Donne senza confini

WOMEN FORGOTTEN IN A FORGOTTEN COUNTRY: GUATEMALA

And' of these days the news of the annulment of the death sentence of Amina Lawal, woman Nigerian accused of adultery. It Pardons to the mobilization of the world public opinion she has been possible to furnish her legal assistance and to put pressure to the Nigerian authorities. It is demonstration of importance to sensitize the collectivity in front of the violation of the human rights

If in Nigeria a woman has been saved, in Guatemala native women exist, descending maya, forgets, victims of a society that have never had some respect for them.
From the end of the years '60 to today, in Guatemala 120.000 people, 40.000 "desaparesidos", 100.000 orphans and 250.000 refugees are been murdered to the foreign countries. On a population of around 10 million inhabitants, of which a million composed by members of the army, we must to think.
The women mayas are the pivot of the Guatemalan native society. Rigoberta Menchù, native and I reward nobel for the peace in 1992, she was born and grown on the mountains and in the book "my name is Rigobertà Menchù" of Elisabeth Burgos she describes sad history of the native in Guatemala.
The woman covers a fundamental role in the organization of the communities maya: it is the woman that the morning gets up at 4:00 o'clock to go to take the water, at times very away from the village, they begin to prepare the breakfast for the family, damage to eat to the animals, they prepare "tortilla", they clean and then they go to work with their husbands in the plantations.
The women are not important only in the social organization but they have covered an active role in the over 36 years of civil war that have seen to encounter one side the interested army to dispossess the earths of the indioses and from the other the native that ask only to be able to cultivate the earths of their ancestors.
Rigoberta Menchù occupied was the organization of the safety for her community.
The problem of the agrarian reform in Guatemala remains as in many countries of the south america, only Lula in Brazil has decided to face the thorny matter.
After the independence of Guatemala in 1823 the territory has been divided between the great land owners and the indios they had to work for them under impossible conditions. Then in the '900 big piece of earth were purchased by multinationals, in particular way from the United Fruit Company. Only the Guatemalan president Arbenz in 1954 tried to effect an agrarian reform that foresaw the distribution to the farmers of over 100.000 hectares of earth dispossessing them to the United Fruit Company.
From that moment it is initiated the civil war in Guatemala. The president American Eisenhower thanks to the intervention of the CIA, he succeeded in establishing a dictatorship driven by the colonel Castillo Armas. And' is then a to follow him of dictatorships a fiercer than the other: Lios Garcia, Meija Victores and Rios Montt only to quote some of them.
In that years they are dead thousand of indios, punitive consignments were organized in the forest, men were killed and the women "indios" raped.
Unfortunately everything this is not history but is present!
The terrible general Rios Montt (dictator in the 82 - '83) is currently president of the Congress and will introduce him to the presidential of November 9! It is like Pinochets in Chile or Videla in Argentina were to the guide of the respective congresses now.
Yet in Guatemala this is possible and not only, Rios Montt has modified the constitution to be able to have the possibility to run for president and to do this has forced and intimidated the population to make himself sustain to the elections.
To the light of everything this it is impossible that the "indios" (native) succeed in making to be worth their rights. The father of Rigoberta has been killed during a demonstration in front of the embassy of Spain; her brother has been burnt alive. The "indios" hardly succeed in also surviving thanks to the intervention of organizations non governmental foreigners. Political wish doesn't exist it turns to constitute a social peace and rather, with the candidacy of Rios Montt it seems that the situation can worsen only.
The only hope remain the international community, but what do they do until now?
Undoubtedly the activity of a lot of Italian international organizations as Movimondo, has contributed enormously to the social reconstruction for instance financing projects of psychological support to the native women that have suffered unheard of violences.
Inside Guatemala organizations that fight for getting justice exist. In 1992 FAMDEGUA has been created (Family of Prisoner-Desaparesidos of Guatemala). been Born for looking for the disappeared relatives, today it fights for divulging the respect of the human rights.
The international politics doesn't seem to be instead too worried about the political situation in Guatemala. The UN limits him to introduce well detailed relationships but nothing of concrete has still been done.
Who decides to rebel to this system it doesn't have long life as has happened to the bishop Gerardi in 1998. After having published the relationship "Guatemala nunca mas" where tests of serious violations of human rights were exhibited from the government, the bishop has been killed to hits of stone.
Manuel Garcia De You Cruz, an activist of the busy national coordination of the Guatemalan widows in to get the exhumation of the common pits in the native areas of Guatemala and in the protection of the rights of the native, has been picked up, tortured and killed in the department of El Quiché.
Here is the actual reality of Guatemala, a situation from which it is obligatory to find a way of exit.
Guatemala cannot be forgotten.


Federico Bastiani

Rigoberta Menchù