January 2, 2014 Werner "La Patria del Criollo"

  • strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/views.module on line 843.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_plugin_display::options_validate() should be compatible with views_plugin::options_validate(&$form, &$form_state) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/plugins/views_plugin_display.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_plugin_display_block::options_submit() should be compatible with views_plugin_display::options_submit(&$form, &$form_state) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/plugins/views_plugin_display_block.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_field_broken::ui_name() should be compatible with views_handler::ui_name($short = false) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/handlers/views_handler_field.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of content_handler_field::options() should be compatible with views_object::options() in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/cck/includes/views/handlers/content_handler_field.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_sort_broken::ui_name() should be compatible with views_handler::ui_name($short = false) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/handlers/views_handler_sort.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter::options_validate() should be compatible with views_handler::options_validate($form, &$form_state) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/handlers/views_handler_filter.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter::options_submit() should be compatible with views_handler::options_submit($form, &$form_state) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/handlers/views_handler_filter.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter_broken::ui_name() should be compatible with views_handler::ui_name($short = false) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/handlers/views_handler_filter.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter_boolean_operator::value_validate() should be compatible with views_handler_filter::value_validate($form, &$form_state) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/handlers/views_handler_filter_boolean_operator.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter_many_to_one::init() should be compatible with views_handler_filter::init(&$view, $options) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/handlers/views_handler_filter_many_to_one.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_plugin_style_default::options() should be compatible with views_object::options() in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/plugins/views_plugin_style_default.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_plugin_row::options_validate() should be compatible with views_plugin::options_validate(&$form, &$form_state) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/plugins/views_plugin_row.inc on line 0.
  • strict warning: Declaration of views_plugin_row::options_submit() should be compatible with views_plugin::options_submit(&$form, &$form_state) in /home1/ucgit/public_html/goodworks/modules/acquia/views/plugins/views_plugin_row.inc on line 0.

“In this small country
Everything is far away:
Food,
Education,
Clothing…”
                Humberto Ak’abal

Today Pedro took us to visit an indigenous home in Sololá where we would have lunch. For the Ladinos (see previous post), the native Guatemalan embodies many misfortunes of character. “We keep ourselves to ourselves, as the Indians keep themselves to themselves.”  “This is a Guatemalan saying, which asserts that indigenous people should not be treated as equals” (Martínez, 2009).

This concept runs through the social fabric of Guatemala and when seeing the children I am painfully aware that because of the ethnic group they belong to, they will start out life’s race with some weights on them; weights not of their making.

Since this topic could become pretty lengthy and since I don’t think it is the purpose of the blog, I will only refer to those who are interested to Severo Martinez’s book. I believe it is a very important work to understand the country that we’ve come to have, which, sadly, (at least rural Guatemala and in general terms) could be described as the native Guatemalan poet does it.

Martínez, S. (2009). La Patria del Criollo: An Interpretation of Colonial Guatemala. London: Duke University.



(SPANISH)
“En este país pequeño
todo queda lejos:
la comida,
las letras,
la ropa…”
                Humberto Ak’abal
 

Hoy Pedro nos llevó a visitar un hogar indígena en Sololá en donde habríamos de almorzar. Para el ladino, el indígena representa muchas desventuras de carácter. “Aparte somos nosotros y aparte los naturales.” Este es un dicho guatemalteco que asegura que los indígenas no deben ser tratados como iguales (Martínez, 2006).

Este concepto corre a lo largo del tejido social de Guatemala y al ver a los niños estoy consciente (dolorosamente) que por el grupo étnico al que pertenecen, algunos comenzarán la carrera de la vida ya con pesos sobre sus hombros, no causados por ellos.

Ya que este tema podría extenderse y no siento que sea el propósito del blog, solamente referiré a los interesados al libro citado arriba. Pienso que es una obra muy importante para comprender la Guatemala que hemos llegado a tener, que lamentablemente -- especialmente la Guatemala rural y en términos generales -- podría describirse como lo hace el poeta maya quiché.


Martínez, S. (2006). La Patria del Criollo: ensayo de interpretación de la realidad colonial guatemalteca.  Fondo de Cultura Económica