'What this signifies for the people of Guatemala is that "we not only lack sovereignty, we have become beggars of the world."'

In September, Guatemala celebrated with intense patriotic fervor the 184th anniversary of their independence from Spain. Across the country flags were hung, torches lit, processions filled the streets.

But behind the painted faces, the patriotic pride was a mix of emotions: on the one hand the uncertainty of a fragile economic and social situation and on the other an attempt to dispel these preoccupations and march towards a more promising future.

In 1821, bowing to demands for independence, due to a liberal constitution imposed on Spain following the invasion by Napoleon and the abdication of the King, Spain signed the formal Act of Independence - one of the most peaceful transfers of rule in history - enshrining the authority of the Church but still hoping to preserve the power structure of colonial rule under new leadership.

This power structure did indeed remain, tossed into turmoil between the rivalling liberals and conservatives for the next 120 years, with detrimental effects for the majority of the country’s people, the indigenous.

Despite a handful of progressive movements including ‘ten years of spring’ under the socialist governments of Arevalo and Arbenz in 1944, the Indigenous Rights Accord of 1995, and the Peace Accords of 1996, Guatemala has lived and continues to live in a precarious state of human development reflected through malnutrition, disease and early death of hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans whom are unlikely to describe their situation as either independent or free.

Guatemala appears 117, of a total of 177 evaluated countries in the Human Development Index, the lowest position within Central America. And what this figure signifies for the people of Guatemala is that ‘we not only lack sovereignty, we have become beggars of the world.' (La Prensa 13.09.05)

After nearly 200 years of independent life the Guatemala of today has sadly not managed to liberate itself from the ills of exclusion, poverty, illiteracy and impunity. With the approaching anniversary of two centuries of independence one would hope to see by this date an acceptable level of development. Where the nation can stand alone, and stand proud.

To make this a reality Guatemala will have to work hard at redefining social structures in health, education, distribution of national income and social inclusion. To date, the form of administrating the state has not only decreased the credibility in both democracy and politics, it has succeeded in reinforcing, rather than abating, social inequality.

Whilst Guatemala’s most impoverished regions in the West of the country unified to save lives, homes and indeed entire communities from the recent destruction of tropical storm Stan, the lack of political will, police presence and disaster emergency administration in response to the situation only went to underline the significance of ‘patriotism’ within Guatemala’s unaffected elite. Ironically, it is they who invest the time, energy and money into their annual ‘independence’ day.

For many Guatemalans the 15th of September simply signifies a holiday where the majority of schools across the country march and compete to see who does it the best. In the classroom an official history is relayed and for a month the children draw patriotic symbols, recite poems and make flags. The rest of the year, independence is to millions of Guatemalans a synonym of abandonment and a denial of the reality in which they live.


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