Accompanier Perspectives: A Photo Album from Guatemala

Michelle Liang (she/her) wrote this letter in July, 2024.

This Friends and Chosen Family letter is a little different. I thought, sometimes my favorite way of receiving stories is sitting down with my friends and flipping (or scrolling) through a photo album and listening to their commentary on each photo. This is meant to convey that.

Cemetery on a hillside. In the foreground are several tombs that look like blue houses with colorful crosses. Other yellow and pink tombs and green and blue crosses are scattered behind up the hill. On the top of the hill are two trees. In the far background is a green mountain in the clouds. Monument painted in pink, blue, green, and yellow stripes with a decorated gate. On the inside left wall of the monument is a plaque. In the back of the monument are two statues of the Ixil man and woman dressed in green guerrilla uniforms with guns. The inside of the monument is painted with a mural of green mountains against a blue sky with white clouds.

Cemetery in Nebaj, Quiché, and Tomb of an Ixil man and woman who fought in the guerrilla during the Internal Armed Conflict

The painting is red, with two horizontal and one vertical band across. The bands have textile patterns in green, yellow, pink, blue, black, and brown. The edges of the painting are yellow, green, pink, and blue stripes. The altar is arranged in a circular formation. In the middle of the circle are floral arrangements, surrounded by green leaves fanning outwards, which are surrounded by papers showing faces of disappeared persons. In the back of the altar is a wooden board standing up, showing a painting of a figure in blue and green in orange and red flames.

Mural on the side of the monument with a painting of the guerrilla fighters, and Painting on the side of the monument to the guerrilla fighters

The altar is arranged in a circular formation. In the middle of the circle are floral arrangements, surrounded by green leaves fanning outwards, which are surrounded by papers showing faces of disappeared persons. In the back of the altar is a wooden board standing up, showing a painting of a figure in blue and green in orange and red flames. In the foreground is a man in a red keffiyeh speaking into a microphone. In the middle, on the ground that is wet from the rain, is a Palestine flag with a quetzal in the middle. In the background is a green tent under which stand six people holding flags stating “Free Palestine” and “If this is not genocide, then what is?”

Altar for Disappeared Persons in the March for Memory by HIJOS, and Installment in the March for Memory in Solidarity with Palestine

Three people smile at the camera. In the background is the Pride march. The person on the left is in a green rain poncho and has a rainbow heart on her face. The person in the middle is wearing a black jacket and has a rainbow flag and pink glitter on their face. The person on the left is wearing pink eyeshadow. A mass of the backs of around 34 people at the Pride March. One person is waving a Pride flag and others are wearing the Pride flag around their shoulders.

Friends at Pride

A turkey is standing in the middle of the grass. In the back is a grey building with a mural showing a boot attempting to stomp on a person holding up the boot, someone with a megaphone, a hand with a pencil, and a flag. On the top of the mural is a chain broken in two with birds flying through the middle. Behind the boot are three figures painted in black running, two with guns. The entire mural is in black and white. Underneath the painting is a sentence in quotes stating “Education as a practice of liberation.”

A turkey in front of a political mural

At least four farming plots with green plants in the foreground. In the background are a tree with huge green leaves and various other green trees. The building is made up of slanted grey tin roofs held up by wooden slats. In the foreground are the backs of two men and one woman, the man in an orange shirt, the woman in a red huipil, and the man in a light blue shirt and straw hat. In the back of the building is a man standing in front of a white cloth for projection. Three men are sitting around a table. On the left side, around six children are peering through the metal net on the windows of the building.

A plot of land behind the Basic Institute, or Middle School, on which youth at the school practice sustainable farming practices, and Site of assembly meeting for ACODET

In the foreground is the river with some branches sticking out. In the background is a hilly landscape completely covered with green trees. A photo of the first page of the statement from ACODET. On the left and right sides of document are circular stamps of approval from different Indigenous communities. This page of the statement reads: “The Association of Communities for the Development, Defense of Land and Natural Resources - ACODET - in their 16th general assembly, before public opinion declare: We the indigenous communities of Ixcan, Cobán and Uspantan that make up the association of communities for the development, defense of land and natural resources gathered in the community of La Libertad Xalarocjá in the municipality of Cobán, Alta Verapaz in the celebration of our sixteenth ordinary assembly, as it is customary to do year after year since the founding of our community organization. The member communities of ACODET express our hope to see that this government is listening to the needs of our communities and has opened spaces for dialogue with indigenous authorities throughout the country. But at the same time we express our concern for the political situation of our country, since the pact of corrupt people who have control of several institutions, mainly the MP and the judicial system, does not allow our country to advance in terms of democracy and development for the democracy and development for the indigenous communities that exist in any part of the country. The corrupt pact has plundered our country and has enriched itself at the expense of the Guatemalan people and they have made laws in their favor to leave in total impunity for all the acts they have committed. At present they refuse to accept their defeat and try to prevent any action for the benefit of the Guatemalan population. As communities settled along the banks of large rivers, threatened by hydroelectric construction, we see the need to review the national energy policy. The extractivist and neoliberal model has left the generation, transport, and distribution of electricity in the hands of communities without access to energy and does not promote national development. The big companies only take advantage of the water in our rivers without caring that we are left without water and the environmental damage they are causing, they break the community social fabric and produce extreme poverty in the communities, as is currently happening in Santa Maria. Guatemala produces twice as much energy as it consumes, approximately 4,000 MW, while the national demand is only 1,800 MW. The rest of the energy is sold to other countries, even though we have no electricity here. The construction of more dams only generates poverty, drought in the crops, land dispossession and…”

The Rio Chixoy, and Statement from ACODET, with stamps of approval from 36 rural Indigenous communities.

In the background is a wooden house with a rusted tin roof. In the foreground are some trees and plants in brown dirt. In the far background a mountain is peeking out. A far off photo of a group of around 60 people gathered at the Rio Chixoy. The group is in the foreground with a big tree arching over the group on the left, the river is in the background. The other side of the shore is furthest back, including a sandy bank and many trees. The most visible costume is a painted monarch butterfly sign on someone’s back. Four people are on stilts, one of whom has a pink wig.

Wooden house in Copal AA, and The community gathered at the Rio Chixoy as the destination of the march. There are children in costumes and on stilts.

Big poster in front of the panel table reads: Panel: Challenges and struggles of the people against climate change. Speakers are from Festival Solidario, ORCONDECO, Appalachian State University, ACODET, COCDE, and Copal AA. Six speakers sitting at the panel table, which is adorned with colorful Indigenous mantels. The big poster has “Panel” in big green letters and the rest in big blue letters, which were glued onto the white poster. Each speaker has a sign in front of them showing their organization in handwritten letters with a cut out green tree on the left of each sign. In the background, three male-appearing persons are talking. In the very back is full of green from the trees. The main mural in the photo shows a group of people holding signs that read: “Water for life, not for death,” “TLC out,” “Copal AA present,” “The people united will never be defeated.” Alt Text: The wall of the Instituto Basic is grey. The main mural shows a group of people crossing a blue river, dressed in green, yellow, orange, and white. There are trees around the river and the ground on which the people in the mural stand is yellow.

Panel of speakers in the event salon, and Murals on the outside wall of the Instituto Basico. The main mural in the photo shows a group of people holding signs that read: “Water for life, not for death,” “TLC out,” “Copal AA present,” “The people united will never be defeated.”

A photo of around 37 people marching. In the foreground is gravely road and grass separating the viewer from the line of people. The photo shows the backs of people, marching from the right side of the photo to the left. Four people at the front of the march are on stilts. There are many trees in the background. The poster is yellow and the text is in blue, black, and red marker. Some words “drought,” “in first place,” “in second place,” and “in third place” is underlined in orange marker. In the background the salon is visible with big aluminum sloped roofs.

The community marching towards the Rio Chixoy with costumes and signs, and a yellow poster hanging on the fence of the event salon. The handwritten text reads: “I would like to make a reflection to the general public: The reason we are suffering from the drought. First of all, the rainfall is as follows -Secondly: why is Climate change? Because of so much deforestation, there is no longer any mountains for the clouds, all peeled. Because the clouds, it comes from the mountains, the rains come from the mother earth. Third place: the famous pollution. Pollution is highly: toxic, to health to the human being, to the earth, to the whole planet. Chemical use, all kinds of toxic incectisides, Who use these: all the farmers, fumes from the burning of rosaduras- We are adjusting along with the rich, although the smoke is non-toxic but we are heating up the earth. The most toxic fumes of the factories of Industries, armaments factories, nuclear bombs, atomic, highly toxic.