Q’eqchi’ Mayas and the Myth of “Postconflict” Guatemala
Autumn Knowlton2017, Latin American Perspectives
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Abstract
While Guatemala has commonly been referred to as a “postconflict” setting since the end of the armed conflict of 1960–1996, Guatemalans today experience a new violence that has been described as a symptom of the changes brought about by neoliberal reforms. Q’eqchi’ Mayas’ reports of violent evictions, murders, rapes, and threats of violence point to fissures in the government’s “postconflict” discourse. The state’s counterinsurgency violence has been transformed into a kind of state-supported violence in which government institutions act at the behest of agribusinesses and mining companies to evict Q’eqchi’ from their traditional territories. The resolution of land ownership disputes between communities, the state, and corporations is central to Q’eqchi’ political imaginaries.Guatemala suele ser catalogada como una sociedad de posconflicto desde el cese del conflicto armado de 1960-1996, pero actualmente los guatemaltecos sufren un nuevo tipo de violencia que ha sido descrita como u...
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