Before this trip, I have never even considered the
possibility that violence is ever justifiable. However, being here and hearing
about the conflict in Guatemala, and hearing about the guerrilla movement, I
have been wrestling with that possibility. I've gone back and forth. It’s difficult because it seems as if the
guerrilla movement had the interests of the majority in mind. And it seems as
if good would have come out of their winning the war. Would the good that could
have come from the victory of the guerrillas be worth all of the lives lost?
Since so many lives were lost anyways, it seems like the answer could (or
should?) be yes. The ends, in this situation, would justify the means, right?
On Monday we listened to a civilian named Eduardo share his
perspective on the armed conflict in Guatemala. Eduardo began his talk by
saying that the only reason he dared stand before us was because he saw way too
many people die before their times. Eduardo said that he feels that he has the
responsibility to share the stories of those people who never had, and never
will have, the opportunity to give their testimonies. Eduardo’s hope was to
give us a new perspective on the armed conflict. He wanted us to see beyond
only two sides. He said, “I am nothing more or less than a civilian: a civilian
who has seen and has paid the price of an armed conflict.”
I guess that since I've heard these stories, I also have a
responsibility.
Eduardo told us these four stories. The first took place in
1974 and he called it “Las pescas” which means “the fish.” One strategy of the
army was to go to towns and capture men who were well built and strong and
force them into service. In 1972, Eduardo’s uncle was captured and taken to the
military base that was in Xela. Shortly after this, he was deployed to Puerto
Barrios which was all the way across the country. On July 14, 1974, Eduardo’s
uncle was in charge of a troupe and was patrolling on a boat. A storm came that
day and killed Eduardo’s uncle and three other men. Eduardo told us that he
wanted to be clear that his uncle didn't die in combat. He didn't die a heroic
death. He was captured by the military and then died in an accident. But
Eduardo also wanted to be clear that “the heart of a 5 year old nephew, the
heart of parents, the heart of a sibling doesn't see the difference.” Eduardo
still remembers looking at the inflamed face of his uncle lying in the casket.
He still feels like something ended much sooner than it should have. He will
never know what his relationship with his uncle could have been. He said that
all he knows for sure is that the tears of a mother or a father for the death
of a child are one of the most difficult things anyone could ever see in life.
The next story took place on May 28, 1981 in a small
cafeteria in Cantel (the rural village we’ll be staying in next week). There was an ex-soldier, at that time working
as a guard of a factory, who walked into the cafeteria holding a grenade in his
hand and tossing it up and catching it again. He then dropped the grenade and
there was an explosion that killed a 17 year old girl, two 11 year old boys, a
woman of 41 years, and the ex-soldier. The owners were fearful of what could
happen to them and so they called the army and claimed there was a guerrilla
attack. The father of the girl who died was holding his daughter when the army
arrived. One soldier lifted the father up by the shirt and asked. “What
happened here?!” The father in his anger replied, “One of you did this!” When
the army realized what actually happen they quickly left. Eduardo found out
about this explosion at school the next day because the two boys that died were
two of his classmates. Later, in 1998, Eduardo married his wife and soon found
out that the 17 year old girl that died was the sister of his spouse. Eduardo
realized, while talking to his wife, that she had never had the opportunity to
process what happened to her and her family. He added that there are many
people who still live with untold stories and unfinished processes in their
hearts and minds. He said that during the time of the armed conflict the
military was saying, “We’re fighting against the threats.” And to that the
civilian would respond, “I feel as if you’re a threat to me.” And the guerrilla
was saying, “We’re fighting for change, for the poor.” And the civilian would
respond, “When is that change going to happen and how will it be?”
The third story was in 1985. During this time Eduardo was
studying in high school and his teachers decided their class should go on a
field trip. They went to Puerto Barrios and spent a lot of time in the pools
that were there. Their first night there, after spending the day in the pools,
the students and teachers realized they couldn’t find a student named Jose
Baquiax. The teachers decided to leave at around 8:30pm to look for Jose. They
returned at 11pm and told the students that Jose was dead, that his body was
found floating in the water with barbed wire marks on his neck, arms, and legs.
The trip ended early. Because Eduardo was on the board of student directors, he
had to go with his teachers to tell Jose’s family that Jose was dead. What the
students and teachers concluded probably happened was that Jose took a walk by
himself around lunchtime and saw someone who was washing the clothes for the
military who had a base very close by. The person washing the clothes was
suspicious (as everyone was during that time in Guatemala), and they assumed
that Jose wanted to steal the clothes. Jose was probably taken, questioned and
then tortured and killed by the army.
The next story was about the three times that Eduardo
escaped from the military. This took place over the course of 8 years. Eduardo
said that during this time he was living in constant stress and fear. He also
said that he has the easiest part of the story. The first time he was almost
captured was in 1986 when he was 17 years old. The next was in 1989, and then
in 1992. Eduardo said that the year of 1992 was like music to him because that
year there was an agreement to stop military recruitment.
Eduardo challenged us to make sure we think before clapping
for a guerrilla. And of course to consider, too, what the army has been
standing for. “In an armed conflict there aren’t only two sides. The 3rd party who you don’t see much of on screen plays the most tragic part.”Hearing Eduardo’s story I felt reassured that violence is never
justified. Every human life is as valuable as the next.
And so I have to hold on to the hope that things can change
some other way. Nonviolence doesn't have to mean passivity. Walter Wink, who
believes that there are three general responses to evil: "violent opposition,
passivity and the third way of militant nonviolence articulated by Jesus," writes:
"To risk confronting the Powers with
such clown-like vulnerability, to affirm at the same time our own humanity and
that of those we oppose, to dare to draw the sting of evil by absorbing it—such
behavior is unlikely to attract the faith of heart. But to people dispirited by
the enormity of the injustices that crush us and the intractability of those in
positions of power, Jesus’s words beam hope across centuries. We need not be
afraid. We can assert our human dignity. We can lay claim to the creative
possibilities that are still ours, burlesque the injustice of unfair laws, and
force evil out of hiding from behind the façade of legitimacy."
I don't know. But I think it probably starts with just remembering that "What you do to them, you do to God. The way you look at them, is the way you look at God." And that them means all people.