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Voices and images: Mayan Ixil women of Chajul
Chapter One: La Violencia and Its Effects
10. An Ixil woman in the guerilla
One of the women that we interviewed in the villages told us about her experiences during la violencia. Her father was participating in the organization known as the URNG. When it became known that her father was part of it, they went after him to kill him, but he fled, and only she was left with her mother. The army harassed her mother a lot. When her father returned, they fled to the mountains, leaving behind all their things, including a little store that her father had. She told us:
“I joined the guerilla because they always said that the war being waged belonged to el pueblo. So I, with my other woman friend, understood that it was necessary that we join the guerilla, because we knew, we realized, that it was necessary to fight united; we joined as a matter of conscience.
It went very well for me when I was in the guerilla because I learned some Spanish. I learned to read and to write. I learned something about the rights of women. I became aware of what was going on in Guatemala, who are those who harm us, who are those that exploit us, and why it is that there are poor and rich, why there are soldiers and guerillas, why there was a war.
The other women in the village may think that we were involved in “a people’s war,” but we see that because of the struggle we are living a little better because if the guerilla had never started, surely now there would be even more exploitation and discrimination.
In thinking about the peace process, I think that it hasn’t been carried out as planned because we have the case of Monsignor Gerardi. Why did they kill him? Where is the peace? There is no peace, they say there is, but it is only words. Peace has not been achieved.
In the future, we want our children to know their rights also. We want them to vote in elections too. But since you have to know whom to vote for, we want them to be able to study in the future so that they can decide about the needs of their community.”
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