GUATEMALA'S NOBEL LAUREAT
Handy, Jim
A QUICHE WOMAN FROM AN ALDEA OF SAN Miguel Uspantan, Rigoberta Menchu lived a harsh, peasant life until a little over a decade ago. Then her father burned to death in the Spanish Embassy when the...
...Its greatest effect will perhaps be to push along the passage of Conventidn 169-an accord prOposed by the International Labor Organization that grants a series of rights and recognitions to tiative groups-and to reshape the country's political and social organizations to better reflect ' the real Guatemala...
...Even the military said that its.spokesperson had only been speaking personally not for the institution, when he opposed her It s hard to say what the prize means for Guatemala in concrete terms Menchu said the money will go into a fund bearing'her father's name, which will be used to further the political struggle of Maya and popular sectors in Guatemala...
...She returned to Guate-mala briefly in 1986...
...Every popular and labor organization publicized their support for her candidacy...
...nexilOinMexino, shebecame an activist in the Guatema lan struggle...
...A little later, she watched another brother tortured and killed...
...Then her father burned to death in the Spanish Embassy when the police stormed it.to break up a peasant occupation...
...As it became clear that she was one of the favorites to win the prize, the government began to lighten its tone, saying only thatthey couldn't support one candidate because there were two Gua-temalans in the running...
...In 1992, her homecoming was a little different...
...The government and the military steadfastly opposed Menchd's candidacy, complaining that she was part of a group of people who defamed Guatemala from outside and could not be honored in Guatemala...
...Shortly afterwards, the military kidnapped and killed her mother and a brother...
...numerous cabinet members and opposition politicians also gave her public support...
...As support for Menchti's candidacy grew, within Guate-mala, these actions demonstrated how removed the military and much of the government were from the prevailing mood in the country...
...They said she was linked to the guerrillas and didn't symbolize peace...
...Three of Guatemala's four major newspapers backed her...
...When she returned again in 1988, she was arrested and had to apply for government amnesty as a guerrilla before being released...
...Everywhere she went in Gtia-temalashewas surroundedby supporters andfollowers...
...Her success, coupled with the intense organizing around the Quintcentenmal will no doubt spur on increased activity in the popular sectors It will assist in struggles against impu nity, and will be an important goad to forge aheadiN the peace negotiations...
...WhenRigobertaMenchiThnally ariivedinGuatemaladays before the prize was to be announced, she was met by joyous crowds and great expectations...
...She also became a symbol of that struggle, due largely to a narrative of her life, IRigoberta Menchzi, which became an international bestseller...
...She fled Guatemala in 1981...
...When, Rigoberta Menchti was first nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, the Serrano government, hoping to lessen her chances, proposed a candidate of its own, ElisaMolinade Stahl, an upper-class Ladina who was considered a more suitable choice...
...Amidst the flood of congratulations from within and outside of the country when it was announced that she had won, the govern ment said it had never milly opposed her candidacy...
Vol. 26 • December 1992 • No. 3
