For every indio who falls
Subtitle: a history of Maya activism in Guatemala, 1960-1990
By: Betsy Konefal.
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Albuquerque
Language: eng
Number of pages: 247
ISBN-13: 9780826348654
Subjects: Mayas -- Guatemala -- Politics and government -- 20th century; Mayas -- Guatemala -- Government relations; Guatemala -- History -- Civil War, 1960-1996
Description: "In 1978, a Maya community queen stood on a stage to protest a massacre of indigenous campesinos at the hands of the Guatemalan state. She spoke graphically to the dead and to the living alike: Brothers of Panzoacute;s, your blood is in our throats!

Given the context, her message might come as a surprise. A revolutionary insurgency in the late 1970s was being met by brutal state efforts to defeat it, efforts directed not only at the guerrilla armies but also at reform movements of all kinds. Yet the young woman was just one of many Mayas across the highlands voicing demands for change. Over the course of the 1970s, Mayas argued for economic, cultural, and political justice for the indigenous pueblo. Many became radicalized by state violence against Maya communities that soon reached the level of genocide.

Scholars have disagreed about Maya participation in Guatemala's civil war, and the development of oppositional activism by Mayas during the war is poorly understood. Betsy Konefal explores this history in detail, examining the roots and diversity of Maya organizing and its place in the unfolding conflict. She traces debates about ethnicity, class, and revolution, and examines how (some) Mayas became involved in opposition to a repressive state."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: "Two bloods!": defining race and nation; title: Mayas mobilized; title: Envisioning the Pueblo; title: Reinas indígenas and the authentic Maya; title: Radicalizing violence; title: "Pueblo against Pueblo"; title: May all rise up?