An Indian Woman In Guatemala: Without A Trace Of Bitterness In Her Voice

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oppression continued, and during the 1970's the repression was
especially harsh; during this time more and more Indians began to resist. It
was during this time that Rigoberta Menchu's family became involved in the
resistance.

The situation in Guatemala is similar to South Africa, where the black majority
are ruled with absolute power by the white minority. Like South Africa, the
Indians in Guatemala are lacking in even the most basic of human rights.
"Indeed the so-called forest Indians are being systematically exterminated in
the name of progress. But unlike the Indian rebels of the past, who wanted to
go back to pre-Columbian times, Rigoberta Menchu is not fighting in the name of
an idealized or mythical past." (Menchu xiii) Rigoberta is working toward
drawing attention to the plight of native people around the globe.

Once an illiterate farm worker, she has taught herself to read and write Spanish,
the language of her oppressor, as a means of relating her story to the ...

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took two nights and one day, with no stops allowed for the bathroom,
it is easy to imagine the unsanitary condition that resulted. Each worker would
take with them a cup and a plate and a bottle for water when they worked in the
fields. The youngest of the children that were not yet able to work had no need
for their own cup and plate since, if they did not work, they would not be fed
by the finca. These children's mothers would share with them their own ration
of tortilla and beans, though many of the children were severely malnourished,
and two of Rigoberta's own brothers died while on the finca.

At the tender age of eight Rigoberta was earning money to help her family, and
as ...

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