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Vida, migración, tragedia
Amilcar Rolando Corzo Márquez Profesor de Arqueología, Centro Universitario de El Petén Coordinador de la Organización y Capacitación, Propetén Propetén Project -- Conservation International in Petén, Guatemala |
Introduction
and contextualization
Norman B. Schwartz, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Delaware Licenciado Amilcar Corzo Márquez was born in Petén, Guatemala. He has done community development, education and research work in rural Petén, northern Guatemala. He has a special interest in patterns of migration. He also has worked in Q'eqchi' Maya communities and speaks the language. He holds a degree in education and social science from the University of San Carlos in Guatemala, and a degree in archeology from the Centro Universitario de El Petén of the University of San Carlos, where is currently Professor of Education. He also is the coordinator for community development projects at Conservation International/ProPetén. Dr. Norman B. Schwartz, an anthropologist, began his ethnographic and ecological research in Petén in 1960. In 1990 he published Forest Society: A Social History of Peten, Guatemala (University of Pennsylvania). Dr. Schwartz has consulted with Conservation International, the World Bank and other organizations working for conservation and development in Petén. He is currently a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Delaware. Lic. Corzo and Dr. Schwartz have worked together for several years, to help build local capacity in Petén so that Peteneros will be able monitor and evaluate their ecosystem and development projects independently. Licenciado Corzo's essay is a painful reminder that balancing the claims of conservation and of socially-just development is complex. What follows is an attempt to provide a context for his essay. COMMENT: The Chortí Maya of the mountainous department of Chiquimula, eastern Guatemala and Honduras suffered greatly from the Spanish conquest and all that followed from it. Most of them are impoverished subsistence farmers struggling with land shortages in a part of Guatemala that is prone to turmoil. In 1973, with the help of a Belgian priest, sixty-four families formed an agricultural cooperative in Camotán, Chiquimula. In the 1960s the government of Guatemala began to colonize the northern lowlands of Petén by selling land at low prices to settlers. Concerned about an influx of Mexican peasants into western Petén and about rumors that Mexico might build a hydroelectric facility on the western side of the Usumacinta River (the border between western Petén and Chiapas, Mexico) which could flood much of western Petén, the Guatemalan government encouraged peasants to settle along the Usumacinta River as a human barrier against unwanted Mexican incursions. As part of this plan, the Chortí were transported to an isolated site in northwest Petén, just opposite the famous Maya archaeological site of Yaxchilán in Mexico, and left on their own to adapt to the tropical forest. With the help of the priest, and against all odds, the cooperative prospered, and by 1982 it completed the purchase of and obtained legal title to 9,133 hectares in Centro Campesino One. But in 1984, as part of a brutal counter-insurgency campaign, the army forced members of the cooperative to abandon their land. Some fled to Mexico, and 36 were relocated to a far less favorable site called Centro Campesino Two, where they now live. Once again, the Chortí were immiserated. In 1990 the Guatemalan government, with encouragement and financing from the US government among others, created the Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR). Centro Campesino One fell within a core zone of the MBR. The Guatemalan National Council of Protected Areas prohibits human settlement and all productive activities other than scientific investigation and low-impact tourism in the core zones of the MBR. The creation of the MBR caught the Chortí in a Catch-22. Although the civil war in Guatemala ended in December 1996, the Chortí were not permitted to farm or otherwise exploit the lands of Centro Campesino One. At the same time, since settlers who own more than 45 hectares cannot buy or acquire title to state land in Petén, the Chortí could not buy the lands of Centro Campesino Two as long as they held title to Centro Campesino One; and they did not want to give up their title to the latter. Around 1992, several non-government organizations (NGOs), partly funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, initiated development and conservation projects in Petén. Because Centro Campesino One is an integral part of a critical biological corridor, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) decided to purchase Centro Campesino One from the Chortí and give the land to a Guatemalan conservation organization that would manage the site under strict protection to conserve it for all time and for all people. In return, the Chortí would be able to obtain title to the lands of Centro Campesino Two at low cost. Members of the cooperative were divided over the issue. Some felt TNC's offer was attractive in that they would be able to obtain title to land they could work, because they had effectively quit the cooperative and lost interest in Centro Campesino One, and/or because they preferred cash to a prolonged battle with what they felt were superior forces. More of them felt that TNC's offer (about Q333 per hectare)a was outrageously low, that they could get better offers, and that they should retain title to Centro Campesino One for the sake of their children. They also resented and feared what they perceived as threats that the government would expropriate Centro Campesino One if they did not accept TNC's offer. In the end, they sold Centro Campesino One and bought the lands of Centro Campesino Two. A cooperative member's share of the purchase price depended on his/her level of activity in the cooperative. Some received a maximum of Q73,500 and others the minimum of Q18,375, in a lump sum payment. The entire episode has weakened the unity of the cooperative and, unaccustomed to what are for them such large sums of cash, some of the Chortí spent too much too fast on non-durable goods. After centuries of presecution and discrimination, the Chortí have learned to keep things to themselves. Nonetheless, it is clear that many of the cooperative members are bitter and angry at what they perceive to be the latest installment of domination and abuse by outsiders, this time including "gringos." This is not the place to pass judgment on or weigh the merits of what transpired. But it is the place to note that it is doubtful that the Chortí of Centro Campesino would talk freely about any of this to most of us. But they trust Lic. Corzo, and so all of us have the opportunity to read the following essay. a Q (Quetzal) is the unit of currency in Guatemala; the exchange rate in 1998 was about Q7.00 = US$1.00 Return to reading. |
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Last updated December 14, 1999