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Guatemala in the 1980s
The Bean Trees written by Barbara Kingsolver addresses many issues of the 1980s including illegal immigration and the civil war that was occurring in Guatemala. The characters of Estevan and Esperanza were key to the plot and represented the thousands of Mayan refugees that fled Guatemala to go to America in the 1980s for safety. As stated in the novel, over half of Guatemala’s population in the 1980s was made up of people of Mayan descent. These indigenous people were the poorest citizens of the country and greatly discriminated against. As expressed by the character of Estevan in The Bean Trees, almost all Mayans spoke at least one of the many Mayan languages and most men, as well as some women, spoke Spanish too. Even before the civil war broke out in Guatemala, the political and social unity between Mayan tribes was strained. In 1954 the Guatemalan military conducted a takeover of the country, backed by U.S. support. With the outbreak of the Cold War, the U.S. was very concerned about stopping and preventing the spread of communism and therefore supported any decision that would lead to a country developing a strong government that was against communism. By 1960 the Mayans banned together with other Guatemalan peasants and began forming organized urban sectors. This band began a guerilla struggle in which the Mayans fought against the government for natural human rights. The United States became an “on-again-off-again” supporter of the civil war with a change in policy with each new presidential administration. President Lyndon B. Johnson sent the U.S. Army Special Forces Unit (a.k.a. Green Berets) to Guatemala in 1966-1968 to train their army on how to fight the rebelling Indians. About a decade later, the Carter administration ended the official aid in 1977 due to the excessive violation of human rights. Five years later, President Ronald Reagan went to Guatemala and met with the military leader, Efrain Rios Montt. Montt convinced Reagan that this intention for Guatemala were completely democratic gaining Reagan’s support. During the war many Guatemalan citizens escaped to the north, Mexico or America, to avoid conflict with the military. For example, in The Bean Trees, Estevan and Esperanza escape to Arizona because of threats that they received from the Guatemalan military. These illegal immigrants were accepted by some and rejected by others. In the novel both views are expressed. Mattie has devoted most of her life to helping people find safety. Mattie expresses her views on the subject in her television interview when she says, “Signatory to the United Nations something-something on human rights,….and that means we have a legal obligation to take in people whose live are in danger” (139). At one point in the novel Estevan tells Taylor, “This is what I’m saying: In Guatemala, you are careful. If you want to change something you can find yourself dead” (183). In this statement he is explaining to Taylor the total control that the military had at the time. If anyone went against them they were killed. In 1996, after the war had been settled, a peace treaty was signed. This treaty allowed 400,000 Guatemalans to return to the country safely. It is estimated that throughout the war over 200,000 Guatemalan citizens were killed, 400 indigenous villages were destroyed, and 100,000 citizens fled to other countries. About 80% of the deaths were blamed on the Guatemalan Army and only 9% of the deaths were a result of the guerilla fighters.
and Illegal Immigration
Heading north to Oklahoma....
'' I don't know exactly how to say this. I thought I'd had a pretty hard life. But I keep finding out that life can be hard in ways I never knew about.'' ''I can see that it would be easier not to know,'' he said.
''I don't know. I hate to say it, but I really don't know. I can't even begin to think about a world where people have to make choices like that.'' ''You live in that world,'' he siad quietly, and I knew this, but I didn't want to.
Click here to learn more about Rigoberta Menchu
Works Consulted Page
Did you know? Not all immigrants stay in their adopted country for life. Most will return to their home country later in their lives.
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