I'm posting this information hoping for some feedback from all of you who visit our blog. You will also need to get by without images as they would be too disturbing to publish, even though we see them everyday in newspapers here.
As most of you know, we live in a Mayan community. About 98.5% of the population in Chichicastenango consider themselves to be indigenous Mayan K'iche's. So one most view things from their point of view which is utterly impossible. One must also understand that the Mayans are still recovering physically and emotionally from over 30 years of civil war and Mayan genocide.
Just a couple of weeks ago some friends of ours witnessed an example of "Mayan Justice." Two young men were paraded downtown, bloodied and bound by a large crowd of Mayans pushing, prodding and kicking them forward. They had been physically battered already, but when they arrived at the front steps of Church Santo Tomas, they unknowingly had traveled their last steps on earth. There, at the foot of the church steps, they were "finished off" with large stones that crashed upon their skulls.
We later found out that the men were two young dabbling gang members who had decided to attack a young girl on her way home, and sexually abuse her. They were captured quite soon afterward, and punished to the extreme...even unto death.
You should also know that over 98% of the homicides remain unsolved here in Guatemala. The official courts rely on meager human and economic resources, and most feel they are completely corrupt anyway.
There have been over 15 lynchings in our town already this year. Far from a thirst for violence, this indicates an attempt by the local embattled communities to reassert their autonomy after decades of repeated assault by state armies, local elites, the globalized economy, and other adversaries. By enacting these highly ritualized, unequivocally public displays of justice, marginalized communities seek not only to punish and to deter criminal activity, but perhaps more importantly, to reassert themselves collectively as agents rather than victims. In this way, lynchings may reveal a dark side of what passes for democracy in the region.
And it works.
Someone recently told me that Guatemala recently passed Iraq as a more dangerous place to live. They also shared that Guatemala City is now the 3rd most dangerous city to live. The other two cities are in the midst of war.
But much of that violence never reaches those of us who chose to live in the indigenous communities, because the Mayans have their own form of justice as I mentioned above. I recently listened to a radio program interviewing gang members in Guatemala City, and after they talked about killing people, beheading babies for extortion and the like, they mentioned how they had tried to have more of a "presence" in other local cities and villages...like ours
But, he said, they had sent 10 men to Santa Cruz Del Quiche (a few miles from our location), and only 2 came back alive...they (the Mayans) had killed the other 8. He mentioned how they didn't fear the policemen or judicial system, only the Mayans.
So, one one hand, we are thankful for a system that actually protects our family when other systems are broken. But on the other hand, I wonder if God would approve of a system that doesn't allow for "I'm sorry", or "Give me one more chance", and takes "an eye for an eye."
How would you feel?
How should we feel?
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