312 UNIT 3 MODERN MESOAMERICA
Box 8.3 Rigoberta Menchú, A Mayan Witness
to the Guatemalan RevolutionRigoberta Menchú was born into a K’iché Mayan Indian family in the highlands of Guatemala. In
her youth she worked alongside her family on the coastal plantations picking coffee, and later
she joined a labor organization seeking to improve the working conditions of Indian and mes-
tizo rural workers. Her family eventually espoused the guerrilla cause, for which her father, mother,
and brother paid with their lives. Rigoberta herself barely escaped the same fate by fleeing
Guatemala for exile in Mexico. Later, during a visit to France she dictated her life story (I...
Rigoberta Menchú), recounting the atrocities committed against the Indian peoples of Guatemala
and their struggle to retain the Mayan heritage.
In the l980s as the civil war raged on in Guatemala, Rigoberta became the chief spokesper-
son for the Indians of Guatemala under siege, testifying on their behalf before the United Na-
tions and other international fora. She attempted to return to Guatemala in 1988 but was seized
by security officials and forced to return to Mexico. In 1992, Rigoberta entered Guatemala tri-
umphantly as the Nobel Peace Prize winner for that year, finally protected against assassination
by the international acclaim given to her as one of the world’s foremost peacemakers. She remains
a leading political figure in Guatemala, despite continual attempts by enemies from the ladino
sector to disparage her on the grounds of her personal appearance and unfailing defense of In-
dian rights.
The anthropologist David Stoll (1999), in his provocative book on Rigoberta Menchú’s role
in the revolutionary war, claims that she ”turned herself into a composite Maya” who symbolized
the genocide perpetrated against the Mayan peoples by the Guatemalan state and its military
forces. On the basis of Stoll’s own research on the war, he presents evidence that Menchú seri-
ously distorted the facts about what happened to her own family and the reasons why her small
community became involved in the war. Stoll asserts that Menchú was used by human rights ac-
tivists, scholars, and leftists in general to promote the cause of the revolutionaries, despite the
fact that most of the Indians and Guatemalans in general had long ceased to support that radi-
cal movement.
Despite Stoll’s criticism of Rigoberta’s testimony, he recognizes that she has become an im-
portant ”national symbol” for both Mayas and many Ladinos in Guatemala. Furthermore, he
thinks that ”[h]er story has helped shift perceptions of indigenous people from hapless victims
to men and women fighting for their rights. The recognition she has won is helping Mayas be-
come conscious of themselves as historical actors.” (p.283)(See Box 8.3 for a discussion of the testimony on the role of the Mayan Indians
in the Guatemalan revolution by the Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Rigoberta
Menchú.)Nicaraguan Revolution. The essential factor leading to revolution in
Nicaragua was the highly corrupt, U.S.-dependent regime of Anastasio Somoza
Debayle. Somoza used the government for personal gain, as he and his relatives
and cronies amassed huge fortunes in property and business holdings. The
Somoza regime lacked legitimacy among the important social sectors of
Nicaragua; even the capitalists resented his personal meddling in the country’s
commercial affairs. Political control was maintained by means of a highly corrupt
National Guard and the unfailing support of the United States government. The