We just received the following press release about the new English translation of Oswaldo Salazar's book "Por el lado Oscuro". Salazar was recently in London to take part in launches of the book that included an event in Canning House and then the Instituto Cervantes. Having read the book - it is certainly a compelling read. And pre-revolutionary Guatemala is certainly an interesting time to look at.
Guatemala has a new master of narrative in the form of Oswaldo Salazar, whose compelling first novel From the Darkness is one of the few works of Central American literature to explore the region's criminal history.
In From the Darkness - the English translation of the prize-winning Por el lado oscuro - Salazar explores the bitterly unhappy circumstances that can make a woman kill, and the unforgiving quality of male justice.
From the Darkness is a captivating story of a murder and the ensuing investigation that became known as "The Gourd Poisoning" in a traditional society unprepared for a crime that lay outside its powers of reasoning. It begins in the spring of 1939 when a man dies in agony at the San Juan de Dios de Amatitlán Hospital outside Guatemala City. His wife and children are accused of poisoning him, shattering the calm of a land kept in fearful order by the cold and tempestuous dictator General Jorge Ubico (1931-44).
Salazar's work touches a raw Latin nerve, giving the reader a unique insight into lost Central American worlds: that of the Guatemalan peasant woman - ignored, abused and constantly judged by her unforgiving male superiors; that of the small, rural Latin American town, where a handful of strongmen oversee all life; and that of the era of military caudillos, dictators whose quest for order and progress shapes all official culture.
The winner of the prestigious 2003 Mario Monteforte Toledo Prize, Por el lado oscuro was translated by Gavin O'Toole and will be published by Aflame Books in March 2007.
The Mexican writer Carlos Montemayor said of this book: "Por el lado oscuro has a magnificent narrative quality, exposition and style as well as a forceful central character, delivering the unexpected features of a species of crime novel within a work of historical reconstruction."
Oswaldo Salazar was born in Guatemala City in 1959 and has had a distinguished academic career. He took his first degree in philosophy and literature at Rafael Landívar University in Guatemala then studied as a Fulbright Scholar at Boston College in the United States. He currently teaches at Guatemala's Francisco Marroquín University.
Aflame Books is a small, independent UK publisher committed to publishing in English translation works from Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.
World Politics Watch have just published a two-part series on Gang Culture and Violence in Guatemala: Part One and Part Two. It makes for pretty chilling reading.
The series was written by Billy Briggs, the 2005 recipient of Amnesty International's Nations and Regions Award for his reporting on human rights issues. His report is accompanied by photos by Angela Catlin.
Billy says on website about Guatemala:
"I recently visited Guatemala with photographer Angela Catlin to document the escalating violence and human rights abuses in one of the most violent nations in the world. There are more killings per day than there were during the dark days of a civil war that ended in 1996. The killing of women, the execution of selected individuals by elements within the police and military, gang and crime-related killings, 'social cleansing' by vigilante groups, and other acts of random violence have created a widespread sense of insecurity. Guatemala is a nation living in fear."
You can see his other articles on Guatemala on his website where he's written for The Sunday Herald, The Guardian and The Big Issue.
To begin this post here's George Bush getting some practice in at being contrite- this could have served him well before his Latin American trip. The Mayan cleansing to be carried out in Iximche has ran and ran, as have the crosses held aloft by students in Guatemala City. Bush as sinner or 'el Diablo', has captured the public's imagination.
On the day that George Bush will touch down in Guatemala- the agenda for that one hour meeting and dinner with Oscar Berger is doubtless rather full- though no surprises if it turns out to be empty on contrition. Foreign Minister, Gert Rosenthal, hinted they might be discussing ethanol production- but if this interview in Siglo XXI is anything to go by- sounds like policy on the fly:
¿Cuáles son las expectativas del Gobierno? Es tener una buena visita bilateral y pasar revista a todos los temas. Ellos traen una iniciativa que nos interesa, que es diversificar el mercado energético para elevar la participación de los biocombustibles, llámese etanol. El país tiene posibilidad de ser un importante proveedor, con base en la caña de azúcar. Es una iniciativa conjunta entre Estados Unidos y Brasil.
¿Ellos qué ofrecen? Brasil tiene tecnología, y Estados Unidos está dispuesto a comprarnos etanol.
¿Cuánta capacidad de producción tendría Guatemala? No tengo idea.
Here's a better idea from the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (Nisgua) just in case both are prepared to bear their soul a little: they could make a joint declaration to advance the legal cases against General Efrain Rios Montt and members of his military high command. They can't say there's a shortage of information on this one.
"President Bush's tour of Latin America is intended to reestablish U.S. influence in the region, but serious conflicts remain between the image the Bush Administration is trying to portray this week and its actual policies over the past six years. In Guatemala, the Administration has been supporting the physical harassment and suspension of civil rights in rural communities under the guise of the Drug War, pushing for Congress to increase training and funding of the deeply corrupt security forces, and limiting economic opportunities and access to affordable medicines through the DR-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).
While international arrest warrants for Rios Montt and his military high command have been in effect in the U.S. since last year, the Bush Administration has yet to publicly acknowledge the warrants or show support for legal initiatives in Guatemala. Given the strategic importance of Guatemala's relationship with the U.S., any message from President Bush supporting anti-impunity efforts and the prosecution of Rios Montt would have a strong impact on the ground in Guatemala."
But hey, the onus doesn't rest solely with Berger to make a move here. What are the odds of a contrite Bush making a Clinton-style apology for US involvement in these crimes? It's worth reminding ourselves today of what Clinton said in 1999:
"It is important that I state clearly that support for military forces or intelligence units which engaged in violent and widespread repression of the kind described in the report was wrong," Clinton said, reading carefully from handwritten notes. "And the United States must not repeat that mistake. We must, and we will, instead continue to support the peace and reconciliation process in Guatemala."
This report from Robert Parry at the time- tracks the journey that led up to that moment the last time a sitting US President visited Guatemala. The Clinton administration had declassified scores of the secret U.S. documents in the late 1990s- the Peace Accords had not long been signed and the Historical Clarification Commission had just reported. It feels a world away now.
Background
Apologizing of course is not with out controversy, William Blum pointed out that: "the word "sorry" did not cross the president's [Clinton's] lips, nor did the word "apologize", nor the word "compensation". For other views on the significance of this moment see:
Then there's this on Bush's track record on apologizing from Robert Parry's report on that V-E Day speech on May 7 2005:
"Bush's troubling message was that the only real U.S. mistake in the Cold War was not to aggressively challenge the Soviet Union right after the defeat of Germany, even if that meant vastly more bloodshed. Bush also expressed no regret for some of the most egregious U.S. actions in the Cold War, such as complicity in genocide in Guatemala, state terrorism in Chile or the fearsome death toll in the Vietnam War."
Finally, for family precedents, Dubya's dad is quoted as saying the following in 1988 as Vice President:
"I will never apologize for the United States of America. I don't care what the facts are."
First off, let's say that we never set out on this blog with the intention of being politically controversial. This is not a Political blog with a capital 'P'.
Now let's explain the images appearance on this blog. Original political satire they might not be. Contemporary political satire they are, popping up in Guatemala and much of America. The anti-Chavez graphic was on Guatemalan blogger Marta Yolanda Díaz-Durán's blog Principios. While the anti-Bush graphic (via Ulises Rodríguez/EFE/Corbis) was sprayed on a wall (and probably is still being sprayed on others) in Guatemala as part of the protests against the US President's arrival in the country.
Leaving the merits of comparing either Bush or Chavez with Hitler to one side, these crafted images represent polar opposites: both suggesting the road to avoid and not necessarily the road to take. Perhaps it's a measure of just how polarized debate has become that both sides equate their nemesis with the closest thing there is to a universally despised icon.
This growing undercurrent towards polarization in politics across the American continent is becoming less of an undercurrent and more of an out and out wave with each passing week. If Bush's uncomfortable foray into Latin America has demonstrated anything- it's surely got to be this growing polarization. Formulating clear distinct political options is one thing, political polarization where citizens are forced to take sides in the battles of others, is quite another. The "you're either for us or against us" philosophy that snuffs out political debate, has got to be one of the least effective ways of sowing peace and social justice out there.
How you personally describe this polarization is up to you: Bush/Chavez; neoliberal/socialist; dictatorship/democracy; populist/unpopulist; petrol/ethanol. May be daring political programmes always tend to create more polarization... may be Latin American politics are that much more polarized already and this current wave is nothing new. Hey, may be I'm hinting at a centre ground that just doesn't exist, and what do I know anyway? In the UK we complain because there's not enough to distinguish between our political representatives- red or blue are both the same is the all too common refrain. If only we could have a little dose of polarized politics to reinvigorate our staid British political culture, some might say.
The point, though, buried in this post is that Guatemalans are second to no-one in understanding the lethal potential of ultimate unfettered polarization fanned by outside powers. Bush and Chavez given the luxury of power and influence beyond their respective borders, may attempt their own disengagement and shun constructive dialogue with each other,* that's their prerogative. The rights or wrongs of that contest aside, when Guatemala decides its own road later this year, as idealistic as it sounds, let's hope the result is a step closer to greater dialogue and social justice, and away from a more bitter intense political polarization.
Background
*Ok, so Chavez might be forgiven a moderate antipathy towards Bush after Bush supported a coup in Venezuela that landed Chavez in jail in 2002. The point is (granted the reality of the situation may mean otherwise) idealistically, whatever is achieved in isolation could potentially be multiplied many times over by cooperating together, guided by social justice concerns.
It's worth pondering the media coverage of Bush's Latin American trip which has been widely accompanied by the dull, unmistakable playground drum beat of "fight, fight, fight".
Oscar Berger's preparation for the imminent arrival of homologue el Señor Presidente Jorge Arbusto has gone about as well as the above photo op (from El Periodico via El Canche). If massive sinkholes had to open up in Guatemala's capital, diplomatic rows had to blow up with usually friendly neighbours, and senior members of his administration had to resign, I'm guessing Berger's preference wouldn't be a few days off when George Bush decides to show up in town.
Talking of Carlos Vielman, before he resigned (along with Police Chief Erwin Sperisen- at least they offered their resignation- we're reading conflicting reports) seems he came over a tad pedantic when he stopped by at Congress:
"Tras dos horas de lectura de la lista de asesores, los diputados comenzaron a desesperarse y a pedir al presidente de la Junta Directiva del Congreso, Rubén Darío Morales, que interrumpiera a Vielmann, a lo que no accedió."
Seems bloggers are joining the welcoming parties (writing welcoming speeches, decorating the streets, etc.) as the Bush cavalcade journeys around Latin America. However, appears there's confusion about who should be thanking who.
'The American taxpayer has been very generous about providing aid in our neighborhood, and most of that aid is social justice money -- in other words, it's money for education and health,' Bush said in an interview with CNN En Espanol. Since he took office, U.S. aid to Latin America has gone from $800 million to $1.6 billion, the president said. 'And yet we don't get much credit for it,' he said. (ABC Money)
"Irónicamente el que el presidente de la nación más rica y poderosa del mundo visite una ciudad del planeta, no es gratis. Las visitas del presidente George W. Bush a Latinoamérica-tardías, en la opinión de muchos críticos-le convienen más a él que a los países que Bush eligió visitar." - Edgar Ayala - Oakland, California, EEUU
It's interesting the timing of the $80 million dollar loan from the Wolfowitz-led World Bank just announced (06-03-07). This at a time when many Latin American countries are rejecting the Washington Consensus.
Argentinian President Nestor Kirchner: "In the Paris Club they tell us: 'You must have an agreement with the International (Monetary) Fund to be able to pay the debt.' We say to them: 'Sirs, we are sovereign. We want to pay the debt but no way in hell are we going to make an agreement again with the IMF."
Guatemala seems to be embracing the Washington consensus ever more closely- hence Bush's decision to stop off at Guatemala now- and Paul Wolfowitz's visit last year. Given the chronic instability in Guatemala's own financial sector it seems ironic that it will shortly be playing host and setting the backdrop to Governors of the Interamerican Development Bank shortly after Bush's departure.
Coming back to recent events starting with the murder of three Salvadoran politicians, the backdrop for Berger's negotiations with Bush is utter lawlessness. An article in the New York Times (05-03-07) set the scene for outsiders looking in on Guatemala speculating on its possible causes:
"A high-ranking United Nations official here, who requested anonymity to protect his diplomatic neutrality, said he believed the Interior Ministry and the National Police created death squads over the last three years, trying to combat the wave of violent crime by gangs like the notorious Mara Salvatrucha, a group started in Los Angeles by the children of Central American civil-war refugees of the 1980s."
This impression has been underlined by the release of the annual pronouncement on human rights around the world by the US State Department. Here's the intro to the 2006 report on Guatemala:
"Although the government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, serious problems remained. The human rights and societal problems included the government's failure to investigate and punish unlawful killings committed by members of the security forces; widespread societal violence, including numerous killings; corruption and substantial inadequacies in the police and judicial sectors... [more]"
All in all, it doesn't bode well for Berger being able to capitalize on his home advantage and press for the Guatemalan agenda with Bush when the two meet later this week.
Postscript
Lingering on the US State Department's report on human rights assessment country by country - begs the question - where's the report on the US? And which country gets to write it. I'm sure there's a stack of candidates who'd like to venture an opinion. In Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's words:
"We do not issue these reports because we think ourselves perfect, but rather because we know ourselves to be deeply imperfect, like all human beings and the endeavors that they make."
Whatever, it seems those in the US administration get to hang out everybody else's dirty washing- but not their own. Be more interesting if the US concentrated more on investigating its own human abuses and left international reporting to an international institution. Interesting reading the US's report on the UK- misses out (the report was published in Jan 2007) the collusion of British police with Unionist terrorists in the murders of more than a dozen people.
Guatemalan Vice President Eduardo Stein doesn't seem to agree with the report on Guatemala- but rather than quibble over the grade given- it'd be better to question the right of the teacher to set the exam in the first place.
Guatemala and El Salvador have so much in common- but at the moment it's hard to believe it. Guatemala-El Salvador relations haven't been this frosty for a long while. A report from Reuters earlier today (02-03-07) noted:
Neighboring El Salvador, itself a country with high rates of crime and violence, is demanding Berger take action over the killing of the lawmakers. "There are authorities in Guatemala who must face justice, we have requested this with total respect to President Berger," El Salvador President Antonio Saca said.
El Salvador's President Tony Saca said "high-level" people in Guatemala had been in involved in the crimes, and called on Guatemala to demonstrate that it was confronting the problem. "Guatemala has to show it is changing, and it has to go as far as necessary," Saca said during an interview in Washington, where he is visiting.
El presidente de El Salvador, Antonio Saca, aseguró ayer que autoridades de alto rango del país se encuentran implicadas en el asesinato de cuatro salvadoreños.
"Saca exigió que se termine la "historia triste de impunidad" que vivió siempre el país y advirtió que para ello sería necesario tomar decisiones difíciles. "Hay autoridades de Guatemala que deben ir ante la justicia y eso es lo que hemos pedido con todo respeto al presidente Berger. Que llegue hasta las últimas consecuencias"."
El Periodico also led on Wednesday with the news about a campaign being waged in El Salvador to boycott Guatemala as a holiday destination during the holy week holiday period.
Update (03-03-07)
Reports have come through of threats to journalists covering the story of the murder of El Salvadoran members of the Central America Parliament. El Diablogico has more in English- covered by Prensa Libre in Guatemala and picked up by the Knight Center for Journalism in the US.
Cerigua has reported on comments made by the representative of the Office of the High Commission of the United Nations for Human Rights in Guatemala (OACNUDH), Anders Kompas:
El representante de la Oficina de la Alta Comisionada de la ONU para los Derechos Humanos expresó que preocupa cómo las autoridades dan mensajes contradictorios sobre la muerte de los agentes, presuntos asesinos de los parlamentarios, "silenciados" según se maneja en diversos medios, lo que afecta su credibilidad y provoca desconfianza.
Este problema de connotación binacional (Guatemala y El Salvador) ha revelado que sólo sería la punta del iceberg del asunto y que el gobierno ha esperado demasiado para condenar este fenómeno, que desde hace tiempo han denunciado varios sectores, dijo Kompas.
The Guatemalan government keen to be seen to be reacting to recent events has sacked two high level members of the National Civil Police (PNC) Javier Figueroa, (subdirector de Operaciones), and Víctor Soto, (jefe de la División de Investigación Criminal (Dinc)). Siglo XXI has more. Erwin Sperisen and Carlos Vielman are feeling the heat:
El director de la PNC, Erwin Sperisen, fue quien promovió en el cargo a Figueroa; incluso, el jueves declaró en el Congreso: "Cuenta con todo el apoyo". Ayer, en tono molesto cuando se le preguntó la razón del cambio de decisión, fue tajante al decir: "Eso fue el día de ayer. Hoy, él se retiró. Si se destituye, malo, y si no se destituye, malo… Nosotros estamos tratando de dejar en toda la libertad al MP para que haga las investigaciones que crea convenientes, y que no se crea o se asuma que están protegidos", agregó.
Según Vielmann, el presidente Óscar Berger tiene desde el domingo su renuncia al cargo. "Sin embargo, él ha considerado que me quede", indicó. "Primero tenemos que ir a rendir cuentas al Congreso. Yo no evalúo renunciar en tanto no pase la interpelación. Vamos a asistir, porque soy una persona acostumbrada a rendir cuentas; no me escondo en función de las crisis, porque no tenemos nada que ocultar", aseguró.
Update 06-03-07
"Cuando uno ve la situación que pasa Guatemala, se da cuenta cómo ha avanzado El Salvador", manifestó Saca. More in Siglo XXI...
Comments and Analysis
This is an article from SERPAL by Carlos Iaquinandi Castro via Albedrio that pieces together the recent events: "Guatemala-El Salvador: gobiernos, mafias y narcotraficantes se reparten la herencia de la impunidad"
Again Albedrio has an interesting article by Louisa Reynolds y Luis Solano written in Inforpress that provides analysis on what these events tell us about parallel and clandestine powers in Guatemala.
Welcome, Guatemala Solidarity Network (GSN) based in the United Kingdom supports the people of Guatemala who continue to struggle for change after centuries of oppression, violence, racism and exploitation.
You can keep in touch with all the news and views on Guatemala in many, many blogs and sources of information here via Pageflakes.
We just received the following press release about the new English translation of Oswaldo Salazar's book "Por el lado Oscuro". Salazar was recently in London to take part in launches of the book that included an event in Canning House and then the Instituto Cervantes. Having read the book - it is certainly a compelling read. And pre-revolutionary Guatemala is certainly an interesting time to look at. 
