Guest Writer: The Ongoing Impact of the Guatemalan Civil War

Racism and Discrimination in Guatemala Today

This blog post was written by volunteer Abbey Wilson.

Abbey during her trip to Guatemala

My name is Abbey Wilson, and I am a senior International Studies major and Spanish minor at the University of Southern Mississippi. I first became interested in Guatemala after going on a trip to Parramos in 2018. The people I met were the most thoughtful people I’ve ever known, and they have inspired me and encouraged me every day since. I arrived in Guatemala one week after the Mount Fuego volcano eruption in which over 165 people died (World Vision, 2018). Though I knew the volcano eruption was devastating, I did not understand exactly what it meant for the Indigenous communities until I spoke with a very special woman. This woman told me that she lost her entire family in the volcano eruption, and she explained that it was the government’s fault. She said that the government knew the communities near the base of the volcano were Indigenous, and the government failed to warn them in time for evacuation. This conversation inspired my research on racism and discrimination and how the Guatemalan Civil War is still affecting Indigenous communities today.

The Guatemalan Civil War lasted from 1960 to 1996. The U.S. supported military regime killed hundreds of thousands of Indigenous people in the name of ‘democracy.’ In fact, over 200,000 people died, 83 percent of which were Indigenous (Center for Justice and Accountability). Rigoberta Menchú, a survivor of the Guatemalan Civil War, wrote a book in which she describes the cruelty and violence inflicted by the military regime. The government murdered her brother, her father, and her mother; she saw entire villages die at the hands of the government. Though the violence she describes is incomprehensible, it was the reality for hundreds of thousands of Indigenous people. 

In December of 1996, the Peace Accords were signed, and the Guatemalan Civil War was over. However, reconciliation failed for many reasons. The Accords failed to address institutional racism, they failed to protect human rights, and they ignored socioeconomic injustice. According to Berthold Molden, a historian at the University of Vienna, the Peace Accords were proposed as an attempt to deny the Guatemalan genocide and erase historical shame and responsibility (Molden, 2016). In other words, the Peace Accords were never meant to provide reconciliation after the war. Instead, they were merely an attempt to avoid responsibility for the genocide committed during the war. The Peace Accords, in many ways, belittled and underestimated the events of the war and were destined to fail. 

Today, discrimination is undeniably more subtle than during the war, but it is still deliberate and intentional. Seventy- seven percent of Indigenous women in Guatemala live below the poverty line. Fifty-eight percent of Indigenous women are illiterate. Indigenous women earn considerably less than men. Most Indigenous women work in the informal sector and do not make enough money to provide for themselves or their families. When asked about the inequalities they face, Indigenous women emphasized exclusion, extreme poverty, and their co-dependence on male relatives (Bohrt, 2017). The discriminatory ideologies that were ignited during the war are clearly still affecting Indigenous women in Guatemala today, and these women still face socioeconomic exclusion, poverty, illiteracy, low wages, unsustainable work, and economic dependence. 

Today, Indigenous people face racism and discrimination in health care. The life expectancy of an Indigenous Guatemalan is 13 years less than the life expectancy of a non- Indigenous Guatemalan, and Indigenous women are twice as likely to die in childbirth (Ceron, 2016). Twenty- four years have passed since the Guatemalan Civil War, yet Indigenous people are undeniably still facing repercussions. Discrimination in access to health care is a common theme for Indigenous people, the inability to speak Spanish is a substantial obstacle, and men are turned away from medical attention in rural healthcare facilities (Ceron, 2016). If an Indigenous person is unable to speak Spanish, they will likely not receive the medical attention they need. In rural health care facilities that treat Indigenous people, men are often sent home under the notion that men do not get sick or need help. Abusive treatment of Indigenous people while seeking care is another common theme; Indigenous people reported being lied to, forced into painful procedures, and yelled at by health care providers (Ceron, 2016). Because Indigenous people are viewed as second- class citizens, health care providers treat them as such. Indigenous men and women are still discriminated against and treated as subordinate. Unfortunately, health care is only one area in which Indigenous people face racism and discrimination.

Higinio Pu, an Indigenous activist, declared “There’s a big difference in the way Indigenous people and mestizos are treated. We are not paid the same wages for the same work” (Danilo, 2012, p. 1). Indigenous people in Guatemala are stuck in economic inequality they cannot escape. In an interview with 550 Guatemalan business owners, 52 percent admitted that they do not pay Indigenous people and mestizos the same wages for the same work (Danilo, 2012, p. 1). Though the Indigenous people and non- Indigenous people were performing the same work, the owners reported that the two people groups made different wages. Regarding the number of Indigenous people employed by the interviewees, only 12 percent of workers in small businesses were Indigenous and 20 percent of workers in large businesses were Indigenous. Despite Indigenous people making up 43 percent of the population, they are employed by businesses at a much lower percentage. Therefore, an Indigenous person is less likely to be employed than a non- Indigenous person and more likely to make a lower wage for the same work. The extreme poverty in Guatemala’s Indigenous populations is proof of the inequality Indigenous people face in employment. According to Higinio Pu, the working conditions that Indigenous people endure are worse than those of non- Indigenous people; he describes such work conditions as inhumane and suggests that “During the coffee and sugarcane harvests, for example, the workers live in rough shacks or sheds and sleep all packed together on the floor” (Danilo, 2012, p. 1). Not only do Indigenous people suffer from unemployment and unfair wages, but they also suffer from inhumane working conditions.

            Guatemala has one of the highest illiteracy rates, and Indigenous people in Guatemala suffer the most from global illiteracy (Lazaro, 2017). Because many Indigenous people do not speak Spanish, attending school in Spanish poses challenges. Most Indigenous Guatemalans live in rural communities, so physical access to quality education is another barrier. In Guatemala, education is free through sixth grade; therefore, most Indigenous families cannot afford education beyond the sixth grade (State, 2020). The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean reported illiteracy, low school attendance, and extreme poverty of Indigenous peoples (Lazaro, 2017). Because Indigenous people are still marginalized and excluded, quality education is unattainable. Education in Guatemala is characterized by exclusion and discrimination, and Indigenous people are lacking in a multi-cultural education. Because their access to education is minimal, Indigenous people are unable to break the endless cycle of illiteracy, unemployment, and poverty.

In conclusion, the Guatemalan Civil War, which lasted from 1960 to 1996, is undeniably still affecting Indigenous communities today. Indigenous women disproportionately face discrimination and marginalization, and Indigenous people face racism and discrimination in health care, employment, and education. 

Sources: 

Bohrt, Ana Cecilia Arteaga., Rosalva Aida Hernandez. Castillo, Emma. Cervone, Cristina. 

Cucuri, Leonor. Lozano, Morna. Macleod, Natalia. “Demanding Justice and Security: Indigenous Women and Legal Pluralities in Latin America.” Rutgers University Press (2017).

Cerón, Alejandro, Ana Lorena Ruano, Silvia Sánchez, Aiken S Chew, Diego Díaz, Alison 

Hernández, and Walter Flores. “Abuse and Discrimination Towards Indigenous People in Public Health Care Facilities: Experiences from Rural Guatemala.” International journal for Equity in Health 15, no. 1 (2016).

Center for Justice and Accountability. “Guatemala.” November 18, 2019.

Danilo Valladares. “GUATEMALA: Native People Suffer Racism in Employment.” IPS Inter 

Press Service. Montevideo: Global Network Content Services LLC (January 2, 2012).

Lázaro, Antonia María Sánchez, and René Humberto López Cotí. “Racism and Education. A 

Discussion Pending Task. The Case of the Original People of Guatemala.” Procedia, 

social and behavioral sciences 237 (February 21, 2017): 823–828.

Molden, Berthold. “The Reconciliation Trap: Disputing Genocide and the Land Issue in Postwar 

Guatemala.” Journal of Genocide Research 18, no. 2-3 (July 2, 2016): 323–342.

State University. “Guatemala: Educational System- overview.” State University (2020).