Mayans to 'cleanse' Bush site

[lanienus]

Mayans to 'cleanse' Bush site

"GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (CNN) -- Mayan Indian leaders have vowed to "spiritually cleanse" an ancient site in Guatemala after U.S. President George W. Bush visits during his seven-day, five-nation tour of Latin America.

Bush's visit to the ruins at Iximche, a one-time capital of a Mayan group, is part of an effort to show the administration is interested in all its neighbors in the hemisphere.

But many Mayans are angry that Bush is visiting Iximche, founded as the capital of the Kaqchiqueles kingdom before the Spanish conquest in 1524.

Mayan priests say they will purify the sacred archaeological site to rid it of any "bad spirits" after Bush is there.

"That a person like (Bush) with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States, with the wars he has provoked is going to walk in our sacred lands is an offense for the Mayan people and their culture," Juan Tiney, director of a Mayan non-governmental organization with close ties to Mayan religious and political leaders, told The Associated Press."


This is a CNN story today-except they seem to forget that those "migrant brothers" persecution is non existant. Besides I do not believe they were trucked in by the US government in the first place.
As to being an afront to the Mayan political leaders, they ought to just close their two-bit site to visitors. Besides if I recall, the religion they practiced involved human sacrifice and murder. I'm willing to bet the government there loves US aid in $$$$ and will take all they can suck down.

[muhafidh]

It may very well be true that Mayan priests will undertake some sort of spiritual cleansing of sacred sites after President Bush's visit, but unless these representatives of Mayan culture are already in cahoots with left-wing activist Juan Tiney, head of the group that put out this piece of propaganda, it may be wishful thinking. This same group is also constantly busy whipping up opposition to the Guatemalan government itself, for ostensible "discrimination, racism, expropriation, violation of people's rights, violation of human rights, indifference, exclusion, bias, and all those violent acts that attack human dignity, mainly against the Guatemalan Mayan, indigenous, and farming people."

http://www.nodo50.org/pchiapas/guate/noticias/conic.htm

We should watch with interest to see what actually happens in Guatemala after President Bush's visit. If legitimate Mayan cultural leaders perform a ritual cleansing, then we'll know that Guatemala's rural population is indeed disenfranchised by an uncaring government and as a consequence occupies the left of the political spectrum. If no such cleansing occurs, or if it is merely the product of costumed imposters, then we'll know that Juan Tiney's group is toothless and its propaganda unworthy of any further attention, even if official news agencies appear to legitimate it by making it look like news.

Here's a fuller version of the story, from La Crónica (Mexicali, Mexico), April 6, 2007:

Guatemaltecos "purificarán" sitios sagrados tras visita Bush
[Guatemalans "will purify" sacred sites after Bush visit]

GUATEMALA, Guatemala (EFE)

Organizaciones indígenas de Guatemala anunciaron hoy que realizarán "una limpia" o purificación a los lugares sagrados mayas que visite el presidente de Estados Unidos, George W. Bush, durante su estancia en este país, el próximo lunes.
[Indigenous organizations in Guatemala announced today that they will undertake "a cleansing" or purification of the Mayan sacred sites that the president of the United States, George W. Bush, visits during his stay in this country next Monday.]

El dirigente de la Coordinadora Indígena y Campesina de Guatemala (CONIC), Juan Tiney, dijo a periodistas que "el próximo martes, después de que el señor Bush haya estado en Iximché, sacerdotes y guías espirituales mayas realizarán una ceremonia para purificar ese lugar".
[Juan Tiney, director of the Guatemalan Coordinating Society for Farmers and Indigenous People (CONIC), told news reporters that "next Tuesday, after Mr. Bush has been in Iximché, Mayan priests and spiritual guides will conduct a ceremony to purify that place."]

"La presencia del señor Bush en un lugar como Iximché, mancha la honra de ese sitio, por todas las muertes y dolor que ha sembrado en el mundo. Llegar a esas tierras santas atenta contra nuestra cultura", precisó Tiney.
["Mr. Bush's presence in a place like Iximché sullies the honor of that site, in view of all the deaths and pain that he has sown in the world. Arriving in those holy lands is an attack on our culture," Tiney added.]

"No queremos entrar en confrontación (con las fuerzas de seguridad), por lo que los sacerdotes mayas van a limpiar y purificar el lugar donde estará ese señor (cuando se haya ido)", señaló.
["We do not want to enter into confrontation (with security forces), so the Mayan priests are going to cleanse and purify the location where that man will be (once he has left)," he noted.]

El líder indígena agregó que durante la noche del domingo y durante todo el día lunes, organizaciones indígenas realizarán una vigilia "para repudiar la presencia del señor Bush en Guatemala".
[The indigenous leader added that during the night Sunday and during the entire day Monday, indigenous organizations will perform a vigil "to repudiate the presence of Mr. Bush in Guatemala."]

Esta actividad, indicó, se realizará en la población de Tecpán, ubicada a unos 30 kilómetros de Iximché, el centro ceremonial maya que será visitado por Bush.
[This activity, he indicated, will take place in the town of Tecpán, located about 30 kilometers /19 miles/ from Iximché, the Mayan ceremonial center that will be visited by Bush.]

El presidente de EEUU llegará a Guatemala la noche del próximo domingo y permanecerá en el país durante 24 horas, como parte de su gira por América Latina, que incluye, además, Brasil, Uruguay, Colombia y México.
[The US president will arrive in Guatemala the night of the following Sunday and stay in the country for 24 hours, as part of his tour of Latin America, which also includes Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, and Mexico.]

Durante su estancia en este país centroamericano visitará el centro ceremonial maya Iximché, ubicado en el departamento de Chimaltenango, a unos 90 kilómetros al oeste de la capital
[During his stay in this Central American country, he will visit the Mayan ceremonial center Iximché, located in the department /political jurisdiction/ of Chimaltenango, about 90 kilometers /57 miles/ west of the capital.]

Iximché, que en idioma kakchiquel significa "Árbol de Maíz", fue la capital del antiguo señorío de los kakchiqueles, una comunidad de guerreros descendientes de los mayas, en donde, tras derrotar a sus oponentes, el conquistador español Pedro de Alvarado, en 1524, fundó el "Reyno de Goathemala", la primera capital de Guatemala.
[Iximché, which in the Kakchiquel language /one of the Mayan languages/ means "Tree of Corn," was the capital of the ancient society of the Kakchiquels, a community of warriors descended from the Mayas; it was here that after defeating his opponents /i.e., the Kakchiquel people themselves/ the Spanish conqueror Pedro de Alvarado founded the "Kingdom of Goathemala" in 1524, the first capital of Guatemala.]

El sitio, ubicado en la cima de una colina, cuenta con un centro ceremonial maya y un complejo arqueológico, un patio de juego de pelota y un museo donde se exhiben objetos cerámicos, líticos y huesos prehispánicos provenientes de las excavaciones realizadas en el lugar.
[The site, located at the top of a hill, includes a Mayan ceremonial center and an archeological complex, a ball-playing yard /ancient sports arena/, and a museum in which pre-Columbian ceramic, stone, and bone objects are on display, which come from the excavations carried out there.]

Bush concluirá su visita a Guatemala la noche del martes y continuará su gira con destino a México.
[Bush will conclude his visit to Guatemala Tuesday night and continue his tour on his way to Mexico.]

Cheers,

Richard

[specter]

"That a person like (Bush) with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States,

I think they're confusing Pres Bush with someone who actually cares about the illegal immigration problem

[muhafidh]

It is amazing how leftist propaganda is made to look like "news" by the Latin Press. What is leftist in Latin America can be tricky though. Probably the greatest difference in political orientation from what prevails in the United States is the fact that the Catholic Church in Latin America is a common ally and advocate of rural rights, which often places the Church in the same camp as communist-inspired movements, which sometimes inform their tactics. It is therefore important for us to try to put these stories into perspective. Toward this end, here is a reference to one of the news stories that mention President Bush's ostensibly deporting migrants:

http://www.visionesalternativas.com/art ... anguage=ES

The person who actually mentions migrants is Alvaro Leonel Ramazzini Imeri (often misspelled as "Ramazini" or "Ramazinni"), Bishop (ordained in 1989) of the Diocese of San Marcos (a political jurisdiction on the westernmost coast of Guatemala). The article says that Bishop Ramazzini is "chairman of the Conference of Bishops (Conferencia Episcopal)" of Guatemala. This is what often bothers me about these articles. There are often inaccuracies that can give us the wrong impression of what is really going on. Bishop Ramazzini is indeed a member of the Conference of Bishops of Guatemala, but he is not its chairman. That would be Bishop Gonzalo de Villa y Vásquez, "Secretary General" of the Conference. In fact, Bishop Ramazzini is an activist, and it is not at all a surprise that he has seen fit to chime in on a news story about how "indigenous organizations" (read "leftists") are reacting to Bush's visit. Bishop Ramazzini and one other Guatemalan religious leader are famous for their activism on behalf of the Guatemalan trampled masses, most notably on behalf of farmers (actually "peasants") and indigenous people, to whom land reform policies dating back to the 1940s evidently granted various parcels of land that had previously belonged to private landowners, which policies have evidently not been enforced very well. (These policies involve abruptly confiscating land from wealthy landowners and assigning it to groups of rural folk. They are common enough throughout much of Latin America, as promising to steal land from rich people and give it to poor people tends to bring in a lot of votes.) There have evidently been death threats against both Bishop Ramazzini and Father Juan José Aldaz Donamaría (originally from Spain but now a Guatemalan citizen, also in the Diocese of San Marcos), in response to which the Guatemalan government has to expend extra resources to protect these gentlemen so they can continue to trash-talk the Guatemalan government and wealthy landowners. (As we know, freedom of speech is not free.) At any rate, the activism of which I am writing involves openly supporting actual occupations of private land by the rural families that claim it. I mean really, these people are squatters. I am not sure of the legitimacy of their claims to the property on which they are squatting in the various cases, but I know that at least some of the time the government's records show that the land belongs to the landowners and was not granted to any rural folk as part of the land confiscation policies. There were several of these occupations (squattings) in Guatemala back in 2002 and probably more recently as well. It is no surprise if some wealthy landowners may be threatening these religious leaders by making crank calls to the church.

At any rate, the Conference of Bishops of Guatemala is an advocate of what are called "migrants' rights." This is a big issue down there, and the role of the Church is an important feature of the political landscape in Latin America in general. You would think that a policy letter (called a communiqué) of the Conference of Bishops of Guatemala entitled "Un Llamado de la Iglesia a Rechazar la Xenofobia, el Racismo y la Discriminación" ("A Call by the Church to Reject Xenophobia, Racism, and Discrimination") would actually talk about such subjects as xenophobia (what we would call national-origin discrimination), racism, and discrimination per se. Instead, the entire document is about migrants' rights. Here is an excerpt:

"La punta del iceberg de esa realidad migratoria aparece en el interés cada vez más explícito y creciente del flujo de envío de remesas familiares. Pero, los gobiernos hacen poco por la protección de los derechos humanos de los migrantes en tránsito o en ruta hacia los Estados Unidos y menos aún por salvaguardar sus derechos laborales, civiles, sociales, políticos y culturales en los países de destino. Esta falta de coherencia ha incrementado el riesgo y vulnerabilidad de las personas que se desplazan y ha incrementado el costo económico y familiar para hacerlo."

[It is becoming clearer and clearer that the tip of the iceberg of this situation involving migrants is a growing concern, especially as it involves the flow of provisions for families. However, governments are doing little for the protection of migrants' human rights, whether in transit or en route to the United States, and the countries of destination are doing even less to safeguard migrants' rights as workers, or their civil, social, political, or cultural rights. This lack of coherence has exacerbated the risks and vulnerabilities of the people who are attempting to make these treks, as it increases the economic and familial costs of doing so.]

This next paragraph is pretty interesting, considering that this policy letter is talking about Guatemalan migrants in particular:

"Guatemala, al inicio del siglo XXI, sigue siendo un país que expulsa personas, se caracteriza por ser de origen, de paso y destino de migrantes, y en menor medida, también de retorno de personas refugiados, que no lograron regularizar su estancia en los lugares de destino y de una cantidad creciente de personas que diariamente son deportados desde México y Estados Unidos."

[At the dawn of the 21st century, Guatemala is still a country that expels people, even though it is also the origin, thoroughfare, and destination of many migrants, as well (to a lesser extent) as a place to which refugees return who fail to make a home for themselves in destination countries, including a growing number of people who are deported daily from both Mexico and the United States."

Insofar as it helps to understand the true context of the "news" article eventually captured by CNN and other legitimating sources, you can see that: (1) the quotes are all from leftists, including a notorious Church activist; (2) migrants' rights is a weird concept that the Church in Latin America advocates strongly enough to influence the public rhetoric of Latin American leaders who wish to secure the votes of the common people; (3) despite the Church's advocacy of migrants' rights, most of the Church in Latin America does not actually consist of activists; and (4) when "news" like this is filtered from the Latin American press and into our "news" stories, it looks more like legitimate opinions than leftist bombast, which is, in fact, illusory.

And now you know the rest of the story...

Cheers,

Richard

[kerwin]

The Catholic Church like a fair number of Christians are economical liberals and were drove right over social issues. They have problems with a number of leftist groups even when they ally with them.

[StardustDragonfly]

"[It is becoming clearer and clearer that the tip of the iceberg of this situation involving migrants is a growing concern, especially as it involves the flow of provisions for families. However, governments are doing little for the protection of migrants' human rights, whether in transit or en route to the United States, and the countries of destination are doing even less to safeguard migrants' rights as workers, or their civil, social, political, or cultural rights. This lack of coherence has exacerbated the risks and vulnerabilities of the people who are attempting to make these treks, as it increases the economic and familial costs of doing so.]"


Hmmm....human rights. American babies are aborted. Are they not humans?
The homeless in this country are laying on sewers. Are they not humans?
Over filled orphanages with unwanted children. Are they not humans?
Migrants need to get here and get here LEGALLY, BEFORE they start worrying about their human rights in this country.
And, this country needs to be worrying about its citizens human rights, BEFORE they start worrying about immigrants (who arent here, and who are here illegally) human rights.