After hiding from Justice for four years in Mexico, former President Alfonso Portillo was extradited to Guatemala, where he will face serious charges of corruption and other felonies.

Blogger Tigre 007 said that Guatemala is celebrating the capture. It might just be the case to mark the beginning of declining corruption levels in Guatemala. Happy news for Guatemalans, because  one of the largest frauds with public money might have been forgotten … but not anymore: a former President will be prosecuted in one of the countries with the highest levels of corruption.

However, many people, according to Megachapines Blog, still sympathize with the Zacapaneco (Portillo's nickname) alleging that this prosecution is fueled by political pressures and is not a fair process. Some hours later, the thought that this would be a fair process was dispelled, and the sensation that it was all a media smokescreen floats around. At Carpe Diem, Luis Figeroa writes: “Fixed like wrestling or church pews”:

Más arreglada que la lucha libre, o que las bancas de una iglesia, estuvo la entrega de Alfonso Portillo. ¿Va usted a creer que en la Torre de Tribunales había gente que, espontáneamente, gritaba ¡Zacapa te apoya!?

Full Moon by Irargerich

Legends and myths are part of our culture. Nina Maguid  mentions in her post “Of Fear and Frights”, that these stories were told in first person and usually around some source of fire, and I couldn't agree more. I used to hear local versions of some of these stories during my holidays, sitting around dining room tables at rural farmhouses, our faces lit up by a flickering kerosene lamp. All it took for a story to be recalled was the unexplained baying of dogs or a horse galloping by in the dead of the night.  Nina mentions three specific frights famous in her mother's Argentinean hometown: The bad light, the widow and the pig.

Scary creatures that jump at you by kevindoolay

According to Comodín at El Blog de Oro, this light would be used to hunt for treasure: if it was a white light, it would signal gold and silver treasure, if it was red, they had to run away, since it was the devil at work. This myths is by no means unique to Argentina: all over the world people have tried to explain the meaning of these mysterious lights which appear at twilight, like in Spain and Chile.

The Widow was a woman slighted in love, who died when she discovered her husband was unfaithful. She signed a deal with the devil to remain forever in this world and get her revenge. She would jump on single men's horses and ride pillion with them, and if they got frightened, she would kill them. The only way to remain unscathed was by carrying a rosary or crucifix and not getting scared. This myth is so fixed in Argentinean folklore that the expression “getting visited by the Widow” is a synonym for an unexpected or disagreeable event.

El Loco Bender (Crazy Bender) also writes about the Black Widow, and adds a bit more flair to the hair-raising story by promising a lonely, slow and painful death to those fickle or unfaithful men she meets.

Costa Rica has a similar myth, known as la Cegua. La Cegua will hitch a ride from lonely and unfaithful men, luring them with her attractive appearance, but once she is atop the horse, when the men look back they will see that her face is a horse's skull covered in putrid meat, and she will bite their cheek to mark them as unfaithful. However, blogger Elemental writes that the outcome may be far more dire: all unfaithful men die with their eyes wide open in fear, and those who weren't unfaithful keep their lives, but remain impotent for the rest of their lives.

Elemental also writes about the Cadejos, a demon dog that would appear at night with the sound of dragging chains, although none would be visible. The size of a small calf, this dog had matted hair, giant fangs and sizzling eyes, nose and ears, and would scare anything in its way, from naughty children and wayward men to farm animals. Nevertheless, this “fright” is considered benevolent, since it will walk along drunken men and make sure they get home safely, even protecting them from other beings of the night such as La Llorona or common thieves. In Guatemala, however, they consider that there are two versions of this dog: the black one and the white one. The white dog will protect anyone it walks with, and in Deguate.com, Mrs. Argentina Barcia tells of how the Cadejos led them to find her father's dead body.  At El Blog Chapin another goose-bump inducing story tells of how El Cadejos appeared to a city slicker staying at a homestead, and how people should take heed when warnings of the supernatural kind are delivered by country folk.

La Llorona by rareworlds

Our last legend for today is that of La Llorona, [en]  one that caused me to fear cats in heat for years and years of my childhood . La Llorona is “the crying woman, and this is one of the multinational frights. From Mexico to Chile, the Llorona stays near bodies of water (which might include a water tank in your garden) and wails for her missing children. She might just be there to scare you, or if you are in Colombia [es],  she might want you to hold her baby for just one second, since she's very tired, and then you'll be condemned to being La Llorona until someone takes the burden off your hands. The story of how her children went missing varies from one country to the other, but most have some of the same elements. Women who married men who were much richer than they were, got slighted or abandoned, and decided to take their anger out on their children by drowning them, to later regret their choice. Others versions have a young and flighty woman who leaves her baby out by a river rock where she things he'll be safe while she goes out dancing, and then the river rises and takes the baby away, and so the woman remains near rivers, asking everyone if they have seen her children.

The following Costa Rican animated short film, Asusto, by Pablo and Francisco Céspedes Jr showcases most, if not all the Costa Rican legends, including the ox-less cart and the headless priest. No translation necessary: there seems to be no need for words when you are busy running away from fright after fright.

You can read a lot about many "first places" on rankings by Guatemala: corruption, poverty, low literacy rates and violence against women. That is why bloggers and the artist community were thrilled when we finally had great news. We won the Best Latin American Movie award at the San Sebastian Festival in Spain. Actually we did not. Guatemalan young film producer, Julio Hernandez did, with his film "Gasolina".

Everyone under thirty-five is thrilled! Smiles and nice comments everywhere!

The most interesting detail is that recently awarded films do not portray Guatemala as a Paradise, as a perfect, happy place, but rather show different realities. It was the second film in the year to be awarded.  The first to recently report that a Guatemalan movie had received an award at the San Sebastian film festival was one of crew member's relatives, Blogger Jacri :

Son las 8:00 de la mañana hora de Guatemala y entra una llamada yo en ese momento todavía estaba durmiendo y mi mama contesta el teléfono luego solo escucho que ella empieza a llorar de la emoción al recibir la noticia desde España diciéndole de que habían ganado a la categoría en la que estaban nominados Horizontes Latinos

Charakotel , a rural Guatemalan blogger living in Denmark,congratulated Julio from his distant location, and briefly described the plot:

Haber logrado realizarla en Guatemala supone ya un triunfo, por la escasa -o nula- presencia institucional en el apoyo al arte, los obstáculos financieros, los cangrejos, etcétera, etcétera. El galardón es, entonces, doblemente merecido.

Also from Brasil, Guatemalan poet spending his year as artist in Residence in San Pablo was the second to report it, and dedicated a space on his blog, with a meaningful tittle: Little Faith: Latin American Horizons :

Este merecido premio le dará la resonancia que merece a la película de nuestro querido Julio, al mismo tiempo que podrá poner en los ojos y oídos de muchos las imágenes y sonidos de la tan cacareada Guatemala de posguerra, con sus juventudes perdidas e incendiarias. Desde ya me pongo a ver cómo traemos ese largometraje para el Brasil, donde de seguro disfrutarán tan particular historia y la espléndida forma en que Julio la cuenta.

This much deserved award will give a voice to the film of our beloved Julio, and at the same time it will present before many eyes and ears the images and sounds of the  troubled postwar Guatemala, with its youth lost, incendiary. From now on I will lind the way to bring the film to Brasil, where people will enjoy for sure the singular story and the splendid way that Julio recreated it.

Thanks to the honest effort of a bunch of young Guatemalans (the actors where almost all teenage amateur actors) and a great Director, WE will share our city, our stories, our reality, with many others in the world. It is not a perfect place, but it is a place that still has some corners left where dreams can become realities. Hopefully you will see Gasolina in your city! Habemus Guatemalan Cinema!

Photo by Andrés Asturias, courtesy of Foto30.

“A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know,” once said photographer Diane Arbus and that a photograph captures emotions, places, situations, reality, fiction, the visible and the invisible. During the month of September throughout many galleries in Guatemala City, Antigua and Quetzaltenango will celebrate “Foto30, a month of exhibitions, workshops and activities to celebrate photography.

I will like to share the impressions of bloggers, who are attending and participating in Foto30 Guatemala 2008, but first I will like to highlight how galleries and cultural organizations are using blogs to display information about the event, show the reader a preview of their exhibition, and provide more information about the artist, first impressions, critics and suggestions:

1. Casa del Mango [es] (Mango House) , a tiny, yet specialized art gallery and cultural center located in a hidden corner of Antigua. They are hosting a black and white exhibition "Una de Cal, una de Arena" (loosely translated to mean ‘you win some, you lose some'). They recently invited their guests through their blog and kindly requested them to bring some drinks to celebrate with them.
2. The blog of Luna Park Online Magazine [es] invited all the people in Quetzaltenango, where large Independence Day Celebrations are taking place, to attend the opening of Foto30, where a brilliant photographer from Xela, Luis Estacuy will showcase his work. The exhibit is hosted by the Casa Noj` Xela Cultural Center, who also describes the event on its blog, El Azar Cultural [es]. It includes a printed cultural agenda, and also constantly updates its blog to tell people about the variety of exhibitions taking place.
3. In addition, virtual galleries are moving to real spaces for Foto30. Antigua Daily Photo blog presented a Black and White exhibition (promoted and attended by many bloggers) at CafeNose, an open bar that deserves a visit.
4. The organizers created a vivid, colorful, and up to date blog Foto302008 [es], where everyone can find the daily agenda, leave comments, check links to some artists portfolios and start the conversations, which is something that the blog CCE/G [es], did when describing the exhibitions and conferences they will be hosting. Their partner center, EspacioCe! will also be hosting one of the most beautiful exhibition, Laberinto de Miradas, with works from all Iberoamerica.

September is also a good excuse to check out amazing pictures in many Guatemalan blogs, like Paracaidas [es], on her recent post Ceremonial (capturing a Mayan ceremony), or cool shots by Pictoricas blogger [es] Paula Morales, while Jose Manuel Mayorga captured the Foto 30 gigantographics in Guatemalan urban streets. Luis Villacinda´s blog Ex Acto Non Once [es] displays sweet images of kids who took one of the photo workshops .

And there are also photojournalism blogs, like Mi Mundo [es] by photographer James Rodríguez, where you can always find an images of those without a voice calling for our attention.

The governor of Petén, Rudel Alvarez, is also a blogger and he describes the problems of the environmental reserves in the region, which contains about 85% of the protected areas and the Mayan Biosphere Reserve covers more than 13% of the country.

International independent reporters and bloggers visited Petén recently, with a travel grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting to sort out the scientific claims about conservation and to document the stories. Their project was called "Future of Peten. They were lucky enough to visit the Mirador Basin Project and meet the Director of the Project, and presents The view from the Top of the Maya World:

El Mirador, as head archaeologist Richard Hansen enthusiastically reminded us yesterday from the top of La Danta pyramid, is a lost city loaded with superlatives:

* The first state-level civilization in the Western Hemisphere
* The largest (by volume) pyramid in the world
* The greatest concentration of Maya sites in the world

Tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of people constructed this city over 750 years starting about 500 B.C., though occupation started hundreds of years earlier.

Sadly the reserve is facing a serious environmental and social crisis, and urgent actions must be taken. Nadia Sussmand wrote about it on What if there were no eco to tour :

Today head archaeologist Richard Hansen continued our tour of monumental architecture, while discussing his plans for the development of ecotourism at El Mirador . Hansen is convinced that the only way to stop deforestation is to create a legally protected 810,000-acre no-cut area around the archaeological sites here, bounded by the natural borders of the Mirador Basin . He maintains that all logging - sustainable or not - will sooner or later lead to road-building, slash-and-burn farming, and the permanent destruction of the jungle.

The team was blogging from the field, from the very heart of the jungle, as Kara Andrade, another member told on Oasis :

The laboratory in the jungle is a small oasis of electricity and Wi-Fi in Peten's sea of rainforest darkness broken only by the drone of cicadas that is present all day. Every night, David Barreda and I move in with a bag of battery chargers, power strips, two laptops and a multitude of gadgets that allow us to connect with the world outside. We come in from the remotest stretch of jungle in Guatemala and upload like drought-stricken people to water. We are fiends at capturing video and photos and are at times overwhelmed with the amount of new content we're producing. Dispatches are coming slowly and we run with the rhythm of the generator.

Danta is the name of the Pyramid, but it is also an endangered specimen of tapir in the region. A collaborative group of university students organized to protect the danta, and to teach the community ways to protect it (people often eat tapir meat in Peten, a tasty exotic meat). Blogger Mesas de Diaologo tells us about the students from the Forestry and Environmental Studies from the Rural Guatemalan University and the Agro-forestry Sciences Institute collaborated in an action plan to protect the habitat of the tapir. The plan focuses on the use of education and the development of economic alternatives for the communities.

Global Heritage Fund is helping to save The Mirador Basin and has a detailed description of the area and a video.

It is complex to figure out ways to protect La Danta and dantas when people are facing extreme poverty, isolation and exclusion. Only community involvement and engagement, and providing alternatives to the peoples living near the protected areas can rescue both Danta and dantas, and build a better future.

Thumbnail photo by Lala Lulu

Photo by Amauri Aguiar and used under Creative Commons license

On International Day of the World's Indigenous People, there is a celebration of indigenous peoples and how they express themselves through their artistic creations. These groups, not only in Guatemala, but all across the world often face discrimination, extreme poverty and social marginalization on a daily basis. However, this post seeks to show how indigenous peoples in Guatemala are sharing their artistic expressions.

Comalapa is a special place for indigenous people in Guatemala, famous for their painters and intellectuals respected all over the World:

Todo comenzó durante los años 30 del siglo pasado, cuando Andrés Curruchiche se interesó en el arte de pintar al óleo, y su creatividad le dio la oportunidad de exhibir sus trabajos en Estados Unidos. En aquel país del Norte, Curruchiche consiguió superar el récord de 123 mil visitantes que el pintor y escultor español Pablo Ruiz Picasso había registrado en exhibiciones de arte. El éxito que recabó el pintor comalapense a nivel mundial e internacional con sus trabajos primitivistas lo comprometió con su pueblo, por lo que comenzó a enseñarle a las nuevas generaciones. De esa cuenta, surge una segunda generación integrada por 15 pintores primitivistas y en los años 80 nace la tercera; pero esta vez compuesta por nueve mujeres que optaron por el estilo surrealista (pinturas de paisajes con mezcla de primitivismo)".

Here is a link to Naiftenango [es], a collective blog devoted to the “Naïf or primitivist art” in Guatemala, where the team filmed a short video on the Curruchiche gallery, led nowadays by his grandaughter, a painter too.

It is important to understand that while many indigenous groups share similar problems, there are different groups within Guatemala. Some of them have even been rivals in the past and some do not speak the same language. However, street theater has managed to connect two indigenous communities and brought youth to work together. These groups are supported by "La Cambalacha ", an organization helping the indigenous communities near Atitlan:

El grupo se integra por jóvenes Kakchikeles de San Marcos La Laguna y jóvenes Tz´utujiles de San Pablo La Laguna. Estas dos comunidades tienen conflicto entre sí desde hace siglos, por lo que el trabajo conjunto de los y las jóvenes da un valor muy especial al proceso que vivieron durante el montaje de la obra, como también a la presentación de la obra ante las comunidades.

The group is formed by Kakchikel youth from San Marcos la Laguna and Tzutujl youth from San Pablo La Laguna. While the two communities have been in conflict for centuries, this is a special effort, because of the time that they shared during the play practices, and also when they performed it for their communities.

But perhaps the most impressive, challenging and creative expression of art and identity for indigenous peoples in Guatemala is their clothing. Beautiful handmade blouses are called huipiles that many women still wear. You cannot find two identical pieces, and women express themselves creating new patterns, new styles that tell stories of birds and flowers, like a walking gallery:

As Supango [es] points out:

Detengámonos y contemplemos los pequeños e innumerables detalles de la indumentaria indigena, probablemente expanda nuestra visión. Busquemos más belleza y riqueza, y no esperemos que algún extranjero nos las señale.

Photo by Surizar and used under a Creative Commons license

As is the case with other places around the world, fuel prices are very expensive in Guatemala. President Alvaro Colom recently signed an agreement with his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chávez, called “Petrocaribe.” Many were excited with this news because they thought that the agreement would bring lower gas prices. Inflation, the falling value of the dollar, and a decrease in the amount of remittances from the US, have all affected the Guatemalan economy. However, many were disappointed with the agreement and that it did not bring the expected results.

Blogger CIEN [es] explains

¿Qué NO es? Petrocaribe no significa petróleo, gasolina o diesel más barato.

¿Qué SÍ es? Es un mecanismo de endeudamiento del Gobierno de Guatemala con el Gobierno de Venezuela. Esto significa que el Gobierno de Guatemala puede acceder a crédito a través de la compra de petróleo.

Libertario Liberado [es] thinks that the deal could be beneficial for the country:

Si consideramos los mas de 35,000 millones de Quetzales que tenemos en deuda externa a una tasa promedio de 10% anual, y analizamos la alternativa de tomar el dinero de PETROCARIBE al 1% anual deducimos rapidamente que financieramente es un buen negocio. Digo que es una alternativa BUENA siempre y Cuando el gobierno utilice este credito barato para pagar lo que debemos y NO para financiar supuestos proyectos solidarios, Es tan simple como trasladar una deuda cara a una opcion mas barata de largo plazo (25 años). En 10 años pagamos el total de nuestra deuda y reducimos los intereses de una manera significativa.

Hunahpu and Ixbalanque [es] also explained their analysis on the subject, but also were critical with media coverage on the subject:

El ingreso de Guatemala a Petrocaribe representaría una gran oportunidad de incrementar la liquidez del estado. Entiéndase: enormes cantidades de dinero para invertir. Sin embargo, esta oportunidad única ha generado una tan predecible como irracional cobertura negativa en algunos medios de comunicación, quienes irresponsablemente utilizan el miedo y la desinformación para promover una anti-agenda política que literalmente les viene del norte. Considerando el impacto que dicha incorporación podría tener en la economía nacional será necesario primero evaluar la validez de los argumentos de los críticos y después discutir Petrocaribe desde puntos de vista más racionales.

Other bloggers are against the initiative and its impact, especially concerned with the final destination of the funds, in a country with a past of corruption and abuses from authorities:

Lo Lograremos [es]:

No estoy de acuerdo con la firma de este pacto con Petrocaribe ya que nos endeudamos todavia mas, pero hay algo que me molesta todavia más y es como lo manejo la prensa Guatemalteca en especial Prensa Libre, casi cada semana sacaron reportajes demonizando a Petrocaribe atacando, destruyendo, me parecieron poco objetivos, desinformando, algo que me quedo claro es que sienten un especial desprecio por Chavez.

But, on the other hand, the Government is not clear with the agreement, the President has not yet explained the destination of the funds, the impact of their plans and the benefits (no cheaper oil) for Guatemalans from Petrocaribe, only few words saying that is for “social cohesion”.

Blogger Carpe Diem warns Guatemalans [es] on his post about it:

Fíjese pues…que nos lo está diciendo el presidente Alvaro Colom: El dinero que la administración socialdemócrata obtenga mediante Petrocaribe, va a ir a parar a los proyectos de Cohesión Social; y ¿quién dirige esos proyectos? Sandra de Colom. Nos lo están advirtiendo ellos mismos; y si los tributarios y electores pasamos por alto esa información, nos merecemos que nos esquilmen.Veamos algo del Consejo de Cohesión Social: Ese “proyecto” presume de su programa. Mi familia progresa; y esa piñata de la esposa del Presidente es el típico ejemplo de cuando sale más caro el caldo que la gallina. En el informe que presentó recientemente se nota que para repartir Q62 millones, se gastaron Q300 millones.

And that is what concerns bloggers the most, lack of information, misinformation and absense of objective coverage on the subject.

Mirador Prensa [es] said:

La cortina de humo de Petrocaribe ha impedido que los medios de comunicación recojan con más detalle la debacle en la que está inmersa el gobierno de la UNE. No hay resultados positivos en ninguna de las áreas, se ha cambiado con más frecuencia de la deseable a personal de muy alto nivel y el afán de gasto crece desmesuradamente.

It is not surprising that the media covered the subject in a negative way and created negative opinions of Petrocaribe. Chavez is controversial everywhere. Guatemala is not an exception. And analysts are using ideologies as arguments to discuss economics, according to Lucha Politica [es]:

In the meantime, news and details of the deal continue to be scarce, however, it has still yet to be approved by the Guatemalan Congress. It was signed for a period of 25 years and future is uncertain, so it is important to study it from an objective perspective, as bloggers have said. Most agree that the problem is not Petrocaribe per se, but lack of information about it.

Photo of Ceiba Tree taken by Suttonhoo and used under a Creative Commons license.

For a relatively small country, Guatemala's magnificent scenery can awaken one's imagination. From the 37 volcanoes [es] that rise up from the landscape to the mystical Lake Atitlan, it is a country that has attracted intellectuals in the field of culture and arts, who may have been drawn to this magical land. Visitors such as Simone de Beauvoir, Louis de Aragon, Pablo Neruda, Ché Guevara, even Aldous Huxley visited this land of Ceiba trees and roses. One other author, Antoine De Sain Exupéry, who is best known for writing “The Little Prince,” also visited Guatemala by accident, and leads to the question: Was Antigua, Guatemala his Muse for writing about Asteroid B-612?

Bonjour Guate [es], a blog dedicated to the francophonie, tells us the introduction to our story:

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry conoció Guatemala por accidente. Uno que destruyó su avión y lo dejó malherido.

And as Bonjour Guate continues:

Han surgido teorías acerca de los lugares que inspiraron a De Saint-Exupéry a escribir El Principito: una de las suposiciones da cuenta de que el Asteroide B-612, la casa del Principito, es La Antigua Guatemala, donde el aviador se recuperó de los golpes de su percance aéreo

Enchiel, a Guatemalan blogger that enjoys The Little Prince, explores the theories connecting Antigua Guatemala, the city of Roses saying that was Antoine's muse [es]:

¿Presunción o no la de afirmar tal cosa? Quien sabe! Pero lo cierto es que hay detalles de su asteroide que coinciden con Antigua, ejemplo: el asteroide del principito tenía dos volcanes activos y uno inactivo. De todos los lugares a los que viajó Exupéry, ¿qué otro lugar sino sólo Antigua Guatemala tiene igualmente dos volcanes inactivos (el de Agua y Acatenango) y uno activo (el de Fuego)?

Blogger Jorge Palmieri has another theory, he met his widow in 1972, the Salvadoran Consuelo Suncín , and he asserts that she was the spoiled rose :

Consuelo era una mujercita sumamente coqueta y excesivamente generosa con sus amores. Sin embargo, a pesar de sus defectos humanos, es indiscutible su papel de musa que jugó para El Principito . Sus defensores argumentan que el volcán extingido del minúsculo asteroide es un guiño metafórico a El Salvador, país natal de su problemática consorte, donde pudo haber sido inspirado por el extinguido volcán Izalco para escribir sobre el volcán extinguido en el asteroide B 612 donde vivía El Principito y se dedicaba a cuidar a la rosa que era para él.

It might be the correct theory since De Saint Exúpery said once: “I recall my wife's eyes again. I will never see anything more but those eyes. They question.”

One Guatemalan blogger living and working in Africa, Desde Kinshasha [es], tells a small story about Baobabs, the famous tree in the book, paradoxically similar to the Ceiba, the national tree of Guatemala. Before coming back home, she was really sorry that she did not see a Baobab, but in the end she did see one:

Volví la vista a la derecha y a la izquierda y reconocí varios más. En ese último día de mayo en Kinshasa me di cuenta que siempre habían estado ahí, que los baobabs eran ceibas, y que, finalmente, no estaba tan lejos de casa.

Antoine de Saint Exúpery, the famous French writer of The Little Prince, the one who once said, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eyes,” saw our volcanoes, smelled our roses, and lived with our people before writing his master piece. He walked the streets of Antigua, loved a Central American girl, and spent time drawing while recovering from the plane crash. From there, hewent to New York City with a lot of inspiration. Whether or not Guatemala was the true inspiration, some accidents and random encounters with strangers have happy endings, like the book that I am holding in my hands.

Ecuador - Cronica Cero [es] writes about the icon that Betancourt became:

LIBRE. Así, con mayúsculas. (…) Betancourt alcanzó una imagen mundial, universal. (…) Abrimos periódico con ella y nos regocijamos con su liberación, nos hermanamos con los colombianos, con aquellos que buscan la paz antes que la confrontación. Betancourt es un ícono de la lucha contra el secuestro. Hoy, Colombia amanece diferente. Creo que el mundo, el que se relacionó y conmovió con su historia, también

FREE. Just like that with capital letters. (…) Betancourt became a universal global image. (…) We opened the newspaper and found her liberation, we are in solidarity with our Colombian brothers, those who have searched for peace before confrontation. Betancourt is a symbol of the struggle against kidnapping. Today, Colombian wakes up differently. I think the world, who related and was moved by their story, does too.

Bolivia - Carlos Gustavo Machicado Salas of Guccio's [es] comments on the words spoken by Betancourt upon her release:

para mi lo más importante es el mensaje de amor y perdón que nos dio Ingrid, que rezo por los muertos y por los guerrilleros y además les ofreció su perdón. Después de las penurias y los maltratos que tuvo que vivir uno pensaría que solo tendría odio y rencor en su alma, pero no al contrario irradia una paz espiritual y un apego a Dios increíble. Realmente algo muy lindo y que a todos nos debería hacer reflexionar en relación a cual debe ser nuestra actitud frente a la vida.

For me, the most important was Ingrid's message of love and forgiveness, that she prayed for the dead and for the guerrillas and in addition, she offered her forgiveness. After the hardships and the mistreatment that she had to endure, one would think that she would only have hate and resentment in her soul, but on the contrary, she radiated a spiritual peace and an incredible attachment to God. It was something truly beautiful and should make us reflect upon our thoughts on life.

Argentina - Marian B of Miscellaneous, Nonsensical and Unnecessary Ramblings [es] also highlights the speech given by Betancourt:

Estoy escuchando su discurso en el aeropuerto y le tengo envidia a los colombianos por contar nuevamente con una política excelente, excepcional e
increíble como ella. A Colombia le va a ir increíblemente bien si se presenta para las elecciones y la eligen.

I am listening to her speech at the aiport and I am envious that the Colombians can once again count on an excellent, exceptional and incredible politican like her. It will be beneficial for Colombia if she runs for president and is elected.

Guatemala - Prensa Negra [es] is pleased that President Hugo Chávez of neighboring Venezuela had very little to do with the rescue:

Se logro el rescate de Betancourt, sin duda alguna, el secuestro mas controversial de los ultimos años de las FARC, y lo mejor de todo sin la ayuda de Chavez por que si hubiera tenido algo que ver con esto quien le oyera la trompa ahora al pizado!.

Betancourt's rescue was, without a doubt, the most controversial kidnapping by the FARC en recent years. And best of all it was done without the help of Chavez, because if he did have something to do with it, we would have heard all about it!

Peru - Menoscanas [es] writes about what this might mean for the FARC guerrilla group.

Sonrisas de los ex rehenes evidencian uno de los golpes más duros a las FARC debido a que todos los ojos del mundo se encuentran sobre Colombia en este momento. El caso de Ingrid Betancourt es el más reconocido y las sonrisas y abrazos entre los ex rehenes y el reencuentro con sus seres queridos nos muestra como luego de largas pesadillas, uno puede despertar.

The smiles from the ex-hostages shows that this is one of the strongest blows to the FARC due to all of the eyes are now on Colombia. Ingrid Betancourt's case is the most recognizable and the smiles and hugs among the ex-hostages and the reuniting with their loved ones shows us that after long nightmares, one can wake up.

Diana Zorrilla of Morena Escribe [es] writes:

Ella se convirtió en el ícono del flagelo que han infligido las FARC al pueblo colombiano y su liberación junto con la de los otros catorce es una importante victoria moral para Colombia

She became the symbol of the whipping that the FARC has inflicted on the Colombian people and her liberation with the other 14 is an important moral victory for Colombia.

Paraguay — Edwin Britez of Derecho Viejo [es] wrote about Betancourt earlier in December, and returns with the good news spread throughout the country:

Me reconforta saber que hoy mucha gente salió a las calles de Asunción, por lo menos a expresar su contento con bocinazos, por la libertad de Ingrid. Muchas de ellas son mujeres. Hoy, todos somos de alguna manera, un poco más libres que antes.

I am comforted knowing that today many people went out into the streets of Asunción, and expressed their joy with car horns, for Ingrid's freedom. Many of them were women. Today, we are all, in some way, a little more free than before.

Thumbnail picture by Pixiduc

Two students from Haverford College write about their experiences researching the stories of those who have disappeared:

The blatant denial of the truth by all responsible is the greatest insult to the survivors and the slaughtered. The greatest injustice is the inescapability of this horror by innocent, poor, disregarded individuals.

One of these individuals is don Andres. At age 82, he was digging for his two daughters and grandson who were brutally strangled with ropes by the military in July of 1982. As the hollow sound of the pick axe pounding the black soil increased and the remnant of green cloth emerged, he broke down sobbing, and so did we. The pain that don Andres demonstrated in that moment was the outpouring of 25 years of grief. For 25 years, he was unsure of where his two daughters. Given this country’s history, he was sure they were dead. The same goes for his 9 month old grandchild. This life that would have been 25 years long today, years longer than ours, was not allowed to begin. As we exhumed the bodies of all three, our hearts bled for don Andres. But after stepping back, we realized that his is not an isolated case. There are 500,000 don Andreses.

A recent public art exhibition was held called “The Disappeared” in Antigua Guatemala, as described by Fe de Rata [es] :

Esta exposición, Los Desaparecidos, es una muestra itinerante de 25 artistas latinoamericanos que asimilan el tema y lo plasman en obras impactantes como las que pueden observar en las fotografías. Esta exposición es una iniciativa de Laurel Reuter, directora del Museo de Arte de Dakota del Norte y recoge la memoria de los desaparecidos durante los regímenes autoritarios que gobernaron en países como Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala o Uruguay.

The central focus of the exhibit was a series of performance works of art called Horror Vacui . Artist Stefan Benchoam wrote the phrase, “One never has been so present, when one is not there,” in sand on an outside street. The wind began to slowly blow the sand away. Other works were described in the exhibition's blog, such as Jessica Lagunas' “120 Minutes of Silence,” which featured the artist cutting pieces of fabric from military uniforms.

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Slideshow courtesy of Los Desaparecidos blog.

Guatemala suffered a lot during the armed conflict, with agressions against civilians, tortures, and up to 40,000 people who disappeared at the hands of the military-ruled government according to blogger at La Ladilla [es]. Much of the backlash and blame for the disappeared is placed on the armed forces. As a result, the organization H.I.J.O.S. protested against the military parades held on Army Day and Independence Day explained by Mimundo.org:

We demand the abolition of the June 30th [Army Day] and September 15th [Independence Day] military parades. Such display of force by the Army to Guatemalan society can only be considered offensive and a clear signal of impunity as the institution has been signaled for crimes against humanity by several justice systems [both at national and international levels]… It is paradoxical that after the signing of the Peace Accords [which ended a 36-year war] we still have such displays which contribute to the institutionalization of violence and totalitarianism in a country seeking to build democratic processes." H.I.J.O.S. (Guatemala) (Acronym for: Sons and Daughters for Identity and Justice, against Forgetfulness and Silence).

And they succeeded. For the first time in Guatemala since the start of Army Day, the celebrations will not be public. Some Bloggers were delighted with the decision, Many activists collected signatures to stop the celebrations. Blogger Historica Transitoria [es] is happy with the result:

Toda esta, nuestra historia, es la que ha parado hoy un símbolo de historia de terror y barbarie, JUNTOS TODOS Y TODAS HEMOS PARADO EL DESFILE MILITAR, junto a todos aquellos que rompieron el silencio con su huella y sus firmas en las hojas que llegaron a San Marcos, al Ixcán, al Peten, al Estor, a Cobán …

Our history is the one that stopped a symbol of terror and barbaric actions, together we stopped the military parade, together with those who broke the silence with their fingerprints, their signatures, on papers that came from San Marcos, Ixcan, Peten, El Estor, Coban ….

However, not all accepted or shared the same position. Member of the armed forces and blogger Perspectiva Militar [es] wrote:

Es comprensible la actitud de personas que perdieron un ser querido durante el Enfrentamiento Armado Interno, pero muchos ciudadanos que también perdieron familiares militares no mantienen una actitud de confrontación a casi doce años de firmada la paz.

Even though many of the crimes are left without prosecution and the government continues to keep the archives closed, which contains information about the victims, many Guatemalans continue to learn more about their own history and continue to be active in remembering the victims.

Quetzaltenango es la ciudad más importante de Guatemala luego de la capital del país, algunos la recuerdan por su particular historia (fue un estado independiente durante año y medio en el siglo XIX), por llamarse también Xelajú (como aquella famosa canción que terminara de inmortalizar Ray Conniff) o por haber sido mencionada en una ocasión por Homero Simpson (quien se intoxicara con unos chiles cosechados por enfermos de un hospital psiquiátrico de las montañas de Quetzazaltenango), sin embargo a algunos escritores les recuerda unos juegos florales que tienen casi 70 años de existir, a los turistas le recuerda edificios neoclásicos de piedra y a los quetzaltecos un epíteto extraño de cuna de la cultura.

Poet Alejandro Marré reading to a group of schoolchildren. Photo by CREA Guatemala and used with permission.

Many poets attended Animal del Monte , a Latin American poetry festival during the rainy month of May. The 40 Guatemalan and Latin American poets departed from the capital city and took part in a tour of six surrounding cities, such as Antigua and San Marcos in order to read their works simultaenously in the various sites to attentive audiences, before arriving to Quetzaltenango for the arts and cultural celebration. Ordinaria Locura [es] on her post "Animal del Monte" [es] described the festival:

Fue una fiesta, que se vive aún allá, que se vivió acá en la capital, en Antigua, en San Marcos, Totonicapán y Coatepeque y que debería de apuntarse en el calendario, para que este derecho tan negado, que es la cultura, se viva y se goce, y en este caso, a la salud del caldo de frutas. No cabe duda de que en medio de las tristezas y esos temblores que sufre el alma, siempre estas cosas alegran, repellan y dan esperanza.

Luna Park [es] blogger described the experience:

Siete días de poesía ambulante. De la calle a las escuelas; de los salones universitarios a las cafeterías. Disuelta la línea invisible entre vida y literatura. Sin libros de por medio. Solo el autor y su voz, el espectador y el poema: una conexión directa que propició el encuentro, la reacción palpable, inmediata: una sonrisa, una mirada de asombro, unos ojos cerrados, un aplauso, un acercamiento, una pregunta, una petición.

Children's reading by Rosa Chávez, Gabriela Padilla, Alma Karla Sandoval and Carmen Lucía Alvarado. Photo by CREA Guatemala and used with permission.

All around it became a party taking place in the capital city, in Antigua, in San Marcos, Totonicapan and Coatepeque. Indeed being a writer is not easy, especially there are other priorities, such as to bring tortillas to the table. However, poverty or the fact of being from a developing country never had stopped creative minds before. Creative expressions and bringing beauty out of nothing were some of the highlights of the festival. As stated by Maurice Echeverría, one of the finest writers in the region on his blog Buscando a Syd [es] :

Ser escritor viene a ser lo mismo que exiliado polaco en Ecuador en los años cincuenta por decir algo. Y como ya dije: bufar se vale, incluso perder la fe, pero lloriquear, eso jamás. Hay tantos escritores que, miserablemente, le echan la culpa a Guatemala, porque nunca levantó vuelo su carrera. Tan congestionados, tan sobradamente frustrados están que necesitan imputar culpas a una abstracción. Frustrados estamos todos, pero nos ahorramos las bajezas. La literatura es una mujer por quien bien vale perder la cabeza. Y las manos.

And I agree, considering that 41 years ago Miguel Angel Asturias , a Guatemalan poet, won the Nobel Prize, Rodrigo Rey Rosa has written amazing books in several languages and Augusto Monterroso wrote the world's shortest story "The Dinosaur" ("When [s]he awoke, the dinosaur was still there.")

These three Guatemalans and the young poets at the Animal del Monte Poetry Festival are showing the world that much good works come from this country.