Here's a timeline link of Guatemala's history.
It's pretty striking. I need to read a lot more about it. But from what I understand, the US was afraid that Guatemala was going to be taken over by communists in the 50s, and the US staged a coup that flung the country into several decades of civil war where hundreds of thousands of people died, mostly killed by the government, and most of them were indigenous people. I've also heard (again, i need to read more) that the Military that was doing a lot of this killing was funded by the US.
There's also some incredible indigenous populations of people in Guatemala still today. There are departments (like states) where over 80% of the people speak an indigenous language (of mayan origin) and many still dress in the traditional ways. I think that is pretty incredible.
so, check it out, it's interesting. if you know more than I, tell me what's up.
4 comments:
I wish I could fill you in on more of the history of this country. I'm a little embarrassed to say that I don't know more about my daughter's country of birth. We did take a driving tour of GC when we were there, but it was hard to keep up with everything our guide was saying, especially with a new baby in my arms. :) I too need to do more reading. I do know that it is a relatively new republic, and that the civil war, like you said, was a horrible time in their history and has left many, many in poverty. But there is also a rich heritage that I am excited to share with Aza. And the indigenous dress is gorgeous, we got a couple huiples (sp?) for Azaleah when we were there. Thanks for the link. Here is a link to more ancient timeline of the Mayas: http://www.cancun-travelhotels.com/id35.html And another tourist site is http://www.cancunsouth.com/plan_history.html and that has some interesting links, like one to some Mayan words and English & Spanish equivalents (although I know there are so many dialects I don't know how that works). Anyway, sorry this got so long. Thanks for your post! Sara Lott
Sorry, one more link that is really great, there's some beautiful pictures and brief descriptions on both ancient and the beautiful modern Maya peoples. http://www.culturefocus.com/guatemala_maya.htm
Sara L.
Let me try that last one again. Sorry to take up so much space on here.
http://www.culturefocus.com/guatemala_maya.htm
good stuff sara. thanks
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