Recent scholarship on Guatemala

Latin American Perspectives has a number of recent articles that might be of interest to those who follow Guatemalan politics. Autumn Knowlton published "Q’eqchi’ Mayas and the Myth of “Postconflict” Guatemala" (2016).

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.

I would have expected greater discussion of today's fourth conquest of Guatemala, "conquest by corporation," but the paper is worth reading for the personal narratives.

Marc-Andre Anzueto published "Canadian Human Rights Policy toward Guatemala: The Two Faces of Janus?"

During Guatemala’s 36-year-long civil war (1960–1996), Canada’s role in response to the conflict diverged from the United States’ realpolitik. In contrast to U.S. policy objectives during the cold war, the Canadian distinctiveness in Guatemala was prevalent in the realm of democracy and human rights policy. The Canadian government and civil society condemned human rights violations in Guatemala, supported the various phases of the peace process, and participated in international efforts to strengthen the rule of law. 

However, since 2003–2004, the Canadian government has promoted mining investments to the detriment of human rights and its relationship with civil society has deteriorated both at home and in Guatemala. This shift can be linked to a securitization process of human rights within the neoliberal order in Latin America and a change in the identity-based interest of Canadian foreign policy during Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s era (2006–2015).

Clearly the Harper government does not have a great reputation for standing up for human rights in Guatemala. The perception of Canada as a country that stood for human rights in Guatemala was built during the 1980s and 1990s when it fought against the militarization of the country and then its transition to the postwar. For the last fifteen years, however, the country has seen its reputation for human rights tarnished because of the actions of Canadian-owned firms in Guatemala and the Canadian government steadfast support for those corporations' questionable business practices.

Finally, Simon Granovsky-Larsen just published "The Guatemalan Campesino Movement and the Postconflict Neoliberal State."

In fact, Guatemala appears to have left the “postconflict” period behind. The postconflict period was characterized by aspirations to peace and structural transformation but also by the neoliberal transition and the consolidation of power among economic and military elites within a transnationalized economy. The period the country finds itself in today is characterized instead by a rejection of the neoliberal model and the political status quo by grassroots groups, a generalized disillusionment with the peace accords as a platform for change, a revived spirit of resistance among social movements, and an intensified militarization of repression. This widespread discontent joins with the alternative forms of production and political organization forged by the CCDA, the CONIC, and others to create a very different political atmosphere from that of the early peace years, replacing complacency in the face of neoliberalism with rejection of the status quo and promotion of social change that together characterize bottom-up counterhegemonic transformation.

Now back to Erin Beck's How Development Projects Persist: Everyday Negotiations with Guatemalan NGOs.