The Women of Guatemala

International Woman's Day (March 8) saw a variety of feminine related social issues in a prominent position in Guatemala.

Starting from "los ricos" down, the announcement of the First Lady of Guatemala Sandra Torres de Colom that she will run for president is raising few eyebrows of surprise, thought it is causing some constitutional consternation: relatives of the President are not allowed to run for public office. At any rate, Torres de Colom is already figuring second in most polls behind School of the Americas grad Otto Perez Molina. Perhaps we could even look at the story of the presidential race as allegorical. Why?

Violence against women in Guatemala has been out of control for decades, with nearly 700 murders being documented in 2010 alone. The AP is quoting activists as blaming the general devolution of society during the Civil War for the creation of a culture of violence, particularly against women. Not surprising for a society where the military trained soldiers by having them raise puppies then having the same soldier kill the puppies and drink the blood. I'm sure the people - particularly the women - of Guatemala have much to look forward to if Otto Perez Moliona and his "Mano Dura, Cabeza y Corazon" coalition takes office.

And finally, the archbishop of Guatemala, Oscar Julian Vian Morales, was interviewed by PBS this week and was questioned about reproduction and violence. On reproduction, the archbishop mostly toed the party line, though he was vague enough with his statements regarding contraception as a way to save human life that a poor Catholic might interpret child-bearing and starving to death in such a way that they might find consolation from el padre. In terms of the violence against women, the Archbishop refused to take a hard line on that issue as well, stating that women and men can attend classes to learn to "give her the place she really deserves." I know what he means to say, but it really does sound like putting women in their place, no?

All in all, Guatemala seems like the place destined to make Ciudad Juarez look attractive this season. Poor Guatemala, so far from God, so close to ... Guatemala.

*The snark implied by the photo is, yes, intended.

Ozumba...Or, More on Violence in Mexico

Recently I was looking at videos onYouTube for the town where I did some of my dissertation research. Ozumba is a great little town - religiously a bit of an odd duck, but as a community it is quite a place to visit (like any of the medium sized market towns in rural Mexico). Clearly most of the videos were a celebration of community civic/religious culture and probably as important to Ozumba "ex-pats" as to the town itself. That's when I found:



Ouch. Again, my concern on violence in Mexico has less to do with organized crime and more to do with the insidious form taken in the video (and the same concern I have for violence in the US or anywhere else): Violence of hate between two parties as entertainment for others. US snuff films, torture-porn, Mexican tabloids...this is the violence that concerns me more than the clash of two cartels. Even TV violence, that generates up to 40 acts of violence an hour doesn't disturb me as much as this personal expression of lust for blood. What distinguishes the psychopath from the rest of society is the inability to feel compassion or sentiment for other people as people. They see them only as objects that revolve around the personal sphere of the psychopath, deserving of care or attention only when they fit the needs of the psychopath. Understandably, the materialist US society generates more psychopaths than Mexico, but this video reminds me that the crumbling of community in Mexico and the link to personal violence is very real.

The OTHER Violence in Mexico

As the narco-violence in Mexico grows, my students are expressing extreme distress about our upcoming trip to Mexico City and Oaxaca. Aside from pointing out to them that 2 people an hour are murdered in the US, I pointed out a statistic that worries me a little more. Last year at this time the Calderon administration discussed a fairly disturbing number: 80% of women murderd in Mexico are killed by a family member, and 30% of women assaulted felt the attacker did it out of love. At the same time, Calderon mentioned that the traffic of humans - not just for migration - is the third most profitable crime in Mexico, with 80% of the victims being young girls and women.

I hate that my students watch the news and have a "Barbarous Mexico" moment, one that will probably stop them from going to Mexico and learning more about it in a way that could help them contribute to it as fellow citizens of the world. Well, a way beyond stopping their own possible recreational narcotics habits and funding the cartels...but I guess that is best left for another post.