Kajkoj Maximo Bay Tiul[1]
In our communities the phrase corruption doesn’t exist. After we discuss this and different issues we use the phrase sickness. “Go to” (Q’eqchi’), “Sure“ (Poqomchi’), “Jabil“ (Ok’iche’). Any sickness will carry, “Rail” (Q’eqchi’), “hill” (Poqomchi’), okay’ax (Ok’iche’). Corruption, colonialism, ambition, servitude, occupation, theft are understood as a illness. When a member of the group takes benefit of others, he’s stated to be sick. Being a thief: “oh go” (Q’eqchi’), “additionally jeleq” (Poqomchi), “he’sq‘about’ (Ok’iche’), the identical as being corrupt, thought-about as social ills.
When communities are requested; What number of years have handed since our sickness? (Q’eqchi’), ¿Jenqal xoqik a yowanjik pan a yukul? (Poqomchi), When did the illness attain our group? They answered: “For the reason that cash got here.” That’s, once they began to compete and to not share. When the objective was pushed apart. After we began dwelling for the “private self” and never the “collective self”: the “we”. After we enable the precept of the cooperative to be taken away from us, for the frequent good of in the present day. When the precept of land and land for all was taken from us, with the precept of personal property in the present day. After they stopped us from being indigenous individuals and launched us to the fashionable idea of the farmer.
As our buddy Aj Xol Ch’okay says: “the land wrestle is just not so intense as a result of we don’t really feel that our land is ours“ (Q’eqchi’), we don’t give a lot worth to the struggle for our land, as a result of we don’t really feel that we’re extra in our place. Then they subjugated us or imposed the legal guidelines of the market on us. And we started to just accept that it was higher to depart our land and migrate to the massive cities, largely.
Our mother and father stated, “Younger individuals, we do not wish to work with knives, now we solely need to work with gramozon” (Q’eqchi), now, nobody needs to work with a machete, as a result of now it’s solved with chemical substances and the usual of dwelling rises and we start to really feel that it’s not our earth is extra helpful. There’s a competitors to have one of the best home, no matter the place the cash comes from, and that is how the life of somebody who turned a politician, labored for an NGO, or labored there modified the federal government establishment.
“Now it is a huge a part of it” (Poqomchi), whose mansion we see there. Folks reply: “our co-consultant” (Poqomchi), it belongs to the one that was the adviser.” They consult with the previous COCODE president of the group who was a councilor of town council and since he had no place to spend the cash, the results of corruption, he left many homes in the neighborhood unfinished.
Is corruption cultural? Is it the observe solely of sure social teams, clans or communities? Is it systemic? Is it regular left or proper? Why, if there may be a lot discuss Mayan values and rules, are there additionally Mayans who stay from corruption? So we will ask ourselves many extra questions, however the ones we point out are important to understanding what is occurring in our areas and explaining why we can not transfer ahead. We appear to take just a few steps and return many extra and generally we are inclined to quiet down or cease.
Why write once more about corruption and theft? It appears we’re saying that the Arévalo authorities can be corrupt. No, the thought of writing once more is to do not forget that those that don’t enable adjustments within the nation are those we name the “Corrupt Pact” and that “legal settlement” which I say firmly, as a result of it’s a community of organizations that make every part unlawful and have been controlling the State for his or her pursuits for a few years, which to say in revolutionary jargon that the teams in energy use the “State as an instrument of repression and oppression.” They aren’t solely businessmen, akin to these grouped collectively in CACIF, FUNDESA, AGEXPORT, MILITARES and others, traditionally generally known as energy teams or elites, a- now they’ve multiplied and their mafia actions transcend all political, financial, and social actions and cultural points of society.
They’re established as any meta-media within the very bowels of the State. Cloaked like every hen who is aware of the way to go in and current themselves as a trustworthy sheep, when in actuality they’re ferocious wolves ready to pounce. do not care till they eat it. “There are numerous right here who collaborate with the corrupt,” a technician from this authorities informed me. Not a lot could be carried out, “they current themselves as one of the best and one of the best”, however it’s identified at a person that they stayed right here to disturb them and that nothing would go on. Some went in with this authorities “taking in as officers,” as occurred on the finish of the struggle when everybody raised the banner of the guerrilla actions within the central park, on December 29, 1996, saying that they have been “fighters” or “activists.” , once they have been really concerned within the genocide. Or that they have been concerned in some indigenous teams, once they have been actually denying their unique identification, some have been even name themselves “quetzaltecos”, “cobaneros”, however they have been by no means Ok’iche’ or Q’eqchi’, and now they boast a really liquid indigenous identification.
Corruption, impunity and all different evils that our nation suffers are systemic and can’t be fought or destroyed by the identical system. It’s a must to change. We should be bolder in operating the federal government. It’s about being a statesman and never a diplomat. Break even with the very snug and fragile concept of democracy.
Maximo Ba Tiul
College professor, researcher, anthropologist and political analyst poqomchi’
