Life Is Priceless: Mayan Q"eqchi" Voices on the Guatemalan National Reparations Program

Little in-depth research has been conducted on or attention paid to the experience and opinions of survivors regarding issues such as reparation, justice, reconciliation and truth in dealing with the aftermath of atrocities. Less still has been said of the way in which victims" identities impact on these views or are considered in the design of programs aimed at redress for past violations. This article focuses on Guatemala's National Reparations Program (PNR) as critically viewed by Mayan Q"eqchi" victims. The Q"eqchi" are the second-largest Mayan group in the country and among the most severely affected by the internal armed conflict of 1960 to 1996. In Guatemala, the dominant culture is nonindigenous, although the majority of the population is indigenous Maya. This raises the complex issue of the actual and potential role of cultural context in dealing with grave human rights violations. In this regard, it is pertinent to establish how reparation is understood in different cultural contexts and to question how governmental reparations programs take these contexts into account. The results of extensive ethnographic field research conducted between 2006 and 2009 reveal the need for a locally rooted and culturally sensitive PNR.

Life Is Priceless: Mayan Q"eqchi" Voices on the Guatemalan National Reparations Program Articles