an inter press service feature
by george rodriguez
guatemala, feb (ips) -- in 1982, maria juan baltasar fled her
north-western guatemalan village of ''quinto pueblo.'' now, 11
years later, she remembers well the events that forced her and
40,000 others to seek refugee in neighbouring mexico.
a mayan indian of the 'mam' tribe, maria recalled the attack
on quinto pueblo (200 kilometers north of guatemala city) by
members of the guatemalan armed forces.
in addition to the exiles, guatemala's 30-year civil war has
left over 100,000 dead.
the overwhelming majority of the victims have been amerindians,
who comprise over half of guatemala's 10 million inhabitants,
but have little economic or political power.
according to maria, the army often punished inigenous villages
suspected of aiding guatemalan national revolutionary union
(urng) guerrillas. military reprisals were particuarly intense in
the early years of the 1980's, and often occurred on a sunday.
this was a period when many dictatorial latin american regimes
were following a ''scorched earth'' policy, which targeted
civilian communities suspected of supporting and hiding
guerrillas.
most guatemalans refer to the time simply as ''the
repression.''
members of rural and indigenous communities often gathered on
sundays to trade and sell goods, catch up on news and gossip,
and, in the case of those converted to catholicism, attend
services at the local church.
maria tells of one sunday in march 1982, when guatemalan
soldiers surrounded quinto pueblo and its unsuspecting residents.
''when we heard, when we saw...the soldiers had already
arrived,'' baltasar said.
''many children, pregnant women, were killed by the soldiers'
hands,'' maria told ips.
like many other members of guatamala's 23 indigenous tribes,
maria learned spanish as a second language, without formal
schooling.
the lucky members of the community, including maria and her
husband, manuel geronimo, were able to escape the massacre by
hiding in the thick vegetation surrounding the mountain village.
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''that is what saved us,'' maria added.
the villagers huddled quietly in their mountain cover, while
the troops destroyed their homes and murdered their families.
''we stayed there, like birds, like little animals, under the
mountains, so the soldiers wouldn't kill us.''
some hid in hollowed out tree trunks. others pretended to be
dead, while trying to catch bits of conversation from passing
soldiers and figure out what would happen next.
the soldiers spent three days in the village, wreaking havoc
on the people and property, while the survivors hid hungry in the
nearby woods.
''there are women they raped for three days,'' maria said.
after three days, the government troops began to leave and the
exiles began their mountain crossing into mexico.
they were forced to leave their homes, belongings and
livestock behind.
''we left alone. we left animals. we left chicken and beans,''
maria said.
''we had cattle, pigs, chicken...and we left them.''
nevertheless, the military learned about the fleeing group and
tried to intercept them.
the flight, complicated by the military pursuit and lack of
food, was difficult and dangerous, and many did not survive the
journey.
''the soldiers were following us,'' maria said, ''and many
fell.''
children and elders were the hardest hit. ''people got sick
because there was no food, nothing,'' maria said.
the survivors lived on what little food could be gathered from
trees and plants along their route.
''thank god we left, but now we are returning again,'' maria
said, who is a member of the first group of repatriated refugees.
on jan. 20, nearly 2,500 guatemalan exiles, predominantly
women and children, began the complex process of returning home
from mexico.
the group followed a 1,300-kilometer route begining at the
north-western border town of ''la mesilla,'' passing down through
the capital city, and ending up in the north-eastern region for
eventual resettlement. (more)
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the repatriation caravan spent jan. 23-26 in guatemala city,
in a series of events that included an open air mass in front of
the metropolitan cathedral, a meeting with indigenous leader and
1992 nobel peace prize winner rigoberta menchu, and a variety of
cultural activities.
thousands of guatelmalans filled the central plaza in front of
the national palace to welcome the returning refugees.
dressed in the colorful traditional indigenous dress, with her
straight black hair in a braid interwoven with ribbons, maria sat
enjoying a lunch sponsored by the guatemalan confederation of
religions.
sitting with her husband and their five children, all born in
exile, maria gave thanks to the communities in southern mexico
who aided the refugees.
after their stay in the capital, the refugees began the final
leg of their journey to the north-eastern ''poligono 14'' region.
because of bad roads and poor weather conditions, the
repatriations to poligono 14 are being conducted in groups of
just 400, who began arriving there during the final days of
january.
organizers hope all of the 2,500 exiles can be resettled by
the end of the first week of february.
however, according to observers, the resettlement zone lacks
sufficient infrastructure for the returning refugees.
torrential rains have made many of the roads impassible and
the resettlement zone continues to be plagued by fighting between
the government forces and urng rebels, which caused the initial
exodus.
some say another one to three years will be needed before all
the refugees living in mexico can be repatriated.
still, as maria baltasar disappeared into the crowd gathered
at the national plaza, with her youngest daughter held in the
traditional sling slung over her shoulder, one fact remained
clear, the refugees have begun returning home.
(end/ips/trd/so/gr/oh/eli/93)
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