The war ended in 1996

But its effects are everywhere to this day. On Saturday we went to Santa Lucia, a pueblo near the lake, to visit Julio Alva, a man who grew up in Santa Lucia and has created a support group and program for widows from the war.

Julio gave a us an overview of the civil war and how the Mayan people were caught in the middle between the guerrilas and the soldiers. For the most part, the Mayans just wanted to live in peace. However, if the guerrilas thought someone was helping the army they would kill them. If the army suspected someone was helping the guerillas they would torture and kill the whole family and put them on display as a warning to others in the village. Sometimes, they would massacre the whole village. This was happening in the 80s and 90s so nearly everyone I encounter who is over 30 has memories of this terrible and terrifying time.

During our visit Julio had one of the widows give her story. She was a small mild-mannered woman dressed in the traditional Mayan traje. She spoke very softly, looking down the whole time. Our program assistant translated from her Spanish into English for us. One day, out of nowhere, soldiers showed up and took her husband. She left to go search for him and found his body in the middle of the town square, tortured and shot. She had nine children and no way to support them, not to mention the overwhelming grief of losing your husband in such a violent way. She ended up moving in with her parents and a little later the soldiers showed up and her father disappeared.

As sad and terrible as this story is the truly insidious part is that this happened all over the country but no one talks about it. Everyone is still in fear. And they have reason to be. People who talk about the atrocities of the government still disappear or go to prison on trumped-up charges. The worst part of terrorism and terrorist tactics is that they work. People are still living in terror 15 years after the fact. 15 years after "peace."

The other sad part is that there is nothing to support these survivors. There are no mental health services to address the inevitable PTSD and nothing to help support and raise the children left behind.

So keep all this in mind when you encounter the hard-working Guatemalan man who cuts your lawn, or the smiling Guatemala woman who is cleaning your hotel room. You have no idea what drove them to seek asylum, legal or not, in the U.S. What would you do if this happened to you and your family?

This day was very emotional and added a new dimension to my experience in Guatemala.

More later.

kf