My Life at PLQ

I’m the student coordinator at a Spanish language school in Quetzaltenango. A school that has a social justice focus. We are considered the most “political” in comparison to the other language schools because we put an emphasis on educating students about the social and political realities of Guatemala. Our mission statement was born in response to two murders that took place in 1987 in Quetzaltenango. René Leiva Cayax and Danilo Alvarado were student activist at the university in Xela. They were kidnapped by 6 police officers (at the time the police department was under the control of the military regime), tortured and murdered for their roles on their university campus.

In 1988, a group of teachers got together to create a school that would not only offer Spanish instruction but also denounce these murders and raise international awareness about Guatemala. Therefore, every Monday morning I give a 90 minute orientation to new students focusing on the last 100 years of Guatemala, highlighting major historical events and statistical data about present day and stats regarding the 36 years of internal conflict where over 200,000 men, women, and children were murdered, 440 villages massacred through a political campaign called "tierra arrasada" or "scorched earth" and 1.5 million people displaced. And I never forget to tell these new students how the United States fully supported this war, the repressive climate, and oppressive military regime. The US carried out a coup in 1954 ending the democratic spring and democratic government and later the US provided financial assistance, military weapons and equipment to the Guatemalan army, and provided training to the military dictators at the School of the Americas (today currently known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation). The number one enemies of the state at the time were the “guerillas.” This term is used to refer to the men and women that went and trained in the mountains to fight against the military regime. The war ended in 1996 with the signing of the Peace Accords but although there is no war, people still die at the same right as if there were a war going on. Violence, poverty, and hunger are common realities in this country.

After orientation students start classes and I head to the office to respond to an inbox full of emails, questions, and registrations from future students. During the rest of the day, students come in and out of the office to pay tuition, to chat, ask questions, complain or give thanks because they love their teacher. Some things I hear are “I think I have bed bugs, look at my legs?” Or “Where can I volunteer?” or “I started dating my host brother and now we are having problems, should I move out?” Every Friday night is graduation night where we have music, dinner, and singing. Its tradition to sing “Bella Chao” and have the whole school singing “Soy communista toda la vida!” Ha!Ha!

The school plans daily excursions and hikes within the area and show documentaries and films in our presentation room. I translate conferences (or guest speakers) three times a week. Conferences are different every week and are geared toward educating students about Guatemala. Some conference titles include; The Guerilla Radio Station “Voz Popular,” Women in Guatemala, Mayan Spirituality, the Politics of Rios Montt, or The Damage of Mining Companies. The most touching and difficult conferences are personal testimonies. Those who come to talk about a massacre they witnessed, their experience living in the mountains as a guerilla, or an experience as a refugee. The most difficult one thus far was today with the story of Don Pedro. Don Pedro was a leader (and still is a leader) of a cooperative of campesino workers in 1985. His cooperative offered people credit to purchase, provided training to people on human rights and helped organized his community. During the civil war, the military targeted various groups and individuals that were suspected of being “against” the state, for being “subversives” or “communist” so this included union workers, university students, professors, lawyers, and community leaders, even priests and nuns. If you were caught or even suspected of giving food or medical attention to anyone in the guerilla front, this was an automatic death sentence. The army had control over the state and governed the country so there was no such thing as having a trial or investigation into crimes committed by the army.

Don Pedro was suspected of being part of the guerilla front and in 1985 he was kidnapped from his own home by the army, tortured and held captive for 14 days. By some miracle he survived for returning after capture was unheard of. He came to the school today to share his story. He was honest and vulnerable and humbly narrated his experience. As the translator, I repeat everything using first person. For example, he said “Sacaron mi ropa, estaba desnudo en el piso, mis manos y pies atados, y me golpearon.” And I would translate “They took off all my clothes, I was naked on the floor, my hands and feet were tired, and they beat me.” As he went deeper and further into the story, I wasn’t sure if I was capable of repeating such cruelty. I’ve never had any formal training on translating so nothing could have really prepared me for this. Listening to a story is one thing, but having to repeat in front of a group is another. “They bit both my ears and then took a machete and kept hitting my face with it. They put me into this hole about the size of this room. And every day they would interrogate me demand that I talk. They would beat me some more. One day, they took a noose and put it around my neck…they would hang me and then they would drop me. Another day, they dropped big rocks onto my stomach. Another day, they said they were going to burn me if I didn’t give up information. So they put a gallon of gasoline and firewood next to me. Once they asked me if I was thirsty and then urinated on me and said “Drink this.” After 8 days of no food or water, my entire body was black from bruises and not an inch free from a wound...I would ask God to kill me and end this hell. When I was finally released I realized that I was being held in a parish and I saw a huge crucifix on the front of the building.” He told the details of his story for about an hour and a half and ended by telling us that his family fled to Mexico when he got word that the army was coming back for him. And after this intense story the only thing he asked of his audience was "to speak to others in your home country about what has happened here."

Don Pedro, you are so brave to tell your story in front of strangers. To relive those horrific moments, the details of your torture. You inspire me. How do you still believe in God? How are you not bitter? How do you not want to kill? How do you still have hope for Guatemala? I would have asked you these questions myself, but didn’t have the strength to do so without crying profusely. I didn’t think it was fair to cry and take any attention away from your story. I am just the messenger and translator and my only goal was to make sure I conveyed your story how you told it. But that wasn’t easy Don Pedro because when you started to cry and when I saw your mind was back in that place, back in that hole, all I wanted to do was stop writing and stop listening and give you a hug, tell you how great you are...but again this is not about me. So I just continued. I held back the lump in my throat but couldn’t help the tears welding in my eyes. I hope I didn’t fail in telling your story and I hope you saw my tears as a symbol of my solidarity to you in that moment. All the students in the room were patiently listening, suffering inside, and completely present with you. Though language was a barrier for many of the beginner Spanish students and though not everyone understood your words, they understood your story. Thank you Don Pedro.

We put away the chairs in our small conference room and the students individually thanked Don Pedro for his story. The light chatter in the room gently shifted to the upcoming soccer game that night and students headed back to class. “Can I take a picture with you?” One of the students asked Don Pedro. “Yes” he says. As the room empties, I look at the new mural up on the wall and remember why we chose that quote located in the center. For people like you Don Pedro, who cannot be defeated and who continue to have hope. For people like you that believe in the Guatemalan dream. “Podrán cortar todas las flores, pero no podrán detener la primavera.”- Pablo Neruda