Quick Update from the Land of Tortillas and Quetzales - Guatemala

The Little Picture - My Accommodations
I am staying with my friends John and Christel. John is an expat from NYC, a brilliant quirky guy who landed in Antigua, Guatemala years ago with $50 in his pocket. Since then he has opened the best dive bar in the world, Cafe No Se, as well as a cafe, Pina, and a book store, Dyslexia. He has also moved from smuggling mezcal down from Oaxaca, Mexico in jerry cans in pick-up trucks dressed as a priest to being the proprietor of the ever expanding legitimate booze label, Ilegal Mezcal. And he, with my good friend Mike, edits and publishes La Cuadra, an irreverent local magazine with an international readership online. John is a kind and smart guy. Christel is also a smarty-pants, an anthropologist from Holland who came to Guatemala and in partnership with Ana built a school, in Ciudad Vieja, which serves the slum children in that modest town outside Antigua. These are kids who would have had no options if it weren't for Ninos de Guatemala and the school the organization built. Christel is a kind and smart woman.

John and Christel recently moved into what Mike called "the nicest house in Antigua." I dare say he just might be right and when Christel insisted I stay with her this year I didn't realize how lucky I was. This place is gorgeous and roomy with a rooftop terrace and a stunning view of the volcanoes Agua and Fuego. Our neighbors include a convent and a man with 17-40 (reports vary) poodles whose chorus is more amusing than annoying. It is here that we will have the big Christmas eve party (my fourth in Antigua) with all the oddball expats and Guatemalans that make up my strange little family away from home.

My time here so far has been made up of the usual and unusual shenanigans....I will share some of the sharable. Of course, the first night I stayed up too late and drank too much, amped on adrenaline from being back among my friends. I am not usually prone to being sick but I got a sore throat and the usual diarrhea that comes whenever I land in this town. I have laughed more than is probably physically advised and have had a smattering of dramas and escapades that I dare not share here...just know my life continues to be odd and filled with love and friendship.

The Bigger Picture - Guatemala
The situation in Guatemala continues to be challenging for those who call it home. Guatemala was recently ranked the most dangerous country not at war and it has the highest per capita concentration of guns outside the middle east. Guatemalan men I know carry guns even in Antigua and I understand and am sympathetic...and frankly, it is these men that I often ask to walk me home at night. One new friend, A-, is a manager at a factory near Guatemala City where they make clothes for Gap and Banana Republic. A- invited me to visit the factory with him but warned that we have to go through "the red zone," the few dangerous blocks where he lays his gun in his lap ready to respond if attacked. He assured me that once inside the factory I would be safe as it is heavily guarded. I have not decided whether or not to visit the factory. A- and I also have a date to go to the shooting range but are waiting for his practice rounds to be delivered.

Overall the violence in Guatemala continues to increase as the drug cartel turf wars spill into the country from Columbia and Mexico. It is reported that these cartels now dominate in Guatemala, even over the Guatemalan gangs. Because Guatemala has an extremely high impunity rate and has been called "a murderer's paradise" this violence has gone unchecked. The "justice" and "security" institutions are corrupt, dysfunctional, and often complicit in the crimes they are supposed to be mitigating. These conditions make Guatemala a principle place for trafficking and warehousing drugs headed north and money headed south. When Guatemalan police have made seizures (they are rare and only a pittance of the overall trafficking) the drugs and money are often not accounted for and politicians and officials have been accused of but rarely indicted for corruption. These conditions and the shitty economy world wide has resulted in a quieter Antigua this year. There are less tourists about town with fewer folks in restaurants and walking through the park.

All this also means that the poorest of the poor and the racial majority, the indigenous Maya, continue to live in poverty and in an environment of racism and terror. Approximately 60% of Guatemalans live in poverty, most of them indigenous. The tenants of the 1996 Peace Accords continue to be ignored and not implemented and the oligarchy of Guatemalans who maintain control of most of the country's resources appear to respond to the situation only by hiring private security forces and putting up more barbed wire. One of the fastest growing industries is private security businesses with a growing number of personnel that already out rank the police force more than four to one. Gangs in Guatemala City continue to recruit the young and desperate who often do the bidding of the drug cartels. The estimates of Guatemalan gangs vary from 14,000 to 165,000, so basically, no one knows. The situation is expected to continue to deteriorate as long as corruption and the resulting impunity rates (97-99%) and poverty continue to go unaddressed.

Sorry for the bummer report but Guatemala is a tough country with intractable problems. Still, life goes on and fresh tortillas are made and children smile and Antigua continues to be a bubble of relative peace and prosperity with it's nice restaurants and colonial charm. My friends continue to do the good they can and laugh and celebrate life. Meanwhile back in the states my own fellow US Americans continue to elect selfish idiots and foment racism and homophobia. So I reckon I will continue to count my blessings, eat some tacos at No Se, enjoy the incessant laughter that marks my days here, and hold a little hope for both Guatemala and my own country.

Miss my friends and family and my sweet old dog and am also glad to have a loving crew of smart funny folks down here with whom to celebrate life and get perspective.