The Guatemala Reader

Fathering Within Transnational and Mixed-Status Mayan Families: An Exploratory Study

“…Significant numbers of Maya, including many from this region of the countryside, have been migrating to the United States for more than 50 years (Hagan, 1994; Loucky, 2012). Early waves were provoked by economic need and nearly 4 decades of armed conflict in Guatemala, which ended with the signing of Peace Accords by the Guatemalan government and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity in December 1996 (Grandin, Levenson, & Oglesby, 2011). The Commission for Historical Clarification (1999) reported that over 200,000 people were murdered or “disappeared” and that the majority of the over 620 massacres were carried out against rural Mayan communities during some of the worst years of this genocidal violence, that is, between 1980 and 1983.…”

“…These recent historical violations, challenging economic contexts including the 2004/2005 Central American Free Trade Agreement, which discriminates against rural farmers, drug trafficking, and gang violence, contribute to the persistent migration of Maya north (Grandin et al, 2011; Krogstad, 2016). The increasing militarization of the borders and migrants’ needs to be accompanied by coyotes or middlemen and women who charge fees of $5,000–$10,000 have reduced repeat crossings and extended separations beyond the number of years families initially anticipated (Hershberg & Lykes, 2015; Lykes & Hershberg, 2015).…”

“…Latinx or Ladinx have more recently been introduced to reflect a gender-neutral status, following the recent trend to use the “x” for gender-neutral language that also can denote nonbinary gender identities increasingly recognized through the world. Grandin et al (2011) explained the history of the term “ladino” that was “first utilized in Guatemala in the 1500s to refer to Mayas who spoke Spanish. By the 1800s and early 1900s, ladino typically referred to all lower class people in the city and countryside who did not use Mayan clothes or languages but also did not belong to the Creole elite.…”

Using adolescents’ drawings to reveal stereotypes about ethnic groups in Guatemala.

“…Guatemala, a country of approximately 15 million people in northern Central America, has a long history of ethnic and cultural strife (Grandin, Levenson, & Oglesby, 2011). The two main ethnic groups in Guatemala are the Maya (who make up approximately 40% of the population) and the Ladinos (approximately 58%)—those of mixed ethnic heritage but who do not make a strong claim to indigenous ancestry (Gibbons & Ashdown, 2010; Martínez Peláez, 2011), with the remaining 2% including groups such as the Garífuna.…”

We Come to Form Ourselves Bit by Bit

“…Guatemala's history stretches back thousands of years to a precolonial Maya civilization marked by astounding artistic, astronomical, and engineering accomplishments; brutal Spanish subjugation and exploitation of Maya descendants; independence from Spain largely benefitting the elite; liberal reform; U.S. intervention that violently replaced a populist leader with a military regime eventually leading to military dictatorship; and a 36-year-long armed struggle between populist guerilla groups and the country's military regimes (Perera, 1993;Sanford, 2003). Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Guatemala's Indigenous population suffered disproportionately and systematically (Grandin, Levenson, & Oglesby, 2011). Indigenous Guatemalans were exploited for labor, lived in poverty, and had limited access to resources and opportunity.…”