The colors of

Guatemala

…How to get a job in the United States…

Fourteen million people in Guatemala

One million Guatemalans in the United States

20,000 in the Chicago area

50% of the Guatemalan population is indigenous. Most are Mayan.

The population of Guatemala are the Spanish-speaking ladinos (caucasian),

mestizos (Spanish and indigenous),and minorities (African, Chinese, and Arab descent).

The first large wave of Guatemalan emigration occurred in the early 1980s, when intellectuals, students, union organizers, and other activists fled a particularly violent period in Guatemala's 36-year civil war.

Who are the Guatemalans?

Guatemala's roots lie in the great Mayan civilization in 2000 B.C.

The Mayan civilization accomplished much in the areas of astronomy, written language, architecture, the arts, and religion.

Guatemala in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to

the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast. Its size is just under 110,000 km²

with an estimated population of 14,000,000.

Where are the Guatemalans from?

Why do the Guatemalans emigrate?

During the late 1970s, resistance to the governments began. The resistance came from ladinos, indigenas, peasants, labor leaders, students, journalists, politicians, and priests.

In response, the government increased their repression efforts.

From 1980 to 1981, the army massacred whole indigenous

villages; kidnapping, torturing, and murdering people suspected of supporting the guerrillas; and scorching peasant crops and

homes.

Why do the Guatemalans emigrate?

Indigenous communities suffered the brunt of the violence of the 1980s. Most authorities have called the military efforts an

ethnic genocide campaign, stemming from pervasive discrimination against indigenas in Guatemalan society.

In addition to destroying indigenous villages, the

government army forced more than one million indigenas into

military-controlled "model villages" and

"reeducation camps," .

Why do the Guatemalans emigrate?

By the army's own count, they destroyed 440 villages and damaged numerous others between 1980 and 1984. In 1984, around 100,000 children had lost at least one parent in the massacres.

Why do the Guatemalans emigrate?

Widespread violence, including abductions, torture, and executions by army continues in Guatemala.

Why do the Guatemalans emigrate?

Sixty-three percent of Guatemalans lives in extreme poverty.

Two percent of the population owns over 64 percent of the arable land. Among Central American nations, Guatemala has the highest infant and child mortality rates, the lowest life expectancy, and most malnourished population, with rampant severe hunger.

Hundreds of thousands have fled to the United States and Mexico to escape the violence since the late 1970s.

How do the Guatemalans become U.S. immigrants?

The journey from Guatemala to the United States is usually traumatic for emigrants

escaping persecution or extreme poverty.

Most refugees travel through Mexico, where they may stay in overcrowded

refugee camps that provide little food and shelter and have poor sanitary conditions.

Refugees are susceptible to malaria and tuberculosis as well as parasites,

gastrointestinal disorders, severe malnutrition, cracked and damaged

feet, and skin infections.

How do the Guatemalans become U.S. immigrants?

Many refugees are surviving the shock of experiencing extreme violence and subsequently suffer from physical and mental health problems.

When Guatemalans reach the U.S.

When they settle here they experience poor housing, underemployment, fear of deportation, and drastic changes. The ones who survive

the journey often experience stress-related

ailments such as ulcers,

high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and alcohol abuse.

Many Guatemalan men were forced to flee without their families because they

were in immediate danger of being killed or forced into the fighting.

Undocumented migrants usually have traveled to the United States alone, because they cannot afford to pay the coyotes for everyone at once and because their chances of making the crossing and surviving in the new environment are better.

After establishing their lives here, immigrants generally try to bring the rest of their families over.

Separation and reunification after long periods of living apart can strain family relations.

Housing conditions may also change family dynamics. Often families live in very crowded, tenement apartments due to low wages and the lack of adequate housing.

In these situations, a family may share a one-room apartment with other families.

Guatemalans have contributed significantly to American life through political and cultural organizations and as individuals. Personal contributions have been especially numerous in the arts and sciences.

Guatemalan American Julio

Recinos volunteers to cover banana

boxes filled with canned food for

victims of hurricane Mitch

MEDICINE, SCIENCE, AND MATHEMATICS In 1990, Hermann Mendez (1949– ), associate professor of pediatrics at the State University of New York-Health Science Center at Brooklyn, received awards from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Assistant Secretary of Health for his outstanding contributions to the fight against AIDS. He was also named as one of the Best Doctors in New York by New York Magazine in 1991 and as one of the Best Doctors in America by Wood-ward/White Inc. in 1992. John Joaquin Munoz (1918– ) is a scientist emeritus at the National Institute of Health's Rocky Mountain Laboratories. He served as chairman of the immunology section of the American Society of Microbiology from (1980-1981), and received an NIH Director's Award in 1979. He has also published many papers and is the co-author of Bordetella Pertussis: Immunological and Other Biological Activities (1977). Psychiatrist Julio Alfredo Molina (1948– ) is the founder and director of the Anxiety Disorders Institute of Atlanta. Psychologist and government official Carmen Carrillo (1943– ) is the director of Adult Acute Services at San Francisco's Department of Public Health. She has earned many awards for her work in education, psychology, mental health, and Latino issues, including the City and Council of San Francisco Distinction and Merit Award in 1988, the National Women's Political Caucus Public Service Award in 1989, and the California School Boards Association Service Award in 1991. Sergio Ramiro Aragón (1949– ), a professor of chemistry at San Francisco State University, established a supercomputer center at California State University in 1989. Sergio Roberto López-Per-mouth (1957– ), assistant professor of math at Ohio University, has published several articles and co-edited a book called Non-Commutative Ring Theory with S. K. Jain in 1990. Victor Perez-Mendez (1923– ) has edited two books, written over 300 articles, and is a professor of physics and faculty senior scientist at the University of California at Berkeley. Statistician Jorge Huascar del Pinal (1945– ) is the chief of the U.S. Bureau of the Census's Ethnic and Spanish Statistics Branch. He published Microcomputer Programs for Demographic Analysis in 1985. MUSIC AND LITERATURE Aida Doninelli (1898– ), Guatemalan-born and raised daughter of Italian immigrants to Guatemala, made her American debut as an opera singer in Chicago in 1927. A dramatic soprano, she performed in the major concert stages of the United States and Latin America and sang with New York's prestigious Metropolitan Opera from 1928 to 1933. During her tenure at the Met, Doninelli performed in many operatic roles, including Micaela in Carmen, Mimi in La Bohème, and Cio-Cio San in Madame Butterfly. She also appeared in some of the earliest musical films like La Traviata and Tosca, and introduced Latin American music to a wide U.S. audience by singing in radio shows broadcast from New York. Several contemporary Guatemalan American authors and academics have augmented the field of American literature. Donald Kenneth Gutierrez (1932– ), a professor of English at Western New Mexico University, has published numerous essays and scholarly books, including The Dark and Light Gods: Essays on the Self in Modern Literature in 1987. David Unger (1950– ), a writer, translator, and co-director of the Latin American Writers' Institute, edited Antipoems, new and selected (1985) by Nicanor Parra and co-translated World Alone: Mundo a Solas (1982). He has received awards for his translation work from the New York State Council on the Arts. Author Arturo Arias (1950– ) co-wrote (with Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas) the screenplay for El Norte, which won the Montreal Prize and was nominated for an Academy Award for best screenplay in 1982. The film portrays the experiences of a Kanjobal brother and sister who flee from persecution in Guatemala and make the arduous journey to Los Angeles. The realistic depiction of their struggles on the way and in the United States was well-received by the Kanjobal American community in Los Angeles, on which it is based. Arias has also written several novels, including Jaguar en llamas in 1989, and he is a professor of humanities at Stanford University and San Francisco State University. Journalist and author Francisco Goldman's first novel The Long Night of White Chickens was published in 1992 and received much critical acclaim. The book evokes contemporary Guatemala and is narrated by a Guatemalan American character who travels to Guatemala in search of Guatemalan American friend who was murdered under mysterious circumstances.MEDICINE, SCIENCE, AND MATHEMATICS In 1990, Hermann Mendez (1949– ), associate professor of pediatrics at the State University of New York-Health Science Center at Brooklyn, received awards from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Assistant Secretary of Health for his outstanding contributions to the fight against AIDS. He was also named as one of the Best Doctors in New York by New York Magazine in 1991 and as one of the Best Doctors in America by Wood-ward/White Inc. in 1992. John Joaquin Munoz (1918– ) is a scientist emeritus at the National Institute of Health's Rocky Mountain Laboratories. He served as chairman of the immunology section of the American Society of Microbiology from (1980-1981), and received an NIH Director's Award in 1979. He has also published many papers and is the co-author of Bordetella Pertussis: Immunological and Other Biological Activities (1977). Psychiatrist Julio Alfredo Molina (1948– ) is the founder and director of the Anxiety Disorders Institute of Atlanta. Psychologist and government official Carmen Carrillo (1943– ) is the director of Adult Acute Services at San Francisco's Department of Public Health. She has earned many awards for her work in education, psychology, mental health, and Latino issues, including the City and Council of San Francisco Distinction and Merit Award in 1988, the National Women's Political Caucus Public Service Award in 1989, and the California School Boards Association Service Award in 1991. Sergio Ramiro Aragón (1949– ), a professor of chemistry at San Francisco State University, established a supercomputer center at California State University in 1989. Sergio Roberto López-Per-mouth (1957– ), assistant professor of math at Ohio University, has published several articles and co-edited a book called Non-Commutative Ring Theory with S. K. Jain in 1990. Victor Perez-Mendez (1923– ) has edited two books, written over 300 articles, and is a professor of physics and faculty senior scientist at the University of California at Berkeley. Statistician Jorge Huascar del Pinal (1945– ) is the chief of the U.S. Bureau of the Census's Ethnic and Spanish Statistics Branch. He published Microcomputer Programs for Demographic Analysis in 1985. MUSIC AND LITERATURE Aida Doninelli (1898– ), Guatemalan-born and raised daughter of Italian immigrants to Guatemala, made her American debut as an opera singer in Chicago in 1927. A dramatic soprano, she performed in the major concert stages of the United States and Latin America and sang with New York's prestigious Metropolitan Opera from 1928 to 1933. During her tenure at the Met, Doninelli performed in many operatic roles, including Micaela in Carmen, Mimi in La Bohème, and Cio-Cio San in Madame Butterfly. She also appeared in some of the earliest musical films like La Traviata and Tosca, and introduced Latin American music to a wide U.S. audience by singing in radio shows broadcast from New York. Several contemporary Guatemalan American authors and academics have augmented the field of American literature. Donald Kenneth Gutierrez (1932– ), a professor of English at Western New Mexico University, has published numerous essays and scholarly books, including The Dark and Light Gods: Essays on the Self in Modern Literature in 1987. David Unger (1950– ), a writer, translator, and co-director of the Latin American Writers' Institute, edited Antipoems, new and selected (1985) by Nicanor Parra and co-translated World Alone: Mundo a Solas (1982). He has received awards for his translation work from the New York State Council on the Arts. Author Arturo Arias (1950– ) co-wrote (with Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas) the screenplay for El Norte, which won the Montreal Prize and was nominated for an Academy Award for best screenplay in 1982. The film portrays the experiences of a Kanjobal brother and sister who flee from persecution in Guatemala and make the arduous journey to Los Angeles. The realistic depiction of their struggles on the way and in the United States was well-received by the Kanjobal American community in Los Angeles, on which it is based. Arias has also written several novels, including Jaguar en llamas in 1989, and he is a professor of humanities at Stanford University and San Francisco State University. Journalist and author Francisco Goldman's first novel The Long Night of White Chickens was published in 1992 and received much critical acclaim. The book evokes contemporary Guatemala and is narrated by a Guatemalan American character who travels to Guatemala in search of Guatemalan American friend who was murdered under mysterious circumstances.

20 • BIBLIOGRAPHY Brill, M., and H. Targ. Guatemala. Chicago: Children's Press, 1993. Gall, Timothy, and Susan Gall, eds. Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations. 8th ed. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995. Glassman, Paul. Guatemala Guide . Moscow, Vt.: Passport Press, 1978. Guatemala in Pictures. Minneapolis, Minn.: Lerner Publications Co., 1987. Woodward, Ralph Lee. Guatemala. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Clio, 1992. Wright, Ronald. Time Among the Maya . New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1989. WEBSITES Green Arrow Advertising. [Online] Available http://www.greenarrow.com/guatemal/guatemal.htm , 1998. World Travel Guide. Guatemala. [Online] Available http://www.wtgonline.com/country/gt/gen.html , 1998.

Imagine 

John Lennon

Imagine there's no heavenIt's easy if you tryNo hell below usAbove us only skyImagine all the peopleLiving for today... 

Imagine there's no countriesIt isn't hard to doNothing to kill or die forAnd no religion tooImagine all the peopleLiving life in peace... 

You may say I'm a dreamerBut I'm not the only oneI hope someday you'll join usAnd the world will be as one 

Imagine no possessionsI wonder if you canNo need for greed or hungerA brotherhood of manImagine all the peopleSharing all the world...