Guatemala 2009

Before going to Latin America, the group had discussions about the classical "machismo" influence that transcends almost every aspect of Latin American culture. While we were in Guatemala, however, a completely new view was presented to us: instead of women playing a secondary role in human rights activism and injustices in their own communities, they were the ones fighting both mentally and physically against the societal forces attempting to negatively alter their lives. While visiting with Chrisanta and her family in Agel at the mining site, a violent confrontation erupted between her and the neighbor. The male neighbor, probably supported by the mine, is attempting to symbolically take away Chrisanta's public image and publicized fight against the mine by building a house right in front of hers that will block her off entirely from the road and subsequently the attention of others. We stood a few feet away as he pulled out a machete and threatened Chrisanta, her baby, and the grandmother. Yet the husband stood back and did absolutely nothing; no attempt was made on his part to protect his 8 month old daughter from the machete. As he positioned himself idly on the porch, the grandmother, almost 80, grabbed the man's machete holster and chased him away by throwing rocks; but not before the man managed to hit her directly in the temple with a jagged stone. Although the neighbor did show extreme machismo qualities in his brutal behavior, it was the women of the household, not the men, who defended the family.
The situation that unfolded before our very eyes was also not an isolated occurrence: there are numerous stories from the community detailing how the women are joining together to fight the injustices and social turbulence being forced upon them from the North American mine. For people everywhere, the women of Agel can serve as a shining example of how its not just men who are physically defending their families, but rather the women who are carrying on the struggle against injustice as well.