Bitter Fruit

The past three weeks I have attended some extremely informative (and at times extremely heart-wrenching) lectures at my school, PLQ. The Guatemalan people have a complex history, much of which has been laced with severe injustice, violence and oppression.

In 1543, the Conquistadors, led by Cortez, arrived in Guatemala. Among all the atrocities that occurred during this period, one of the most disturbing in my opinion was the burning of sacred Mayan books. In 1562, Diego de Landa, acting bishop of the Yucatan, orchestrated the destruction of 10,000 Mayan books of astronomy, calculus, etc.; subjects deemed Satanic by the Inquisition. Ten thousand hand-written books, the history of a people all but erased at the hands of an ignorant few. My teacher, Estuardo, shared a poignant Mayan quote from this era (pardon the translation):
Arrancon nuestros frutas. (They tore off our fruit).
Cortaron nuestras ramas. (They cut our branches).
Pero no pudieron matar nuestras raices. (But they could not kill our roots).

What has been very difficult is learning of the direct, if not primary, role the U.S. government had in igniting the 36 years (1960-1994) of armed conflict in Guatemala. The events leading up to this conflict are extensive and complex, but here is my attempt at a very quick summary:

In 1954, the democratically-elected president of Guatemala, Jacobo Arbenz attempted to enact a land reform to stop the monopoly of the United Fruit Company (UFC) who controlled 75% of the land in Guatemala. This reform did not coalesce with the economic interests of the United States so under the guise of a communist threat, the CIA and U.S. government planned, funded, and executed a coupe d'etat, overthrowing Arbenz and replacing him with an American supported military junta. So began the "darkening of the democratic spring", the first of a series of brutal leaders, and a civil war in which 150,000 died and 50,000 more disappeared.

I encourage anyone who is interested in learning more to pick up the book, Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala by Stephen E. Schlesinger.