what is in the boxes.
00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:08.520
Also shocking: the amount of
indigenous clothing found.
00:31:08.640 --> 00:31:11.200
Do you find a lot of indigenous clothes?
- We do.
00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:17.360
It really is mainly Mayas
found in the mass graves.
00:31:17.480 --> 00:31:22.840
83 percent of the victims represented
in these boxes were indigenous.
00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:27.800
And still some people maintain
there was no ethnic motive.
00:31:28.640 --> 00:31:34.480
Is it important to break the silence
around these events in Guatemala?
00:31:34.600 --> 00:31:36.240
Yes, very important.
00:31:36.360 --> 00:31:41.480
There is silence, and there is denial.
00:31:41.600 --> 00:31:46.360
Silence reigns among the people
who survived this.
00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:52.240
They are scared.
They're afraid to speak their minds.
00:31:52.360 --> 00:31:59.680
On the other side there's denial.
We see that in the perpetrators.
00:31:59.800 --> 00:32:04.680
But how can you deny it when
the evidence is on these tables?
00:32:04.800 --> 00:32:10.880
One of their arguments is that
these people were killed in war.
00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:15.320
They're said to be guerrilla fighters
killed in combat.
00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:18.960
Do the injuries look like
combat wounds?
00:32:19.080 --> 00:32:24.520
In many cases people have their hands
tied behind their backs.
00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:30.160
A lot of them are blindfolded.
Their hands and feet are tied.
00:32:30.280 --> 00:32:35.200
Obviously that indicates
they were not fighting at all.
00:32:35.320 --> 00:32:38.880
They were in fact defenseless.
00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:44.640
We also see bullet wounds
that indicate unlawful executions.
00:32:44.760 --> 00:32:46.600
Straight in the skull.
00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:54.320
It's highly unlikely that anyone could
aim so precisely in a combat situation.
00:32:54.440 --> 00:32:59.480
And in combat you usually have
more than one injury.
00:33:05.320 --> 00:33:09.160
When a peace deal was signed
in 1994 in Oslo...
00:33:09.280 --> 00:33:14.360
...a report was published with the
lovely title Memory of Silence.
00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:20.400
It said: If the truth is not revealed,
the victims will not be acknowledged...
00:33:20.520 --> 00:33:24.760
...and the perpetrators will not
recover their dignity.
00:33:27.560 --> 00:33:31.360
The dignity they lost
through their own actions.
00:33:42.200 --> 00:33:45.920
We're afraid of journalists here.
- Why is that?
00:33:46.040 --> 00:33:51.480
In Europe they distort the facts.
00:33:51.600 --> 00:33:54.040
But not all journalists do that.
00:33:54.160 --> 00:33:58.480
This is the board of the
Association of Former Soldiers.
00:33:58.600 --> 00:34:01.200
They were in charge
during the civil war.
00:34:01.320 --> 00:34:04.720
We are anti-communists.
- We're on the far right.
00:34:04.840 --> 00:34:08.800
The far right?
- Yes, but we're not Nazis.
00:34:08.920 --> 00:34:11.280
So, not Nazis. Okay.
00:34:11.400 --> 00:34:16.280
Were you all in the army
during the armed conflict?
00:34:16.400 --> 00:34:17.920
Yes.
00:34:18.040 --> 00:34:22.520
And who among you had to kill people?
00:34:22.640 --> 00:34:24.720
All of us.
00:34:24.840 --> 00:34:29.960
Do you ever have nightmares
about what happened?
00:34:30.080 --> 00:34:36.160
Or do soldiers not have nightmares?
- Our conscience is clear.
00:34:36.280 --> 00:34:38.400
They say we committed genocide.
00:34:38.520 --> 00:34:42.680
But we never set out
to hurt our people.
00:34:42.800 --> 00:34:45.240
The news in Europe...
00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:51.840
...is manipulated by
communist resistance groups.
00:34:51.960 --> 00:34:54.640
They distort the truth.
00:34:54.760 --> 00:35:01.040
The army was blamed
for the bloodbath at El Aguacate...
00:35:01.160 --> 00:35:06.680
...so the Organization of American States
sent a human rights guy to investigate.
00:35:06.800 --> 00:35:10.400
He had this urgent question:
00:35:10.520 --> 00:35:15.480
Did we throw little children
into the air...
00:35:15.600 --> 00:35:19.440
...to catch them on our bayonets?
Like, 'squish'?
00:35:19.560 --> 00:35:23.040
He asked me if he could see
the bayonets.
00:35:23.160 --> 00:35:27.560
But we never even used bayonets.
It was all a lie.
00:35:33.640 --> 00:35:37.160
I had actually counted on
some recognition for the victims.
00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:40.800
Not the age-old argument that
the communists are to blame...
00:35:40.920 --> 00:35:42.760
...and the genocide never happened.
00:35:42.880 --> 00:35:49.160
No. They were killed because
they were guerrilla fighters.
00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:54.200
A genocide is when groups of people
are exterminated.
00:35:54.320 --> 00:35:56.800
I tried, but I couldn't get through.
00:35:56.920 --> 00:36:01.120
Is there such a thing as
a failed genocide?
00:36:01.240 --> 00:36:03.560
No.
00:36:03.680 --> 00:36:07.040
No, because that order
was never given.
00:36:07.160 --> 00:36:13.120
It's a lie, carefully constructed
by left-wing revolutionaries.
00:36:13.240 --> 00:36:15.160
It really makes no sense.
00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:18.960
They would never admit
that mistakes had been made.
00:36:19.080 --> 00:36:22.280
Not even if someone were prepared
to forgive them.
00:36:22.400 --> 00:36:27.040
Would you like to hear
a lovely message of forgiveness?
00:36:28.280 --> 00:36:31.240
Who wants to hear it?
I'll play it for you.
00:36:34.600 --> 00:36:39.400
This massacre was carried out
for no reason at all.
00:36:39.520 --> 00:36:43.680
No reason for our Mayan nation.
00:36:43.800 --> 00:36:49.920
They wanted to exterminate us.
They wanted to eliminate us.
00:36:50.040 --> 00:36:54.680
What they did was not good.
00:36:54.800 --> 00:36:59.760
We still suffer the consequences
of the war and the genocide.
00:36:59.880 --> 00:37:04.720
And yet we bear no grudge.
00:37:04.840 --> 00:37:08.520
We forgive them
from the bottom of our hearts...
00:37:08.640 --> 00:37:12.920
...because we must not wish evil
on those who hurt us.
00:37:13.040 --> 00:37:17.320
We wish them well, infinitely.
00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:22.080
Because terror was spread.
And that is a bad thing.
00:37:22.200 --> 00:37:27.360
But we want to spread something else,
and that is goodness.
00:37:27.480 --> 00:37:29.200
Thank you very much.
00:37:29.320 --> 00:37:33.040
Our Guatemala will flourish again.
00:37:34.720 --> 00:37:38.760
These merciful words come from
a spiritual leader of the Mayas...
00:37:38.880 --> 00:37:43.000
...in the mountain village of Xejuyup.
00:37:47.680 --> 00:37:51.920
Every Sunday, he blesses the players
in a very special football match.
00:37:56.800 --> 00:38:02.000
In the 1980s, in the midst of civil war,
a football team was gathered.
00:38:02.120 --> 00:38:07.080
We expect you on the pitch
at ten thirty...
00:38:07.200 --> 00:38:09.680
...for the competition match.
00:38:09.800 --> 00:38:13.960
Club Deportivo Xejuyup
against Debutantes.
00:38:16.920 --> 00:38:20.920
This football team, called
Club Social Deportivo Xejuyup...
00:38:21.040 --> 00:38:26.160
...plays in traditional attire to show
their pride in their indigenous origins.
00:38:37.400 --> 00:38:40.920
I really love your football shoes.
00:38:41.040 --> 00:38:45.840
Are they Maya shoes?
- Yes. The fabric is Maya.
00:38:45.960 --> 00:38:50.120
Does the colour red stand for something?
- Yes, it's the blood.
00:38:50.240 --> 00:38:52.320
The blood?
00:38:52.440 --> 00:38:54.600
And brown stands for the earth.
00:38:54.720 --> 00:38:58.840
Whose blood?
- The blood of mankind. And of love.
00:38:58.960 --> 00:39:03.120
Is blood important to the Mayas?
- Yes.
00:39:03.240 --> 00:39:09.920
Without blood in our hearts
we can't fall in love or love others.
00:39:10.040 --> 00:39:12.120
It's also the heart of the earth.
00:39:12.240 --> 00:39:17.400
That's beautiful.
- Yes, our culture is important to us.
00:39:17.520 --> 00:39:21.600
Some people say
we Mayas have no value at all.
00:39:21.720 --> 00:39:25.480
They chopped us down,
like you chop down a tree.
00:39:25.600 --> 00:39:32.160
And they thought we were dead.
00:39:32.280 --> 00:39:37.440
But they forgot that our roots
can grow back again.
00:39:44.880 --> 00:39:46.400
Listen.
00:39:46.520 --> 00:39:50.000
You who are in the heavens.
00:39:50.120 --> 00:39:52.080
Heart of the heavens.
00:39:52.200 --> 00:39:54.560
You who are in the earth.
00:39:54.680 --> 00:39:56.840
Heart of Mother Nature.
00:39:56.960 --> 00:39:59.920
God of Maya football.
00:40:00.040 --> 00:40:03.440
May their rivalry be limited
to football only.
00:40:03.560 --> 00:40:06.680
May it not degenerate
into personal rivalry.
00:40:06.800 --> 00:40:12.720
May they be good to each other.
May no one be hurt or injured.
00:40:12.840 --> 00:40:14.840
And may no one cheat.
00:40:14.960 --> 00:40:20.760
May they enjoy the match.
Today they defend our culture.
00:40:26.480 --> 00:40:30.120
Guatemala,
the heart of the Maya world.
00:41:08.840 --> 00:41:11.640
If Guatemala is
the heart of the Maya world...
00:41:11.760 --> 00:41:16.640
...did these sounds tell a story of
the heartbeat of Central America?
00:41:16.760 --> 00:41:19.760
About how this heart beats?
00:41:22.280 --> 00:41:25.400
Every time it seems to be doing well,
there are counterforces...
00:41:25.520 --> 00:41:28.160
...that undo the positive developments.
00:41:29.440 --> 00:41:32.840
The thirty victims last identified:
00:41:45.920 --> 00:41:49.840
This is the story of the heartbeat of
a nation that wants to move forward.
00:41:49.960 --> 00:41:51.720
Step by step.
00:41:53.160 --> 00:41:56.480
And meanwhile they wonder
how many generations it will take...
00:41:56.600 --> 00:42:01.040
...to move on together after
all the bloodshed. And how to do it.
00:42:01.160 --> 00:42:05.280
What did they do to our loved ones?
00:42:23.360 --> 00:42:27.480
Despite everything I love this place.
00:42:27.600 --> 00:42:32.760
It's very emotionally charged,
and yet it's fantastic here.
00:42:32.880 --> 00:42:39.360
There's so much energy and power
here. I don't feel that anywhere else.
00:42:40.920 --> 00:42:45.120
You suddenly see things
from a different perspective.
00:42:45.240 --> 00:42:47.800
They think it's a toy.
00:42:47.920 --> 00:42:50.160
How amazing is that?
Distributor: Pragda Films
Length: 43 minutes
Date: 2023
Genre: Expository
Language: Dutch; Spanish
Grade: Middle School, High School, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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