Browsing by Subject "Guatemala"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Emergence Of Human Rights In The Mayan World: Rural Church And Indigenous Activism In Guatemala, 1943-1983
    (2021-09) Tun Tun, Heider
    This dissertation uses an interdisciplinary approach of History and Human Rights to discuss the organization and activism of Indigenous Catholic communities that preceded and shaped the human rights movement of the 1980s in Guatemala. By focusing on the departments of Huehuetenango and El Quiche from 1943 to 1983, I argue that the human rights movement in Guatemala that called attention to the country’s deep historical roots of racism and discrimination was the result of the activism carried out by Indigenous communities in connection to the Catholic Church. I use the term “Rural Church” to refer to these communities of Catholics from the departments of Huehuetenango and El Quiche that focused on enhancing the living conditions of the poor and marginalized; since the 1950s members of the Rural Church worked on organizing cooperatives, colonizing new lands, studying the structures of inequality, as well as advancing the teaching of the gospel. By tracing the concept of the Rural Church, this dissertation highlights the importance of rural society and the influence that marginalized and Indigenous communities had on the Catholic Church in Guatemala. This dissertation engages extensively with unpublished archival documentation including the local efforts of De Sol a Sol (“From Sunrise to Sunset”) and Ixim (“Corn” in Maya K’iche) which feature the efforts of Indigenous and local intellectuals to discuss the connections between race, ethnicity, class, and inequality. My archival approach is influenced by the Mayan cyclical view of time which highlights the survival of Mayan people despite numerous attempts of eradication and genocide against their communities.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The internationalization of domestic conflicts: a comparative study of Colombia, El Salvador and Guatemala.
    (2009-05) Borda, Sandra P.
    The internationalization of internal conflicts has been seen either as imposed, as inevitable, or as resulting in further interstate conflict, but it has not been defined as the varied result of actors' strategies. I argue in this research that this is a serious omission and that in order to overcome it, it is necessary to posit a two-step question: first, if, when and why is internationalization decided? second, in case internationalization is decided, how can we account for the form it adopts? This two-step question partially suggests that in order to comprehensively understand the dynamics of civil conflicts, it is necessary to develop yet another dimension of the concept of internationalization. This new form of internationalization adds a crucial component to existing studies: the analysis of the international strategies domestic actors pursue or avoid. In other words, this new facet of internationalization would allow us to observe how the preferences and actions of domestic parties to the conflict interact with the interests of international actors and their willingness (or reluctance) to participate in domestic conflicts. The main argument of this dissertation is that even though international and internal forces and processes shape and somehow limit the choices parties to the conflict make, and that even though international actors may and can impose their decision to internationalize, there are also other instances and forms of internationalization in which local actors or parties to the conflict may still have the agency, the ability and the space to make the decision of inviting (or not inviting) international agents to participate in their struggle. Parties' decision to internationalize is then conditioned or shaped by the international and the national contexts, but domestic actors still have a substantial amount of autonomy to decide whether or not international agents should eventually participate in their conflict and under what conditions they would eventually do so. Finally, parties internationalize in order to obtain military support or political legitimacy from international actors. In order to prove these arguments, I compare three cases of civil wars in Latin America: Colombia, El Salvador and Guatemala.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Pinabete : one opportunity toward the sustainable development of the Guatemalan Highlands.
    (University of Minnesota, 2005-12) Ignosh, John Paul; Kilgore, Michael A.
    This paper first provides a general survey of Guatemala, investigating historical, economic, social and political trends within the country. Then, the paper analyzes the management of pinabete, an endangered Guatemalan fir (Abies guatemalensis). The cultivation of this species is being promoted by the environmental agencies of Guatemala in effort to alleviate pressure upon the few remaining natural forested stands. This species is highly sought after for use as a Christmas tree during the holiday season. A financial analysis is conducted in the final section of this paper that investigates three different cultivation systems for this threatened species. The financial analysis of these three cultivation systems indicates that the commercialization of this species can be considered a financially efficient cropping alternative for farmers of the Guatemalan Highlands. Moreover, the incorporation of pinabete into a farmer’s cultivation system assists in the conservation of this species, promotes soil conservation and enables farmers to diversify their revenue sources. The combination of income generation, inclusion of marginalized people, and natural resource conservation is key to the sustainable development of the Guatemalan Highlands.