The Guatemala Guerrilla Who Never Stopped Fighting.

Anna-Cat Brigida has an interesting story about The Guatemala Guerrilla Who Never Stopped Fighting.

Santiago Boc Tay laid down his arms on December 29, 1996 in front of government officials, international observers and his fellow comrades as part of a ceremony marking the end to a 36-year civil war in Guatemala. For sixteen years, Boc Tay had fought with other guerrillas, battling for social justice, land rights and respect for his indigenous Mayan culture. But on that December day when a peace accord was finalized, his hopes for revolutionary change in the Central American nation withered.

“The advances that we wanted to democratize the country were not won,” says Boc Tay. “But it’s also clear that we laid the foundations for democracy in Guatemala.”

I have a great deal of respect for many of the people who sacrificed so much to fight for the betterment of their fellow human beings through participation in the region's guerrillas groups.

“The young people need a dose of history in their head to understand how complicated the present situation is and the situations that we come from,” Boc Tay says.

However, too many of them still think that they are the vanguard. They are the only ones who know the right way and anyone who pursues different goals or pursues them through the use of different tactics is somehow deluding themselves. They thought that way during the armed conflict and many of them apparently continue to think the same today.

An interesting story but one of the reasons why the revolutionary left was not able to lead or co-exist with the democratic left in Guatemala.