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Sumpango,
Guatemala  Photo: Axel
(Zaxl4)

The following are mentions of Guatemala this
week (19th-25th
Feb) from around the world (nothing interesting has appeared in the
UK!)…

A Spanish court has given the green light to hearing the
Guatemala genocide case brought by Rigoberta Menchu. See
more… 

Guatemalan filmmaker, Mario Rosales, has started screening his
latest 30-minute short film, Amorfo Te Busqué in the U.S. The film's
blog
describes it as an “audiovisual poem about the emotional
disenchantment
of a Guatemalan couple following end of the guerrilla uprising and the
subsequent genocide carried out by the national army”. See more…

Object of conquest itself just a year past, Glamis Gold of
Vancouver
recently announced its take-over bid for Western Silver for a paltry
1.04 billion (US) dollars. So, how did the struggling mining company
turn its fortunes around? It starts with the World Bank, and the
sacrifice of Mayan villagers on the alter of corporate greed and
government malfeasance. (Source: PEJ News – C. L. Cook). See
more… 

Jeremy Corbyn MP wrote in February's Noticias about his trip
to
Guatemala and Mexico in January. The trip gave the Islington North MP
food for thought as he reflected on the plight of Guatemalans
travelling north across the Mexican frontier. Corbyn expressed his
support for the campaign denouncing the building of a wall by the U.S.
across the U.S-Mexico frontier.

Human Rights Watch has written a letter to Guatemalan
President
Oscar Berger, calling the Guatemalan government to take
immediate
steps to stop a pattern of deadly attacks and possible police violence
against transgender women and gay men, and end impunity for these
crimes. See
more…

On Friday, February 24 several
organizations
gathered in front of the White House to protest the US-Dominican
Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) as the President
of El Salvador Antonio Saca met with President George W. Bush to
discuss the pending March 1st implementation of the accord. See
more…

February 24 (Prensa
Latina) Guatemalan humanitarian organizations Friday said that a legal
process was presented to the Supreme Court in support of the missing
children and adults during the internal armed conflict.
See
more…

Washington Post wrote an article
from Santiago Atitlan: “People here call it limpieza
social,
Spanish for “social cleansing.” But the recent surge in armed
abductions and murders by self-appointed anti-crime squads throughout
Guatemala is leaving a messy trail of blood and tears”. See
more…

25th Feb is the National Day for the Dignity of the Victims of
the
Armed Internal Conflict. There was an exhibition in Chiquimula to mark
the day, of exhumations that have been carried out around the country.
See
more…

       

Normally, you wouldn't catch us talking about the lofty crafts of 'marketing' and 'advertising' much on this blog. However, I'm going to pinch my nose and have a go. Why?

Well, according to a guy called Al Ries, whose knowledge it seems is not limited to market share and unique selling points, if Guatemala is to sell itself better to tourists around the world, it should change its name.

“How do you solve the country confusion problem? You change the name of the country from Guatemala to Guatemaya. Guatemaya would solve both problems. Guatemaya pre-empts the Maya position and it serves as a memory device to link the Mayas to the country which contains the most spectacular Maya artifacts. (It also solves a third problem. Mala is Spanish slang for bad woman.)” (see attachment)

What prompted Ries to conjure up such a masterstroke?  It's INGUAT's latest choice of slogan for Guatemala: 'Soul of the Earth'. Ok, perhaps less said.

INGUAT hasn't generally been perceived as the country's most dynamic government agency- and tourist numbers are often assumed to be well below what could be achieved (around 500,000 tourists a year). That sounds like quite a lot to me- but hey, whatever the reality, does it give a foreigner the right to suggest another country changes its name? Can we reduce countries to brands? I think if we do, it says more about our ignorance and arrogance than anything else.

But before I continue ranting, there's a bit more to this than meets the eye. The name Guatemala is curiously often the object of biting Guatemalan wit. 'Guatelinda', 'Guatechula', 'Guatepreciosa' or even 'Guatebuenita' as artist and author, Marco Augusto Quiroa, used to say.

Whatever the nickname, the point always seemed to be about turning heads towards the positive and the possible, and get away from that unique flavour of Guate-humour that quips 'de Guatemala a Guatepeor'. So should that be as a poster retorted on Blog de mi Guatemala, 'de Guatemala a Guatemejor'?

Apparently years ago, Guatemala was Goathemala from the Spanish interpretation of the word in the Maya-Tolteca language for “land of the trees”. Years ago in the 1840's, John L.Stephens called the land 'Guatimala' where he searched for Mayan archeological treasures. But hey, what's in a name?

If we're about to change countries' names, why not start with that complete misnoma the 'United States of America'. Wouldn't 'United States of North America' be more accurate? Heck, then there's that tongue twister (wait while I check my passport) the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'. Couldn't we make that a bit snappier? What would our marketing guru say about that one?

How about the name a Guatemalan policeman used as he diligently typed out a report of theft for me once: 'instruido, estudiante, originario de la Republica de Inglaterra'.

Now that's what I call snappy.

Condi Rice, U.S. Secretary of State talks about US policy towards Latin America.

“Inoculation Strategy in Nicaragua”, “When we were able to pass CAFTA it made a huge difference to the stabilization of Central America”.”Trade assistance, caring about the poor, the message has sometimes been just about growth and not about the concerns of the poor.” “Working with responsible governments [not Venezuela].”

At about 38 minute in, you can see Rios Montt's son-in-law, Congressman Jerry Weller take the floor with a question on narcotics.

  The expanse of Peten attracts Guatemalans (and once upon a time the English) in search of land ownership  PHOTO: Clare Rowland

In January, BBC father and son broadcasters, Peter and Dan Snow, in a television programme called Whose Britain Is It Anyway?, informed us that 90% of the UK's population lives in 10% of the UK's land. The programme which was largely based on a book by journalist Kevin Cahill called Who Owns Britain?, highlighted the anomaly of the many millions of acres of land in the UK owned by undisclosed people. It's a situation that persists to this day in the UK, because land that has never been sold or a mortgage raised against it, need never be legally registered.

In Guatemala, the land question and who owns it, remains a prominent issue in the political landscape, despite the best efforts of the country's elite (doubtless envious of the British aristocracy's uncanny ability to avoid the issue for literally centuries!).

However, who owns Guatemala will remain fundamental to the political reform agenda of the country, so long as one person's 'lawful' ownership can threaten so many other people's very survival, whether through denying access to work or access to essential food security. As has been seen recently in many fincas across Guatemala in Suchitepéquez, in and around Guatemala City, Escuintla, Izabal and Alta Verapaz.

Here in the UK, while the question of who owns the land has obvious and massive political consequences (heck, it may even hold our attention on the small screen for a moment), who owns the land has ceased to hold the key to our everyday survival as a society. Does this explain why we are so relaxed about not knowing who owns great swathes of our country?

In Guatemala though, land and who owns it, is the key to many people's everyday survival. That 2% of the population owns 65% of the productive land (according to a census in 1979), is more than simply a premise for an eye catching documentary. It is about life and death.

Prensa Libre (19-02-2006) today published a debate of the current crisis in land conflicts arising from this deeper land question. The piece features Daniel Pascual, coordinator of the Comité de Unidad Campesina and Carlos Zúñiga Fumagalli, president of the Cámara del Agro.

It is well worth a read as an illustration of the two sides' positions in this age old political struggle. A struggle between those who see land ownership in a narrow sense, as a way of ensuring the legal right of one group of people over another to create wealth, and those who see land ownership in a wider sense, as a means to resolve many of the basic problems of Guatemalan society in general.

Put that way, knowing who owns the land in Guatemala is incredibly important. But then for all the instability Guatemala might be currently exeriencing, I guess one thing is certain: they won't be looking to us for any answers.

Festival in Jacaltenango  PHOTO: Thomas Metzner

I came across this photo and others that have been recently posted on Flickr about the local festival in Jacaltenango, Huehuetenango. They are taken by independent photographer Thomas Metzner and they are well worth a look- they are incredibly vivid photos that bring the festival to life. Thanks Thomas for letting us post this on our blog. You can see where Jacaltenango is on this online map.

For more information about traditional dances in Guatemala in Spanish: click here. I'm sure there are much better online sources of information that aren't overly touristy, but don't have any to hand right at the moment. Let us know if you know of anything better!

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