WEBVTT

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[music]

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In 1979, when I first visited Todos Santos

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in the Cuchumatanes Mountains of Guatemala,
it was a peaceful tightly knit community.

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At 9,000 feet above sea
level, it was a traditional

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and private Indian sanctuary
far from the political turmoil

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of mainstream Guatemala. Families
farm small plots of rocky land

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and after an elaborate fiesta
on November 1st and 2nd,

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travels long distances to work on
Guatemala’s cotton plantations.

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It was a friendly village of gentle
people, who struggled for basic survival

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with strength and dignity.
Fortunato, a schoolteacher,

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my friend Santiago,

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her nephew Francisco, his
sister, Rosa, Benito

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another schoolteacher, Desiderio,
who worked in the plant nursery.

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In 1987, when I returned,
the village looked the same

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but the people had changed.

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Guatemala is the richest country in
Central America. Yet 9 out of 10 families

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do not have enough land on
which to grow their food.

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[sil.]

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One hour to walk here, to give
back three quarters of an hour.

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How much land do you have here?
About half an acre.

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There are about 13 acres here

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but it’s all trees for firewood.
I plant some corn here,

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but mostly I have to rent land on
the coast. But it’s very expensive.

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So I work picking cotton. I go
with my wife and the children.

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We go to earn some money down there.

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The first of December, we’ll be going
down to the coast to pick cotton.

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For 30 years, Guatemala was ruled
by repressive military regimes,

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in which 60% of the land was
owned by 2% of the population.

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After decades of efforts
at peaceful social change,

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a guerilla movement began to grow. By 1981,

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the guerilla army of the poor occupied
most of the Guatemalan highlands.

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The government’s reprisal was swift and brutal.
Unlike others, Totos Santos was not destroyed

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but the community was torn apart.

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This is the story they told me of what
happened in Totos Santos in 1981 and 1982.

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[music]

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[non-English narration]

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The guerilla spoke of exploitation,
of racial discrimination

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and the general situation of the Indians.

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So the Indian people thought
it was an alternative,

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a chance for change but they didn’t think
of the problems that would come later.

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The guerillas painted walls
and scattered fliers.

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That’s when the army considered

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Todos Santos totally a guerrilla town.

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But it wasn’t true, there were groups who came
to paint the walls and distribute flyers.

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But not everyone was involved
with the guerrillas.

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[non-English narration]

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So when the army came to
check on the village,

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they had a list of those who were involved.

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[non-English narration]

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They killed some, they beat some up
and others they took to headquarters.

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They were here several days.

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[non-English narration]

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Oh, and the people were scared. They cried,

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they got sick, some even
died of the fright.

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I said, \"No, please don’t
burn my house, my things.\"

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\"Where is your son?\" he said.
\"Where is your husband\"?

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[non-English narration]

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\"What do you have\"? \"Don’t cry,\" he said.

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He pulled my head up like this.
The soldier?

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[non-English narration]

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All the people around here, we all went to hide
in the mountains. We stayed up there all night.

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In some houses,

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they broke down the doors with their boots.

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There were soldiers everywhere.

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Of course, they came in to see
what we had, but we had nothing.

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[music]

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They came to get him in our house. They
said, \"Let’s go down the town hall,\"

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and I said, \"All right.\" And
my son didn’t come back,

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they killed him there.
They almost killed me too

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because I was crying for my son.

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On that day March 23rd, 1982,

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General Efraín Ríos Montt seized
power from General Lucas Garcia.

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By the time the military’s
intensive campaign had ended,

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440 Indian villages had been
destroyed, millions were displaced

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and between 50,000 and 75,000
Indians were dead or disappeared.

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[sil.]

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It is April, 1987, five years
since government troops

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swept through the Highlands around
Todo Santos. And over a year,

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since Guatemalans elected a civilian
president, their first in three decades,

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it is the season for planting
corn and harvesting potatoes.

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There have been changes, not all
are visible to the eye at first.

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It is also the time for building

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and repairing houses in
preparation for the rainy season.

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[sil.]

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It’s over. It’s over. The army says, it’s
over and we’re not going to remember.

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[sil.]

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Government troops burnt over 150 houses

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in the Todos Santos area in 1982.

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[non-English narration]

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There is a lot of pain and sorrow.

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There are people who had heart attacks,
who became ill from the fright,

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from the fear. Now things are getting back to
normal. The people don’t want it to happen again.

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They want to have peace
to work with no problems.

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That’s what the people want now.

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[non-English narration]

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Three years now we have been crying.
Now that pain is going away.

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But when I go to work up there,
every day I cry for my son.

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He was the oldest. The Army took him.

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Five men they took up to another
village and there they killed them.

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We can’t say anything.

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They don’t want us to
talk about what happened.

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The army came here,

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they said, \"You must be on our side.
These guerrillas have tricked you,

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they betrayed you, they’re subversives.\"

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That’s when Ríos Montt came to power
and the civil patrols were organized.

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Everyone was joined because
whoever is against the patrol,

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is assumed to be a leftist.
We are protecting our nation.

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So that we can be free
here in Todos Santos.

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It’s because the people wanted.

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In 1981, ‘82,

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they were very frightened.

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They don’t want that now, it might happen
again in my village, just doesn’t want that.

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[non-English narration]

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That’s when they began to
search out their brothers

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or friends whoever the guerillas and
that’s when they started to have problems.

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[non-English narration]

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These guerillas are bad people,
who don’t believe in God.

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They live in the mountains
like animals, like coyotes.

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The patrols were organized
and I was made commander

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to direct the patrol. And how
do you direct the patrol?

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[non-English narration]

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I had an order that the men
protects the population

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so that no enemy enters the village.

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To protect their village
according to the ideology

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that the Army has put into
the minds of their people,

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to protect their family, their property.

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This is the mentality of the army.

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[non-English narration]

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Are you paid for this work? No,
no, we are here voluntarily.

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And if someone doesn’t want to patrol?

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And if someone doesn’t want to patrol?

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If they don’t,

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well, we have orders to send them down to military
headquarters. Those who don’t fulfill their duty,

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we are here by order of the government.

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[sil.]

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Every morning in villages
throughout Guatemala,

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15 to 30 men report for 24 hour patrol
duty, taking time away from the farming

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or paid work on the plantations.

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The patrol reports any event, for example,

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the appearance of a person with non
rightist ideas or ideas which are different

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from the present government.

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The patrol can very easily arrest him and
send him down to military headquarters.

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A village indeed had changed.

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In one of several eating
places, I met Faustina(ph).

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She had accepted the guerrillas at first but later they murdered
her common-law husband, who was considered a wealthy man.

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What do you think of the guerrillas?

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I don’t know,

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we are just listening, hoping, that’s all.

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No, we can’t say anything

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because we don’t understand.

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Thanks be to God it is quiet
now, nothing is happening.

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We’re not being scared.

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It was my daughter-in-law’s fault,

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she was very jealous.

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[non-English narration] She thought my son went with another
woman but it wasn’t true, that’s how he was killed.

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If like Marcellina, they do speak,

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it is to talk about how someone betrayed them to the
army or to the guerrillas for personal reasons.

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He was a leader of the guerrillas.
Who? Her father.

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Then why did they want to kill your son?

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Suppose, (inaudible) was a guerilla, which
he wasn’t but his father-in-law was.

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He help the guerillas

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who came here.

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[sil.]

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Some like (inaudible) was staunchly against
the guerrillas from the beginning.

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I have houses and lands and animals,

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that’s why they say I am
rich, but I worked for it.

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It’s not something that
should be given to me.

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It’s hard work that gives you things like
money and animals. And animals are necessary

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for fertilizer.

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So you don’t agree that the
rich should share with others?

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[non-English narration]

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No, because it’s mine.

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For example, would you agree
to give me your trousers

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just like that or your
shirt or your camera,

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will you just give it to me?

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Where you… and it’s yours to keep.

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The people had been warned not
to talk to any outsiders.

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I asked my friend Jorge about
the conflicts in the community,

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but our conversation was cut short
when a passer by signaled disapproval.

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He quickly changed the subject.

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So when did your friends get here?

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Uh… fear, because they know what happened,

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that’s why people are afraid. If they
didn’t see exactly what took place

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well, he would be different. But since
they saw it with their own eyes,

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that’s why they are afraid, they
don’t want it to happen again.

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They took him to another village

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but I’m not going to say
more because I’m afraid.

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[non-English narration]

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Because people listen

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and then they come and get you, that’s what they were doing.
Just recently, they killed some people here in San Sebastián.

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They come to get you in your house,

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the army, the civil patrols.

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I’m afraid. I want to live a while longer.

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Maybe God knows when I’m going to die.

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But if the Guerillas come
to kill me or the army…

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[music]

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These are the Cuchumatanes
mountains around Todos Santos

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where the guerilla army of the poor
was most active. In five years,

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a civil patrol of Todos Santos has yet to
report a single sighting of the enemy.

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The Army troops are gone from Todos Santos

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and the people are again practicing
their traditional dances.

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For centuries,

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the Indians have vented their anger against
those who treat them as inferior in mass dances

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and theatrical skits.

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[music]

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In the dance of the Ixcan
porous, the Todos Santeros

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mark Northern Spanish conquerors but
their descendants, the Ladinos.

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Guatemalans have mixed
Spanish and Indian ancestry.

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They put on the dull(ph) Ladino
clothing and imitate their drunkenness

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and rude behavior.

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[music]

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It is tolerated as folklore.

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When some dared to speak more directly

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on pressing issues, like land
reform and social equality,

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entire communities were exterminated.

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[music]

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Many who spent up to a
year in other villages

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have now returned to Todos
Santos to rebuild their lives.

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[music]

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After President Vinicio Cerezo
Arévalo took office in January 1986,

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financial aid was distributed to many
Indian villages. In Todos Santos,

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the market is being enlarged to
accommodate the growing population,

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but these projects are still approved
and directed by the military.

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[sil.]

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The soldiers made friends with the people and little
by little, the people began to trust the soldiers.

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And now the people of Todos Santos
trust in the soldiers a lot.

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Since there is little paid work available,
the men consider themselves lucky

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to get a few days’ work on
the project at $2 a day.

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[sil.]

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I went to visit Jorge, who we met on the
road at his Commodore in the market.

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In spite of hardships and obstacles,

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the Todos Santeros never seem to give up on
trying to better their lives. Jorge and his wife

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run their commodore two days a week,
when people from outlying areas

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come to town to buy, sell and to socialize.

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When the last customer had gone,
we were finally able to talk.

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[non-English narration]

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Well, at first I was thinking
of joining the guerrillas

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but then I went away for three months

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because I was afraid of the Army

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and of the guerrillas, because
they were killing… killing.

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And when I returned,

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there was a civil patrol. And now?

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It’s more peaceful. Do you
still go to the coast?

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In August and in December.

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I thought the men couldn’t go to
the coast because of patrol duty.

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Yes, at first they didn’t
want us to go to the coast

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but out of necessity we have to go there.

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So we have to speak to the patrol leader

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and ask permission for one or two months.

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We must go to the coast.
Do you have to pay?

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Oh, yes. We have to pay for
someone to take our place.

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Santiago spent most of 1982,

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in Guatemala City.

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[non-English narration]

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Starting with ‘83, when we
returned, oh, there was nothing.

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The house was empty, no
plates, no wood, no corn,

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they had stolen everything.

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In 1979, Santiago lived with her mother,

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sisters-in-law and their 12 children.
Santiago had two children.

00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
Today, she lives with her mother

00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
and her four children. I asked Santiago,

00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
\"How things were going now?\"

00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
Oh, it’s difficult, not like before.
A man could get work quickly,

00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
now it’s hard to find work
and they pay very little.

00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
And the orphans, they killed
men with 10 or 12 children.

00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
Sometimes they can’t get
food, clothing, shoes.

00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
I asked Santiago, \"Why her younger children
were not wearing traditional clothes?\"

00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
The thread is expensive,

00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.999
with 50 quetzales, you can get just a little
of each collar but if you have no money.

00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.999
In 1979, Guatemala’s
inflation rate was 15%,

00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
by 1987, it was 100% and rising.

00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
Are you teaching Christina? Yes, I’m
teaching Christina to do as I do.

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
You see, I’m not dying of hunger, I’m just

00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
weaving… weaving… weaving, that’s how
Christina will be and I must teach her.

00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
[non-English narration]

00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
Santiago still tries to sell her weavings

00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
but when she returned in 1983, tourists
were rare, so she and her husband

00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
borrowed money and set up a
cornmeal in front of their house.

00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:38.000
[sil.]

00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
And so we brought the cornmeal

00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
and we began to work. We earned a
little money, we bought new utensils

00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
and we’re starting again.

00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
But peas are not so cheap. Before a hundred
pounds of corn cost 8 or 10 quetzales,

00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
now it is 22 quetzales.

00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
Life is harder now

00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
because everything is more expensive.
But I’m still working.

00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
I go to the mill, I weave a bit.

00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
Because if I always stay here in the mill
and nobody comes, I don’t earn anything.

00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
But if I go to the mill and then come here, that is
something, I can make a shirt, we peel something.

00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
[non-English narration]

00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
Santiago’s husband has gone
to Mexico to look for work.

00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
Her sisters-in-law and their families
are now living in Guatemala City.

00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:50.000
[music]

00:31:55.000 --> 00:32:03.000
[music]

00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
In 1982,

00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
an estimated 3,00,000 people
clustered to Guatemala City.

00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
There were hundreds of assassinations and
disappearances in the city each month

00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
of union members, journalists,
teachers, and suspected leftists.

00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
But most of the Indians melted
into a silent underclass.

00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
[music]

00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
In the center of town, I found
Francisco, Santiago’s nephew.

00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
When I first met Francisco,
he was a 12 year old

00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
doing the chores in Todos Santos, while
his father was away on the plantation.

00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
Today he is 19.

00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
In 1981,

00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
I was working on the coast,
lots of coffee there.

00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
Picking it, putting it in
a sack and weighing it.

00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
Now thank God, I have a job.

00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
Eight hours in the pizzeria, when I finish
here I have another job with an auto mechanic.

00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
[sil.]

00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
Would you like to go back to Todo Santos?

00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
Yes, I would like to. But I have no land,

00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
nowhere to live. If I had land there,

00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
I would plant, have animals,
everything, if I had land.

00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
Francisco’s younger sister Rosa

00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
works as a maid in a wealthy household.

00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
I came here in April 1982,

00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
I was 11 years old. I remember it well

00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
because there in my village, they were killing
people and many died and many people left.

00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
[sil.]

00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
Many Indians from the countryside,
if they speak some Spanish,

00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
work as servants, or sell produce in the market.
Because of a weakened economy and high prices,

00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
aggravated by the political turmoil, many
of the products Rosa buys for her employer

00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
are beyond the reach of the
majority of the population.

00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
[sil.]

00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
Rosa and Francisco live on the very fringes
of the city along with other Indians

00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
and poor Latino families.

00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
[sil.]

00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
My family consists of my brothers,

00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
sisters-in-law, mother and nephews.
There are 13 of us

00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
and we have two rooms. There are
seven other families, mostly Latino

00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
living off this courtyard.

00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
I asked Maria,

00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
Rosa’s sister-in-law, whether she liked
it better here or in Todos Santos.

00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
Oh, in Todos Santos because it’s not
so noisy. We are really at a home.

00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
In Todos Santos, Maria lived
and worked with Santiago.

00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
Here we have to pay,

00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
the men earn money but it’s only
to pay the rent. Will you return?

00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
Oh, yes, next year. Santiago’s sister gone

00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
because it is more tranquil there.

00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
Rosa, who is 17 has found a
whole new world in the capital.

00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
[non-English narration]

00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
I leave here at 6:00 in the morning to get to work at 7:00.
I leave work at 4:00 and come here to help my mother

00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
and make T-shirts tejer or to weave a
little. So I don’t lose anytime time.

00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
[non-English narration]

00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
Now that I have this job, I leave
at 4:00, I have time to come home

00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
and get my books and go to school.

00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.999
[non-English narration]

00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
Classes start at 7:00 at night and
finish at 10:00. In Todos Santos,

00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
I didn’t go school because I have a lot of brothers
and I am the only girl, so I had to help my mother.

00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
I also went to pick cotton

00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
with my father and brother. And another time, I went
to the coast along with Francisco, just the two of us.

00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
[sil.]

00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
At 17, Rosa is in the third grade at night
school but she is also taking a typing course

00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
to help her get a better job.

00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.999
Well, now I am making this,

00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.999
we peel, because it’s our custom.

00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
Even though we are in the capital,

00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
my mother, another women, we will always
do this. So we won’t lose our custom.

00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
[non-English narration]

00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
And even though we might worth
of clothing they wear here,

00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
we will always weave.

00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
I asked Rosa, what she liked
about living in the city.

00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
I like it here because

00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
it is a big city. And we like
to take walks on Sunday.

00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
And I’d like to go and visit my friends.

00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
I live here now. I like it.

00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
And of course, I love my village too.

00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
[sil.]

00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
On the far outskirts of the city,

00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
I located another Todos Santero,
living in a new development site

00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
called San José La Comunidad.

00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
In Todos Santos, Desiderio had a job
in the government plant nursery

00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
and was a community leader.

00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
I didn’t want to help either side and
that’s why I left everything and came here.

00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
His wife told me that

00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
Desiderio had been pressured by
both the Army and the guerrillas.

00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
Why didn’t you want to
help the people organize?

00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
But in what way? I saw that
both sides were dangerous,

00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
so why organize, just one
side against the other?

00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
All I saw were dead people.

00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
So I thought why kill one another. For me in
a struggle concerning lands and so forth,

00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
I believe it is better that
both sides sit down and talk.

00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
[non-English narration]

00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
Suppose I have a problem in my house, well, we have
to sit down and talk and see if there is a solution.

00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
But if I grab one of my sons and kill him,

00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
or if they kill me, that is not
a solution, that’s what I saw.

00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
But personally, which do you think are
better, the ideas of the guerrillas

00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
or the politics of the military?

00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
Okay, I’m going to tell you something.

00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
In all my 50 years, I have
never seen the best among men.

00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
Each politician starts out
saying that he is the best

00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
and they just get worse, that’s
why I don’t believe in them.

00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
What I believe in is my work

00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
and my days that come
and go and in my death.

00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
Your death?

00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
Yes, because that’s for sure,
I know I’m going to die.

00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
So you don’t believe that
politics can help people?

00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
I help people but with work.

00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
I help with advice, with deeds, with works.

00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
And not just words which say, next week
you will be better off, I can’t say that.

00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
I say, let’s work today

00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
and reap tomorrow, but let’s work.

00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
For four years, Desiderio worked in factories, but
the fumes and chemicals made him seriously ill.

00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
Now according to Mayan
tradition, he grows his own food

00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
and get some help from his elder sons.

00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
I love this work, it has given me my life.

00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
I can’t read or write too well

00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
to get a good job like a teacher for
instance, so I have to do this.

00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
And thank God, I like it. I have about 600
square yards in all, it’s very little.

00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
I have oranges, lemons,

00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
some vegetables that’s what I have here.

00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
If I had more land, I would plant more.

00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
More fruit, corn,
everything the earth gives.

00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
Desiderio and Rosa’s family were lucky, thousands
of other Todos Santeros became refugees in Mexico.

00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
But to tell their story, we must
go back to the early 1970s,

00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
when there was a different kind
of exodus from Todos Santos

00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
to a remote jungle area of
Guatemala, called the Ixcan.

00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
Through the efforts of Maryknoll missions, hundreds of Indians
were given the opportunity to purchase large tracts of land

00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
and to settle there.

00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
The Todos Santeros were the first to make
clearings in the dense tropical forest.

00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
They and other groups developed
flourishing communities

00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
in the warm and fertile lowlands.

00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
We grew cardamom, coffee, yucca, bananas,

00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
whatever you want that
you could grow in Ixcan.

00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
In 1982, because it’s a step to guerrilla
activity, army troops swept through the Ixcan,

00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
wiping out hundreds of communities. Ten
years of hard work were abandoned,

00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
as thousands fled over the border to
Mexico. Five days I walked in the mud

00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
and to eat, nothing. You
couldn’t even build a fire,

00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
it was pouring rain. Up to 100 camps
were set up along the Mexican border

00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
holding 46,000 refugees, the
majority were from the Ixcan.

00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
Now nutrition and malaria were
widespread, while food and medicines

00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
were unevenly distributed
by the Mexican authorities.

00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
After two years in the camps, the Mexican
government decided to relocate the refugees

00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
to Campeche province in
the southern Yucatan.

00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
Most Guatemalans refused, hoping
to return soon to their country.

00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
The Mexican soldiers said, if any
of you want to stay here, you can.

00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
But we are going to burn the camp.

00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
Now voluntarily you will
all go to Campeche.

00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
First in a boat, then in a bus,

00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
after the bus, a train
to get us to Campeche.

00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
A lot of travel, four years with
the children as we are now.

00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
We were all unhappy because it was so
dry and rocky, not a bit of green.

00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
What were we going to eat? In desperation,

00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
some refugees left Campeche and returned to
Guatemala, many were arrested and held to questioning

00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
or accused of subversion and put
into army supervised model villages.

00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
Sound like these Todos Santoro’s
managed to get back to the village.

00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
When we got to the border
over there they said,

00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
\"Where are your papers, where were you?\"
\"Oh, we just want to do a little farming.\"

00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.999
\"Okay,\" they said. But that’s the only way
we could get in. Will you go back to Ixcan?

00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.999
People say there are lots
of problems in Ixcan,

00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
that’s why I’m not going back.

00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
Lots of soldiers there now. But
don’t you have land there?

00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
Yes, I have land there but it’s lost now,

00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
I left it.

00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
I like to go back but
I’m afraid, I’m afraid.

00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
Christina was starting over again.

00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
He works on his grandfather’s small plot and
will return soon to the coast to pick cotton.

00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
On the other side of the
valley, I meet a woman

00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
who had just returned
from Campeche, Juana(ph).

00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.999
(ph) We left Ixcan eight years ago.
Are you waiting for your husband?

00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:08.000
[non-English narration]

00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
(ph) Yes, he’s coming in one or two months.

00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
He’s in Mexico.

00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
Why doesn’t he come here?

00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.999
(ph) Well, maybe he will come but later.
Why doesn’t he come now?

00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
(ph) Maybe he won’t come. Don’t
you know what happened to us?

00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
Is he afraid? (ph) Of course, he’s afraid.

00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
Juana’s(ph) father.

00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.999
If you go back to Guatemala, the
government authorities will kill you,

00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
that’s what the people there told him.
Don’t go, they say.

00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
[sil.]

00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
Weren’t you afraid to come back? No, because
I am not on the side of the guerrillas,

00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
I am on this side of the army. The army?

00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
Yes, because I didn’t like the guerrillas,
because according to the Bible,

00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
the guerrillas are the angels of the devil.

00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
Are you evangelical?
Yes, we are evangelical.

00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
And all the evangelicals think this way? All the evangelicals
who didn’t agree with the guerillas left right away,

00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
because the Bible says, the evangelicals
don’t fight with flesh and blood

00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
but only with the spirits.
Do you understand?

00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
Were there Catholics there too?

00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
Yes.

00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
What side were the Catholics on? That’s
where the guerrilla movement got started.

00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
And to this day, no Catholics
have returned to Guatemala,

00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
they are still there. Now of the
believers, many have returned.

00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
And now that you have no
land, how will you live?

00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
Oh, I go to the coast, to the cotton
plantation, the coffee plantations.

00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
[non-English narration]

00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
I earn money, buy corn and eat,

00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
that’s it now. It’s not like before.

00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
I go with my wife and the children,

00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
they’re kind of suffering.
What happened to your child?

00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
He died from the heat, from
working on the plantation.

00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
How do you feel in your heart about
what happened to your house,

00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
your land, in the Ixcan?

00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
Well, I’m not thinking of anything now
because maybe it’s a sign from Jesus Christ,

00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.999
because Jesus Christ is
coming soon, who knows?

00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.999
And besides. I’m not the only
one who lost these things,

00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
many people, thousands of people

00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
had to leave their land in the Ixcan.

00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
General Efraín Ríos Montt, who
seized power that day in March 1982,

00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
and intensified the military campaign
was also an evangelist preacher.

00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
Members of the Catholic Church were
singled out and accused of subversion.

00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
Since that time, there has
been a sharp increase

00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.999
in the number of evangelical
churches throughout Guatemala.

00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:49.999
[non-English narration]

00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:58.000
[music]

00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
In the Templo Evangelico of Todos Santos,

00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
services lasting up to four hours,
take place three times a week.

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[music]

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[sil.]

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Yes, it’s different,

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things have changed a lot in the community,

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because of the religions.

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Not only do we have three Churches here

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but even in the hamlets, they have an
Evangelist Church and the Catholic Church.

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And so that people are
divided into three parts.

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That’s why they don’t want to see
the Shamans rituals anymore.

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Some do, but only about 1%.

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Before they were shamming teaching
others, but then they religions came

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and it was all over.

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[non-English narration]

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Our culture has a strong
foundation, it is a rich culture.

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But after the Spanish conquest, it fell apart
and little by little was made less important.

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And so our people have also lost
this very rich cultural heritage.

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Now some people want to revive the culture

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but only the ones who understand
our historical situation

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can do this. And so they want
to know what it was like

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but others who don’t know where
they stand are confused.

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They don’t know what culture is.

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Benito, one of two Indian
schoolteachers is back in Todos Santos.

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He also left in 1982.

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I could not be with the right because
they humiliated and exploited.

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I could not be with the left
because they had no foundation.

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And so I left the country.
It was an entire year

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in which the children did not receive their
education, we had no books, no desks,

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because the desks were
being used as barricades.

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[sil.]

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Right now the army,

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the government monitors the Indian people,
and they do it through the schools.

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[non-English narration]

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Among this group, there are people who are with the army
and they observe how the Indian expresses his ideas.

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If they hear him say,
he’s against the soldiers

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or doesn’t like the rich, he is
considered the leftist and in this case,

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must be eliminated. We are being watched.

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[non-English narration]

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The Indians will never have power

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because power belongs to
those who have money.

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Is armed revolution necessary? Was
there another way to change this?

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[non-English narration]

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An ideological revolution, possibly,
but a revolution of man killing man,

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I don’t think it’s possible.
We must educate ourselves.

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Education will be like a trampoline which will
help the Indians attain a higher academic level

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and one day aspire to power. We must struggle
but our struggle will be for survival.

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We go with the strongest
while preparing ourselves,

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raising our consciousness.

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[sil.]

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[non-English narration]

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What the people want now
is not a bloody war,

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they want peace, they
want to struggle to live,

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they want to cultivate the land,
planting corn, planting beans,

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cultivating potatoes,

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finding markets for their products.

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It seems like that people of Todos Santos

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are not interested in a
political movement, some.

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Others, of course, are probably
thinking of something,

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each person has his own ideas.

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If someone comes from the extreme left,

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I say, \"Fine, your ideas seem good.\"
Someone comes from the right,

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I say, \"Okay, very good.\" And
I simply take both concepts,

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make an analysis, use my judgments

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without telling anyone.

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I don’t have to be with the
right or with the left.

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I pretend to be very neutral.

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Of course, this takes great effort because
one bad move and I could be killed.

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You never know who you are talking to.

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I want to live, so that I can do more.

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We need change in this country,

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we just can’t find a path. In March 1989,

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army troops again occupy Todos
Santos for several weeks,

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they gave no explanation
for their presence.