My last post was entitled “Safe Arrival”… alas, I almost spoke too soon. My trip to Rabinal wound through Baja Verapaz on a narrow road with steep grades and even steeper drop-offs. One would presume that traveling this road would necessitate precaution. Apparently, the driver of our old school bus tossed that to the wind, powering us at speeds that would make Spock, Scotty, and the rest of the crew proud. However, I was not as eager to be a part of the new Fast and Furious, Guatemala style, and prayed for sheer survival.
That Sunday I was not the only one driven to prayer. On my way to the bus station, I passed the National Palace, symbolic of the national government. Surrounding it were numerous groups of Guatemalans, praying out loud for the state of the government.
Yes, there has been a large evangelical movement in Guatemala, but those church groups were not the only ones out there. A group of field worker from the surrounding area were also protesting the government`s confiscation and misuse of land as well as human right violations that followed from their struggles to gain land ownership.
In my opinion, it is this struggle that dominates so much of the country, and one that will also occupy most of my time here in Guate.
Posted By Charles Wright (Guatemala)
Posted Jun 5th, 2006