Guatemala’s Indigenous Struggle
... and made it through these rough times. Somehow their heritages, religions, and languages remained intact. In her book Jonas say it is estimated that some 23 Mayan languages are still spoken today. The Mayans still make up around 80% of Guatemala’s population today. Except for some minor attempts at a revolution the Mayans voices were still not heard. They were continuously oppressed although it got a little better, but the Mayans were still angry and had enough. This group of indigenous has tried for some time to get some kind of recognition for their unofficial party often referred to as the Pueblo Maya. After years of hard work they finally gained some recognition. In 1992 the Pueblo Maya had enough and declared 500 years of oppression enough. For the first time they began to publicly organize. When negotiations between the guerillas and the government began, Mayan organizations formed in order to take place in the talks. This united group of indigenous formed into the Coordination of Organizations of the Mayan Pueblo, commonly referred to as COPMAGUA. This led to the big step the Mayans needed. The Accord about the Identity and Rights of the Indigenous People marked the first time that the Guatemalan government recognized the indigenous’ identity, culture, and rights. Though this would not eliminate the oppression totally it was definitely a step in the right direction for the indigenous. After the long struggle to unite each other, the Pueblo Maya was not ready to take a passive role in government. They are determined to continue to gain more respect and have their voices heard. This was a new phase of resistance for the Pueblo Maya. Rather than just calling it quits after many attempts and no success they are determined to take an active and vocal role in the reconstruction of Guatemalan society. The Pueblo Maya has many concerns they would like to have corrected. Their most important concern is to combat impunity and to promote indigenous rights. Other concerns include but are not limited to poverty, violations of human rights, lack of infrastructure, and militarization. It will not be easy for the Pueblo Maya to correct all these problems, especially in a short amount of time. They will find a lot of resistance in the game of politics. They will have to keep their spirits up and continue to slowly progress. Impunity is the exemption or freedom from punishment, harm, and/or loss. The Mayans have definitely been strangers to this. For over 500 years the Mayans were forced into oppression. In a sense they were forced into slavery working for very low wages. A lot of Mayans died due to the conditions and disease. Many other Mayans were killed during war and sometimes for no reason except for the fact that they were Mayans. Things eventually got a little better, but Mayans are still oppressed even today. The party will probably have luck after a few tries in getting laws passed to rid impunity, which will be the easy part. The hard part will be the law actually being carried out. Will the government enforce them? How strict will they ...