Guatemala offers a striking example of organizing for justice in various realms. In this talk about her recent book, Forster addresses the era when over 200,000 civilians lost their lives at the hands of the right wing government and its machinery of terror. She argues that what took place in the 1980s was the hemisphere’s largest Indigenous rebellion since the Spaniards first invaded. The poor fought to end dictatorship, and to construct their vision of utopia. Hence the analyses of Mayan campesinos –who made up the vast majority in the ranks of the guerrillas– challenge the arguments of much that has been written about the 1980s. Their narratives render a version that is more subtle and more accurate than many published works. Indigenous women offer perhaps the sharpest insights on racism, revolution, and the U.S.-backed elite. Especially when campesinos reflect on the conflict at its harshest moment, they demand respect for a revolution that the Maya made their own.
