“How can you marvel at beauty in the midst of so much pain?”

At the end of chapter eight, Lovell asks a perplexing question: “How can you marvel at beauty in the midst of so much pain?” This question is a central theme to the entire book, and I assume where the title stems from. I often find that when thinking about Guatemala and reading the assigned articles, my mind tends to separate the violent aspect of Guatemala from the cultural aspects. Lovell’s question helped me bring everything together, and was a way of reminding myself that the same people who are exposed to so much violence and the constant kidnappings or torturing of their loved ones are the same people that have such special customs and such a strong sense of community. It amazes me how exposed the Guatemalans are to violence, and how customary death and kidnappings are to everyday lives. What is even more shocking is that fact that no one is punished for this acts. In the majority of accounts Lovell provides us with, the target was killed by “unknown assassins.” Even during the talk given by Tom Offit, he attested that even when most people know who the murderer is, they remain irresponsible and pay no consequences for their actions. This is completely different from the policy in the United States. Even for small issue, Americas seek justice and revenge. I feel that if there were higher consequences for these murders in Guatemala, violence would be significantly reduced. However, this is an issue that is extremely hard to tackle, especially when the government is involved in the violence as well. On a completely side note, I wonder why teachers are often main targets of murder and kidnappings.

Another aspect that was brought to my attention was the importance of tourism. Tourism is an impactful way for outsiders to stimulate the economy of Guatemala. Unfortunately, the interconnected relationship between tourism and violence creates an ongoing cycle. As violence increases, less people are likely to travel to Guatemala. As tourism decreases, the economy is hurt and less people are likely to educate the rest of the world about the violence that is occurring.

Although we touched upon this in the past, the rule of Rios Montt seems to have been both good and bad for the Mayan people. The three stages of his rule utilize particularly interesting tactics. First, when Montt worked with the junta but wasn’t president yet, the massacres in Mayan communities reached new levels of severity. Lovell paraphrases Mao Tse Tung, who said, “the Indians were the water in which the fish to be caught swam freely.” (56). I think is quote is a great analogy depicting the situation the Mayans were caught in. The army “unleashed a fearful repression on the native people,” primarily out of fear that they would unite against the army. As we’ve discussed in class, this tactic results in the opposite effect. The second stage is marked by a “shift from a physical to psychological war,” which played off the natives suffering from their “scorched” land. The Plan of Assistance to Areas of Conflict, or “beans and rifles” campaign seemed to outsiders as if the natives had a choice when in actuality they did not. They army offered food to the natives if they allowed them to set up civil defense patrols, but it was by no means a choice, hence the motto “comply and be fed, equivocate and be killed” (p. 57). One aspect that I found particularly interesting was the speech that Rios Montt gave to President Reagan in Honduras. Montt made it seem as if the government’s beans and riffle campaign was bringing peace to Guatemala and solving internal problems. My favorite part was when he said that “we have granted the farmers the right to defend themselves military.” It is clear that the natives had no rights and no choice in the situation. However, the way Montt proposed the bean and riffle campaigns explains why there was little effort of outside countries to make changes and intervene in Guatemala.

The third stage of Montt’s rule is known as “techo, trabajo, y tortilla- Shelter, work, and food” (p. 61). Brilliantly utilizing the proper words, Montt describes to President Reagan that “the underlying philosophy of ‘beans and rifles’ is that permanent security ultimately comes only though economic development, social justice, and progress.” Montt described the plans for Guatemala in such a tactful way that the Reagan administration removed Guatemala from President Carter’s “black list,” reinstituting both military and economic assistance from the U.S.

Overall, the benefits and consequences of Rios Montt’s rule are controversial. Although his regime is characterized by horrific violence and massacres, violence decreased in the latter part of his rule. Day-to-day life was generally more peaceful and street crime was low, even though there were large-scale massacres. Lovell asks a series of mind-provoking questions at the end of chapter nine, but even he seeks no answer.