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There used
to be a joke in Guatemala, when the country was ruled by the military
dictatorship. Instead of greeting his subjects with “Good afternoon” or
any other such common pleasantries, the president would say, “I see you
have all survived . . . ”
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There Are A Lot Of Volcanoes
There are three active volcanoes in Guatemala, one of which, the
awesomely named Volcan de Fuego, erupted for the sixth time in 2017 this
past June. There are 37 volcanoes in total, rising out of the crust of
the planet thanks to Guatemala’s location on the Ring of Fire—the area
where all the inside planet juice seeps out and gets all melty in our
business.[1]Apparently, the three active volcanoes, Pacaya, Fuego, and
Santiaguito, are so active that you are almost guaranteed to witness an
explosion or lava flow just by visiting the area. Just 35 kilometers (22
mi) from Guatemala City, Volcan de Fuego is closely monitored by
authorities in case it decides to kill everyone, which, alone, it is
unlikely to do. However, the volcano Pacaya is a mere 30 kilometers (19
mi) from Guatemala City, so a double-team scenario is possible. A
September 2012 eruption of the Volcano of Fire saw an evacuation of
10,000 people ordered. In February 2015, another eruption forced the
closure of the capital’s main airport. |
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The Poorest Central American Nation With The
Highest Crime
Carjacking, daylight sexual assault, armed holdups with automatic
weapons conducted by MS-13 and other hardcore gangs, and fake police
officers for good measure—all available in sunny Guatemala. Guatemala
sees over 5,000 violent deaths a year, primarily from the aforementioned
gang crime, but tourists are a natural source of free money for those
desperate enough to risk it.[2]And the risks pay off, as there is a very
low arrest and conviction rate, and resisting criminal attempts on your
wallet is likely to cost you more than a handful of quetzals. The
problems are deeply rooted and multifaceted. The effects of the civil
war are still being dealt with, and the literacy rate is just 75
percent. (Only Haiti has a lower rate in the Western Hemisphere.) These
surface issues are compounded by Guatemala being such a diverse nation
that there are 24 different recognized languages, including Spanish. |
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Giant Holes
On May 30, 2010, an enormous hole, 18 meters (60 ft) wide and 30 stories
deep, opened up in the middle of Guatemala City, swallowing a
three-story building and a home. It also caused the death of a man.
Because of the location of the capital—between two active volcanoes—the
earth beneath is made up primarily of a substance called pumice fill,
which was deposited in previous eruptions.[3] This stuff is soft and
unconsolidated, so it is theorized that this sinkhole is not actually a
sinkhole at all. It is, in fact, man-made.Due to the local zoning
regulations being treated with as much respect as Charlie Sheen treats
his own body, leaking water pipes are the likely culprit for digging a
massive hole under the city. The repairs cost millions of dollars for
each hole ($2.7 million for a similar sinkhole in 2007), so the
impoverished government is lackadaisical at best. The 2010 hole became a
minor tourist attraction, guarded by police to discourage spelunking. |
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The 36-Year-Long Civil War You Didn’t Hear About
During the Guatemalan Civil War, which lasted from 1960 to 1996, 200,000
people died, and at least 400 villages were simply wiped off the map.
The whole affair was one long, drawn-out power struggle between the
indigenous rural people and the military junta that was installed in the
1950s. As with many Central and South American nations at the time, the
main concern for many was how to keep the communists out. In Guatemala,
however, the story deviated a little from the script.[5]Colonel Carlos
Castillo Armas, the leader of the junta that was installed after the
(democratically elected) communist regime was ousted, took it upon
himself to systematically strip the poor of their rights, wealth, and
land. The subsequent uprising in 1960 killed Colonel Armas, and a new
general was put in his place to continue the fight. By 1963, he was also
dead, and another new general was put in place to continue the fight. In
the late 1960s, following the ousting of the military by the civilian
regime of Cesar Mendez, the military—already with a reputation for
extreme violence—conducted a campaign that butchered thousands of
Guatemalans in their ultimately successful bid to remove Mendez and
retake power. In short, the army really, really liked being in charge,
and the myriad ethnic groups really, really disagreed. |
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Guatemala Has Been Inhabited For 20,000 Years
Today, more than half of Guatemalans are descendants of the indigenous
Maya peoples. As found by many imperialist nations, drawing lines on a
map and calling it your own rarely works in the long term. Before the
arrival of the conquistadors in the 16th century, the region that would
become Guatemala was ruled by many different Mayan kingdoms, as
evidenced by the upwards of 5,000 archaeological sites spread throughout
the country, dating back almost 20,000 years.[6]By the time of the
Spanish conquest, the Maya were in steep decline. Smallpox had swept the
continent, and internecine conflicts had weakened the once-mighty
civilization. The Spanish, once the Maya were defeated, promptly
subjugated the people and treated them little better than slaves. The
social stratification—Maya natives at the bottom, Creole Spanish at the
top—persisted for centuries. Essentially, the racial divisions imposed
on the nation formed the tinder that sparked repeated bloody conflict,
repression, exploitation, and misery.
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