From past to present

tions as a counterinsurgency campaign, the majority of victims of the acts committed by the army were not combatants of the guerrilla, but civilians (Stavenhagen 2003).

Throughout the period of political violence and civil strife, hundreds of villages were destroyed entirely. In the course of the conflict that became commonly known as la violencia, some 200,000 citizens were killed (Flores Arenales 1999: 14). In the violent years of the so-called scorched earth policy, the genocidal practices also included the wide-spread tactic of ›disappearing‹ people.¹³ The state violence led to a massive dislocation of the rural population; more than one million persons were internally displaced and an estimated 350,000 to 400,000 persons sought refuge abroad, in particular in Mexico and the United States (Stepputat 1999: 54f.).¹⁴

4.1.3 From past to present

In 1996 negotiations between the government and the guerrilla organisation URNG set an end to the armed conflict, which had continued for over 30 years. With the signing of peace agreements, democratic structures were formally re-established.

Within the framework of the peace process, a number of agreements were worked out, which entailed an agenda of substantial accords aimed at eliminating the major sources of social and economic conflict within Guatemalan society. These agreements contain commitments to acknowledge the indigenous cultures by stating that

the indigenous peoples have been particularly subject to de facto levels of discrimination, exploitation and injustice, on account of their origin, culture and language and that, like many other sectors of the national community, they have to endure unequal and unjust treatment and conditions on account of their economic and social status [...] this historical reality has affected and continues to affect the peo-ples profoundly, denying them the full exercise of their rights and political participation, and hamper-ing the configuration of a national unity which should adequately reflect the rich and diversified physi-ognomy of Guatemala with its wealth of values (MINUGUA 2001: 5).

In particular, the Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples (AIDPI) contains specific commitments to overcome the structural factors of social and racial discrimi-nation, which remain present in Guatemalan society. As a basic commitment, the par-ties established that they »recognize and respect the identity and the political,

eco-13 State forces and paramilitary groups were responsible for 93 percent of the violations, including arbitrary executions and disappearances; victims were men, women and children of all social strata:

workers, professionals, politicians, peasants, students and academics. In ethnic terms, the majority were Mayans (Stavenhagen 2003). Selective attacks were committed in particular against members of the Catholic Church and cooperatives, community leaders and teachers. According to Green (2003), over 45,000 people have disappeared since the war began in eastern Guatemala in the 1960s, which is more than in any other Latin American nation.

14 Adams (1988) reminds that Guatemala is part of the political economy of capitalism and lies in the sphere of influence, or hegemony, of the United States. On the particular dynamic and impact of the political violence and background concerning an intervention of U.S. governments to protect eco-nomic and political interests in the area, see Harvest of Violence. The Maya Indians and the Guatemalan Crisis edited by Carmack (1988).

nomic, social and cultural rights of the Maya, Garífuna and Xinca peoples, within the unity of the Guatemalan Nation and subject to the indivisibility of the territory of the Guatemalan State, as components of that unity« (MINUGUA 2001: 6). The AIDPI re-solved that the indigenous languages become official languages, that the different forms of spirituality practiced by the indigenous population be respected and that measures be taken to prevent discrimination against the use of indigenous dress. A se-ries of further commitments was given to orient public policy, taking into account the recognition of indigenous systems of authorities and customary law. It was stressed that the state had to ensure and institutionalise the participation of indigenous peoples in all political, economic, social and cultural spheres.¹⁵ This included an educational reform, which must reflect cultural and linguistic diversity, granting the incorporation of indigenous concepts in the definition of the curricula.

Officially, the constitutional legislation recognises the existence of indigenous groups and the right to their cultural identity in accordance with their traditional ways of life, languages, values, customs and forms of social organisation. But despite being established in official law, the rights of the indigenous peoples need to be distin-guished between de jure and de facto. The ambiguity between legally established and ac-tually granted rights is evident in various fields. One of the fundamental problems af-fecting the indigenous peoples in Guatemala relates to land tenure. The lack of access to land and problems stemming from the loss of land due to the armed conflict, cre-ated a situation of rising social tension. Agricultural resources are still distributed un-equally, with cultivable land highly concentrated in a few large estates.¹⁶ The so-called latifundios include the most fertile land of the country, being generally situated in areas of volcanic soil. In contrast, indigenous farmers hold small plots situated in the high-lands or in ecologically extremely difficult karstic regions of the Petén and the Verapaz area. While their land is subject to erosion due to excessive cultivation, the fertile lands best suited for agriculture are reserved for extensive use and for cattle ranching (Amry 1999: 78). During the more than three decades of armed conflict, the fragmen-tation of peasant plots into minifundios increased, leading to growing conflicts, largely due to the displacement and resettlement of the indigenous population and the mis-appropriation of communal land.¹⁷ This has been reported to be particularly acute in

15 In compliance with the AIDPI, Guatemala also ratified the ILO-Convention 169 concerning in-digenous and tribal peoples in independent countries, which recognises inin-digenous rights to the use, ownership, management and control of traditional lands and territories. For further details on the implementation of the provisions of the peace accords, consider Indigenous Peoples, Customary Law and the Peace-Process in Guatemala by Amry (1999).

16 The country has the most unequal land tenure in Latin America, with approximately 2 percent of the landowners controlling 80 percent of the farmland. This exclusionary agrarian structure rein-forced seasonally labour migration towards large fincas and coastal plantations and more recently even to the United States. In the 1960s the government introduced low cost chemical fertilisers into highland milpa agriculture as part of the Green Revolution in lieu of an agrarian reform (Green 2003).

17 Farms smaller than 10 manzanas (7 ha) are commonly referred to as minifundios (Katz 2000: 122).

According to Berger (1997: 100), the average size of smallholdings declined from 1.7 to 0.79 ha over the last 30 years and the unequal land concentration leaves 27 percent of the population landless.

For further information on the issue of land conflicts in this area, consider Milián et al. (2002).

the area known as the Franja Transversal del Norte, one of the main areas of confronta-tion during the civil war, from which many indigenous communities were displaced and where large estates were established, owned by former members of the armed forces. This disparity reinforced the socio-economic polarisation of society.

Another issue of crucial concern is the position of indigenous peoples in respect to access to justice. To date, despite the signing of the peace accords, the juridical sys-tem, largely ineffective, is unable and in some cases unwilling to enforce citizens' rights. As Green (2003: 62) mentions, impunity is crucial to the ways in which power is exercised in the country today. It is fear and silence, not justice that circumscribes the lives of large parts of the rural population. In his report on the situation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people in Guatemala, Stavenhagen (2003) makes clear reference to this issue. While the government has taken various steps to broaden the administrative system of justice throughout the country, the coverage re-mains inadequate. As Stavenhagen notes, the indigenous peoples complain of difficult access to the courts, discrimination against their customary law and the lack of inter-preters of indigenous languages in the courts. He attaches special importance to the recognition of legal systems specific to the indigenous peoples themselves and rec-ommends that the government and civil society as a whole promote a major national public campaign for the respect of cultural diversity. This endeavour should embrace in particular the field of education, which has been reported to be an issue of priority concern for the indigenous peoples. Despite the government's efforts to provide bi-lingual education, there are as yet insufficient trained teachers, just as other educa-tional resources are inadequate. Thus, levels of school attendance, particularly in rural areas, remain low, which is a disturbing state of affairs that perpetuates exclusion and discrimination. Stavenhagen asserts that there is still no overall system of intercultural education set out in the curricula adapted to the languages and the needs, values and systems of the indigenous peoples themselves and reaching schools in remote locali-ties. Although public investment in education has grown in the years following the signing of the peace agreements, the figures for education in predominantly indige-nous areas show large lags compared with regions with non-indigeindige-nous population.¹⁸ According to Flores Arenales (1999: 16) the process of reconciliation that was ini-tiated in the mid-1990s could not resolve the long term social paralysis and silence.

Due to the repressive policies of the militarised state and its intelligence network, trust – seen by the author as an essential value in intimate relations – was one of the major casualties of the political violence. Although peace has been achieved, Guatemala re-mains a profoundly unequal and divided society. Adams, referring to »a population of divided identities«, writes that fear has always been part of the psychodynamics of the relationship between the ladino and the indigenous population. Its historic genesis lies

18 Historically, the linguistic diversity of the country has not been considered in the design and im-plementation of education policies. The nation's expenditure on education belongs to the lowest in Latin America, leading to the second highest rate of illiteracy of 31.9 percent (Green 2003: 68). In particular, the indicators of access to education by the indigenous, rural and female population are extremely poor. For further details on educational issues, see Gleich (1997) and Heckt (2000).

in the conquest, and it has been reborn in every subsequent generation (1988: 284).

The experienced history of exploitation, exclusion and repression that created a cul-ture of mistrust still shapes the dynamics between the nation-state and civil society and affects the relations between indigenous communities and official agencies, in-cluding institutions involved in environmental policies. Nevertheless, in view of the concessions formally established in the peace accords and taking into account the in-creasing importance of local governance in current trends towards decentralisation as well as relevant constitutional and institutional reforms, the negotiations and efforts may contribute to overcoming the long-standing ignorance of the indigenous people and enhance their participation in decision-making processes at all levels of society.