Beauty and the Beast

It's so hard to imagine a place where the army and their guns are ever present. In our society where we have so many outspoken personalities and organizations, the fate of "subversive" individuals in Guatemala is outrageous (49). There has never been a period in American history where the president has managed to fulfill all promises and completely satisfy the people, but Guatemala appears to know the case of unsatisfactory leadership all too well. In a place where rich and fertile lands abound, it's mind-boggling that the majority of the population is poor and hungry (84). All of the problems mentioned and many more contribute to the defacing the beautiful country of Guatemala.

The fact that the army sees itself as a means of peace is rather ironic when they are the same individuals that caused much of the oppression during the 80's and even now. Under General Efrain Rios Montt the amount of Guatemalan blood shed was unreal. He allowed his troops to completely annihilate entire villages. Further more the idea of civil defense patrols was quite crafty yet just another method of wiping out the Maya people. There were so many mind games that were played during the war as we have discussed. The civil defense patrols were given a sense of agency while they were simply tools aiding the government to keep the civilians, typically the Maya, oppressed. The "frijoles y fusiles" program was a very provocative method of moving the people to cooperate with the army through fear or face the grave consequences (59).

I find it really unfortunate that the election of a civilian president could not bring the violent actions of the army to a steep decline. Although both presidents Serrano and Leon Carpio were elected by the people, they appeared to lack the ability to protect and please the people. With the assasinations and daily murders still at alarming rates, it seems as if the presidents fell short of bringing forth the beauty of Guatemala. All in all, I believe that Leon Carpio, especially, did make some very positive steps for the country, such as the sucessful signing of a Comprehensive Human Rights Accord (92).

At the end of the day and the book, Guatemala is still in a very depressing situation. Although the lands are perfect for producing crops such as coffee, bananas, and a plethora of other items for export, the country barely has enough to feed its own citizens. The fact that 85% of the population is living in poverty is somewhat unreal. I am really curious as to how with such a high percentage of people living in poverty, and with 70% living in extreme poverty, there aren't more individuals living on the street. How is it that the government appears to show little concern about the majority of the population in poverty, yet they seem to be taken care? Maybe a number isn't enough information to explain the plight of the people it is attempting to describe.

The beauty that one sees on the surface is masked by beasts such as violence, a continuous lack of peace, and poverty within the country. It's such a sad tale that has unfortunately been a reality for the Guatemalan people for many years.