As I have mentioned in other blogs...Guatemala was in a civil war for 36 years from 1960 to 1996. During this time the opposing groups were the Guatemalan army and military vs the Guerilla forces who had the backing from the majority of pueblos. In 1982, Rios Montt was the president and initiated some of the most brutal attacks of pueblos. He was known for the Scortched Earth tactics where soldiers would enter a town thought to be sympathetic with the guerilla and completely destroy everyone and everything there. During the entire war and his presidency, all types of people were targets for assasinations, torture and kidnappings. Targets included priests, members of cooperatives, students organizers, union organizers among others.
One of these cooperative leaders came to our school yesterday to share his experience being kipnapped and tortured by the Guatemalan army. His story is unusal since he survived and was able to endure such an experience. This isnt an easy thing to write but it is an important story to share.
Don Pedro was kidnapped and tortured for 15 days by the Guatemalan army. He was captured on April 16, 1982 in his home town of San Jose Ojetenam. Due to his invovlment in the local cooperative there he was acused of being invovled in the guerilla, which was not true. 60 or 70 men came to take him from his home. They took him to a jail cell in army complex to be tortured. There they took off all his clothes and tied his hands behind his back and feet together. They would hurt him in every way possible, they kicked him, hit him with their guns, and kept telling him they would continue torturing him until he told them he was a guerrillero. He did not say anything because he was not a guerrillero and also he did not want to acuse any innocent people. The less he said, they more they beat him. They even used a plastic whip and that night left him beaten, naked in the jail cell where it was freezing.
Two people from his town had accused him, one of whom was a 14 year old boy, who only acused him out of fear for his own life. Many people who were invovled in co-ops at the time were being acused, so when the boy was interrogated he naturally mentioned Don Pedro. Another man from the town also accused him, but only after being seriously beated. The three of them were taken from their town together.
The following day they were taken to another place, and driven in a car with many soldiers surrounding them. During the car ride, the soldiers continued to beat him, they bit Don Pedro´s ears and cut his face with their machetes until his entire facing was running with blood. While they were in the car, the other two captured men kept acusing Don Pedro in order to avoid being beaten themselves. At one point, one of the soldier´s hit Don Pedros head so hard, it broke a piece of his gun where the bullets were kept. This made them relent a bit in the beatings, thinking he was a well trained guerrillero who could withstand a great amount.
The arrived at the new location, where Don Pedro was put into a pit about 3 meters high and one meter square. There were rocks and ashes in the pit, and he knew the ashes were from people who had been burnt to death there. This area was in a secret army station where people were taken to be tortured. He was kept there for 8 days being tortured and interrogated the entire time.
They had specially trained people torture him who knew which areas were the most painful and how to hurt him just enough without killing him. They would target his head, his testicles and his stomach. They kept saying he had to tell them who his companeros were, but he would not say anything. One day they said if he didnt tell them, they would hang him. And he said, fine, hang me, i cant endure the pain anymore. So they tied a noose around his neck and would pull him up just enough before he was killed and then lower him again. They did this 3 times or so, each time making his neck more raw with the weight of his body. But they didnt kill him. Later they came back and said that he had to tell them who are the companeros, but again he said nothing and asked to be killed, thinking he could not endure anymore. When he said this, they said this time they would burn him. But these were just threats. Again, they came back and they began to drop huge rocks on his stomach from above the pit. He was sure he would die this way and that all his organs were destroyed. Other times they intentionally shot bullets into the pit without intending to hit him, just to scare him. The other two men were also seriously beaten.
A few days later, another group of soldiers arrived to watch over them. One of them asked if he was hungry, but he did not want to say yes. Before when they would ask if he was hungry or thirsty and he said yes they would urinate on him. But this time he said, of course he was hungry but that it didnt matter. For some reason, the soldier gave him a part of a tamalito and some water. You cannot imagine how that tasted after 6 days with nothing. He told him to eat it fast so that no one would notice. This was the only food and water he had the entire 15 days.
That same soldier gave him a shirt to wear since he was still naked. Later, they took them to a new place, and on the ride there, they sat on them with cushions. He was sure they were taking him to kill them since that is what happened to most people who were kidnapped. When they arrived at the new place, he could see there were tons of soliders. He saw a soldier with a hose and asked him for it, which he gave reluctantly. Don Pedro drank as much water as he possibly could which felt incredible to have something so good in him. The soldiers then hosed him off with that same water and gave him a shirt and pants, since until now he had had no pants to wear, only the shirt. They said he had to go talk to the boss. In the room where the boss was there was a crucifix. The boss pointed to it and said - that is why you survived this - he also asked him cruely what it was like in the other place, although he knew perfectly well what had happened.
They tied his hands and feet again and left him on the floor of that room. The next 6 days he laid there while they interrogated him, soldier after soldier, although this time they did not torture him anymore. His entire body was black from the beatings and he remembered looking at his own body and wondering how he had survived to this point. They then told him that he would be set free and could see his family if he just told them who was in the guerilla or they would kill him. He said he knew nothing and just wanted them to kill him. He just wanted an answer and an end to all the suffering.
The next day he left the room on his own and started asking people why he was still there and what was going on. He just wanted to leave or be killed, for it all to end. Finally someone said he could go but he had to sign a paper first. So he signed the paper without looking, took a copy and just left. As he left he realized he knew where he was and was able to return to his home.
Back at home it was incredibly hard to survice since he was so injured and so sick. His family had to care for him and a local preist helped him by sneaking him medicine. This all had to be done secretly since the army would kill anyone who was aided the suspected guerrilleros. The paramilitary groups came through town and demanded that Don Pedro join them, but he was unable to do so. They would continue to return to his house and kept asking why he was staying at home and why he wasnt out fighting. They began to suspect him again, and a local man involved in the Catholic churtch in the town advised Don Pedro and his family to flee. So they decided to go to Mexico where many refugees were fleeing to. This journey was incredibly hard since he was so hurt he was unable to walk, and his family had to cary him along the way.
In Mexico it was also very hard since he could not work and was very weak. He did receive some help and found a job where he could be sitting down. Living was physcially difficult for him for 2 years after. There were other refugees there as well from El Salvador where there was another armed conflict. Don Pedro and his family spent two years in the shelter in Tapachula, but after 2 years wanted to return home. The lifein the shelter was very hard since many people had arrived with their cultural traditions, but had to forget them in order to blend into mexican society and not be suspected. Don Pedro and his family ended up spending 18 years there.
The cooperative he was invovled in had been designed to help with inflated prices that were produced by the coyotes who took advantage of the challegning system of product transportation. Areas that were more isolated and more mountanous had a hard time getting much produce and as a result, people took advantage of this. Coyotes would buy in large amounts and would over charge, sometimes double, the amount of the product. The co-op acted to counteract this by buying large amounts and reducing the prices for those who were members. This was a very effective system that worked well and within 4 years had grown from 8 people to 800 people. They also helped with trainings on how to produce more efficiently from the land since many peope were using older slower techniques. The co-op also held trainings on humans rights to educate people about the laws of their country. Don Pedro had only been thru 2nd grade and his involvement in the coop was one of the most informative and helpful experiences for him. However, many of the leaders of these co-ops were killed during the war. One leader that Don Pedro knew from a neighboring community was also kipnapped and tortured. His eye ripped out and nose broken, however he too is still alive now. But this type of violence scared people so much that all of the co-ops dissolved.
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groggy
determined
rejuvenated
sleepy
crazy
bored