An estimated 200,000 people were killed in Guatemala's decades-long civil war, and another 100,000 "disappeared." One group of forensic anthropologists is using technology to help the country come to terms with its past.
In this report Xeni Jardin back from blogging in Guatemala, focuses on the work of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) that has been exhuming clandestine graves that hold victims killed in political massacres. It's worth pointing out here that for more information on this subject Kathy Reichs recent book, "Grave Secrets" is a valuable and poignant account of the issues at stake in this facing up to buried history. "Guatemala: la tierra arrasada" directed by José Gaya Organización and produced by Colectivo Miradas (2004) is now available online. There's also a trailer from a documentary, "Guatemala: De 11 a 3 - Histoire d'un massacre" in Spanish with French subtitles.
It's interesting to contrast these four glimpses of a violent past in Guatemala in the 70s and 80s with "Guatemala, sus cambios en los últimos 30 años", a lecture by Dr. Francisco Pérez de Antón at the Universidad Francisco Marroquín (17-01-07). It's to be noted that Pérez de Antón's way of describing the period 1976-86 in particular makes no mention of massacres, let alone genocide. This reflection on the past prefers, for different reasons, to avoid any discussion of the human impact of the armed conflict.
