Central America Travel Seminar: Colonization in Guatemala

BY JOAQUIN ROSS

Today in Guatemala we visited the House of Memories Museum where we were exposed to very powerful images and stories about the colonization process that occurred here. After witnessing these pictures and hearing these stories I began to think about how it might have felt to have the land that you and all of your ancestors lived on be taken away by foreigners from another country. How would it feel to have your entire culture and history physically erased. As I thought about the indigenous epilepsy of Guatemala, I reminisced about my own history and how my ancestors were forcibly taken from their homeland and also had their traditions and culture physically erased. These thoughts left me troubled and confused. How could humans treat other human beings in this fashion and maintain their sanity? I do not know.

Afterward, we walked to Central Park where the funeral ceremony of the mayor of Guatemala City and the country’s former president was held. A great number of military members and police officers were in attendance to guide the procession in an efficient manner. However, the citizens of Guatemala were relived due to the mayor’s involvement with corrupt business dealings. It brought new hope to the people.

Later we met with Hector Castaneda. Mr. Castaneda began to tell us about the history of Guatemala and how the country ended up the way it is today. He took us back to the colonization practices that were taking place in the 1400s and 1500s. He told us how the indigenous people were slaughtered and forced into slavery. Later on, the colonizers’ descendants realized that they were no longer recognized as Spanish citizens so they declared their independence and claimed that the indigenous population would be free and would be treated equally. As you already know they did not follow through on their promise. It was not until 1944 that the Guatemalan people gained a voice through a protest of the people. They had a fair election and started to make some positive changes to their country. However, the United States declared in 1954 that Guatemala was a country that was dangerous to our rights and freedom although the nation of Guatemala only had around four-to-five million people living there at the time and only one military aircraft. Therefore they came and overthrew their government structure that they had in place and created a reign of military tyranny. In 1960 young students started a guerrilla war group to gain back their voices that had been taken away. This led to civil war and it lasted 36 years and resulted in 250,000 people dead, mostly indigenous people. Another 50,000 people were “missing” due to being tortured by the state department for information using techniques taught by the School of America. Castaneda then spoke about his personal experiences in dealing with this war. He talked about his brother and how he was tortured and killed because the government thought that he had information on the guerrillas.

Finally, we visited Iglesia Jesus es el Camino to worship and fellowship with their congregation. We were welcomed with wonderful music and warm and smiling faces that appreciated our willingness to join them. After the services finished we were then invited to have coffee and donuts with the congregation so that we all had a chance to converse and relax with the people. It was truly a great experience.

Joaquin Ross is a Master of Divinity student at Union.