Some thoughts about Guatemalaness

Photo by: Lucy Pérez

Recently I received a call from Taiwan's Embassy in Guatemala telling me that I was granted a scholarship to study a PhD in Taiwan. For me it was the happiest news in the last few months. The other day I talked to my father about the scholarship, he was proud and cheerful. He told me that when he was a young man he tried to get one of those scholarships, nevertheless he wasn’t able to get one due to his inability to speak English. He’s a quite clever and wise man, though; he speaks two languages: K’iche’ which is my parents’ and grandparents’ native language and Spanish as well. But never managed to master English to an intermediate-advanced level (the one required if one's looking for scholarships abroad). Effectively, the thing is that we are neither the regular latinamerican family nor the regular K’iche’ one, there are some other aspects regarding our identity and origins. As I mentioned the other day, I didn’t learn K’iche’ language, instead I learnt English and Spanish. Now I understand why my father insisted so badly on teaching me English since I was a little child. As well as Spanish, English provides access to more resources, better education and opportunities. This is the way the world works. Ask any anthropologist about it. Eurocentrism and western culture drive globalization, it’s the result of european expansion a few centuries ago. Anyway, after telling my friends about the good news, some of them told me that I’m not getting back to Guatemala anymore. To be honest, it is a possibility, but I’ll be sure about it only after I finish my time in Taiwan. But it’s important to point out that leaving Guatemala is kind of a dream for many of my fellow citizens, hereafter I’ll explain why.

I ought to mention that scholarships are intended for low income people, vulnerable ones or young people with some kind of disadvantage. It might be true to some point, but the reality is that most scholarship recipients are people with enough money and resources to get private education in Guatemala or even abroad. Yes, some fellows have studied abroad because their parents paid for their education and that’s why they learnt how to speak English, and this makes their application process way easier. In my particular case, I studied my whole life in private institutions in Guatemala, maybe not the best private institutions out there, but the best ones my father could afford; either way, I definitely had more advantages than the majority of young people in my country. I was aware of my privileges and took advantage of them, thanks to that I graduated from university and got two masters degrees. Just think about how privileged I am, studying two master degrees amid a country that can barely ensure elementary education to most of its population. Perhaps, the only little difference is that, I decided to get into a public university to study my second master degree, and there is a huge difference between public and private universities in Guatemala, of course this comparison also has nuances regarding social position, income inequality, quality of education, accessibility, social status and so forth.

Undoubtedly, public education in Guatemala is a completely different thing, it lacks so many resources, classrooms are crowded, the farther you’re from Guatemala city (the nation’s capital) the less education opportunities you have. Besides my own experience in Guatemala’s public university, I also remember some stories about how public elementary schools are because my mother was a teacher for 25 consecutive years in the public sector. I'm afraid that most of my fellow scholarship holders don’t even have an idea about their privileges. I’m not saying that realizing your privileges makes you a better person at all, I know a lot of people who're well aware about them but they continue being classist, racists, narrow-minded fellows. Anyhow, it’s a good starting point for one to get a better understanding about how hard life is for others, and the opportunities one is getting don’t come only from our own individual hard work but for the hard work of our parents and grandparents did before we were nothing more than a bunch of cells.

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When I think about privileges, I remember one of those “modern concepts” adopted by hipsters first, and popularized by internet memes: the “whitemalan”. The term comes from the word “white” referring to the “white or western people” and “malan” which is a suffix referring to Guatemala’s demonym. So, a whitemalan is usually a guatemalan whose ancestors came from Europe, the United States or any other western/white nation. Many of these Guatemalans are closely related to Guatemala’s oligarchy. Since the start of the colonization process they have been owners of huge amounts of land and money. They grabbed these assets from indigenous population during the first stages of colonization. Now it’s still an unsolved matter. Like many other elites, Guatemalan oligarchy is endogamic and pigmentocratic. In other words, they keep their money by getting married among relatives and by “importing” white europeans or westerners with some money, and also, with a “good” and tuneful last name. Kind of a surprise that usually any white last name fulfills the last criteria. 

You never see an indigenous last name among oligarchy nor a colored person. I have to say that pigmentocracy is really a bad thing in my country. Moreover, a common demeanor among urban middle-income guatemalans, mainly whose identifying themselves as “ladinos” (half blooded between indigenous and european), is that many of them always try to get closer to the white culture, to the whitemalan because that is considered as progress and improvement. The opposite, getting closer to the mayan, to the indigenous culture is seen as retardation, as impairing race, intelligence and wealth. Yes, I know, racism is also a big issue in my country. Plus, we have violence, narcotraffic, corruption, malnutricion, Should I say the perfect formula for a catastrophe?

The most unprivileged population in Guatemala is the indigenous one and we are the most numerous also. This explains why so many fellow Guatemalans are fleeing from this country. Without any opportunities, forgotten by the government and diminished by elites, the best option so far is emigration. It's well known that there is a huge international pressure over Guatemala when it comes to avoiding-emigration policies. The United States is also spending an immense amount of money trying to stop immigration. Well, I have to say that there is nothing new here, emigration causes are pretty much the same since Guatemala is an independent country and until anyone wants to realize that historical and structural problems lay in as real causes of it, nothing's going to change in the future. Those innocent advertising campaigns about “staying home is better” are nothing more but crap for millions who seek a better future abroad. 

It’s a fact that opportunities and investment often go to the most privileged part of our population, that’s why most of the scholarship recipients are wealthy or high-middle income people with good education, a few of us have a sort of indigenous background, and nobody comes from a poor family. The same story can be found in business, government, humanitarian help and so forth. And yes, there are some Guatemalans who can come and go abroad for traveling, the ones who have enough money to do so. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that my fellows or any rich are bad people, I’m just describing their income background and how fortunate some people could be in my country. Of course, everybody should have the same opportunities, good income and favorable conditions.

Particularly, I think that we must understand how complex Guatemala is before we can do something, we have to realize our privileges and show some empathy towards others less fortunate. We should study and divulge historical facts and promote critical thinking on important matters for us as Guatemalans and global citizens. Since we are part of that tiny privileged population we ought to do something to improve conditions in our country. Getting a scholarship is a big responsibility, it is even bigger when you are a Mayan person. In some way, I’m representing my culture, my people, a neglected history of millions. Just a minuscule number of Mayans who were born in Guatemala get education abroad, perhaps that’s why I feel this huge responsibility over me. I have to do things the best I can and I hope I can also significantly contribute to my country.

I know that not everyone out there will share and understand my point of view. There is nothing I can do if that is the case, but I also know that others might get the message, we can do small changes now for the betterment of future generations and the disadvantaged ones, specially if we can inspire or teach others, I know that eventually we will have a substantial improvement. In the meantime, I got to say that the best option for a Guatemalan is always leaving their country, and the fact is that a truly happy and satisfied Guatemalan citizen is seldom a real person but rather a fake.