Murder, Memory, and the Maya review in LARR

S. Ashley Kistler, assistant professor of anthropology and Latin American and Caribbean studies at Rollins College, has a review on Murder, Memory, and the Maya for the Latin American Research Review that takes a look at these four recent books.

For Every Indio Who Falls: A History of Maya Activism in Guatemala, 1960–1990. By Betsy Konefal. 

A Beauty That Hurts: Life and Death in Guatemala. Second revised edition. By W. George Lovell. 

After the Coup: An Ethnographic Reframing of Guatemala, 1954. Edited by Timothy J. Smith and Abigail E. Adams.

The Mayan in the Mall: Globalization, Development, and the Making of Modern Guatemala. By J. T. Way. 

Here's her takeaway

These works give us new insights into the historical events that preceded Guatemala’s 1954 coup and twentieth-century Guatemalan ideologies of race and ethnicity, while bringing the reader closer to understanding how the civil war forever transformed Guatemalan culture and society. They remind us that while the civil war ended more than fifteen years ago, the inequalities and instability it created continue to define life in Guatemala today.

Peace has eluded Guatemala, these books show, in part because national attitudes that stigmatize Maya culture as “antimodern” and an obstacle to progress have not changed. Those enduring attitudes are primary causes of decades of violence and centuries of inequality. As Lovell writes in A Beauty That Hurts, “How, I ask myself, can a ‘new struggle’ be avoided if the root causes of the civil war are talked about, year after year, administration after administration, only to be addressed in theory, not in practice?” (98).

For Guatemala to achieve peace, it must confront its past and change national attitudes toward the Maya. While the trial of Guatemala’s former president Ríos Montt offered the country the possibility for one such change, the reversal of his conviction perpetuated the liminal status of the Maya and presented yet another obstacle in their fight for justice and equality. The court’s decision to postpone Ríos Montt’s retrial left the future uncertain not only for the former dictator but for all Guatemalans.

And yes I would have highlighted the review even if she hadn't gone to Florida State University.

Central America's not doing so bad

Playa Jaco, Costa Rica

Zach Dyer summarizes the most recent results of Mitofsky approval ratings of Latin American presidents at The Tico Times.Laura Chinchilla picks up the rear with a disastrous 16 percent approval rating, probably worse that what she really deserves but still in the right direction.

El Salvador’s outgoing President Mauricio Funes reported 67 percent support followed by Panama’s Ricardo Martinelli (65 percent) and Guatemala’s Otto Pérez Molina (56 percent).

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega had 49 percent support and former-Honduran President Porfirio Lobo had 38 percent. 

Funes' rating comes from a January poll which helps explain why the FMLN did so well in February's first round presidential election. I do wonder, however, how much (if any) his approval rating dropped between January and early March's second round runoff. Dis his surgery, questions about who was in the car crash, and unrelenting attacks against ARENA bring down his approval rating and hurt the FMLN's chances between round one and round two? Those events probably didn't hurt as much as the chaos in Venezuela, but I just don't know.

I'm surprised that Ortega is doing so "poorly." He lost 17 percentage points since the last poll. There doesn't seem to be anything that explains that much of a drop in such a short period of time.

In Panama, Ricardo Martinelli continues going strong which might bode well for his party's chances in May's presidential election. John Otis has a great overview of Martinelli's Legacy in Latin Trade.

During five years as Panamá’s president, Ricardo Martinelli has forged a reputation for winning ugly.

He favors a bruising, Chris Christie-like governing style. He disdains democratic checks and balances and tried to spy on his political foes. He’s been accused of corruption by his own vice president. Shortly after Martinelli took the oath of office in 2009, the U.S. ambassador to Panamá described him as having “a penchant for bullying and blackmail.”

Yet, Martinelli is leaving office in July with sky-high job approval numbers and a long list of achievements that includes public works mega-projects, Panamá’s promotion in 2010 to investment grade status, and the fastest growing economy in the hemisphere. Supporters portray Martinelli as Panamá’s best chief executive since the country returned to democracy following the 1989 U.S. invasion that ousted dictator Manuel Noriega.

And if you want to get caught up with the May elections, Carin Zissis has a very good update on the divergent poll results for the Americas Society Council of the Americas. The ruling party's candidate, José Domingo Arias, is (statistically) tied in one poll and leading by 7 percentage points in another poll. It's a three-way race with only a plurality needed to win next month.

Balance in the FMLN's cabinet?

As president-elect Sanchez Ceren looks set to take the reins of power on June 1st, we are beginning to get a sense of what his administration is going to look like. While the transition team was not balanced, his cabinet looks to be better balanced when it comes to representing somewhat diverse viewpoints in El Salvador.

FMLN USA reports that the first announced appointments are

Finance Minister, Carlos Cáceres
Foreign Relations Minister Hugo Martinez
Minister of Public Works: Gerson Martinez
Environment Agency (Minister) Lina Pohl
Minister of Economy : Salomón Lopez Tharsis
Minister of Tourism: Jose Napoleon Duarte
Secretary of Economic Affairs: Roberto Lorenzana
Private Secretary: Manuel Melgar
Secretary for Governance and Policy Dialogue: Hato Hasbun

Carlos Caceres and Salomón Lopez Tharsis should calm fears that the government intends to do anything radical. As I've said before, I just don't think that the FMLN is in a great position to do anything radical even if they wanted to. El Salvador is strongly tied to the US and they can't rely upon Venezuela (or anybody else at this point in time) for much.

While there are more announcements to come, one thing that really stands out is the lack of women - 1 out of 9. Once you add in Sanchez Ceren and Oscar Ortiz and perhaps even José Luis Merino, the balance looks even worse. And not for nothing, but the only woman announced so far is in charge of the Environment.

And in case you are interested, CISPES has the English-language translation of Eugenio Chicas' March 25th speech during which Salvador Sánchez Cerén and Óscar Ortiz received their credentials as president and vice president. Chicas is the President of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE).