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Consider the human rights violations, environmental degradation, community division, and targeting of indigenous peoples carried out by Goldcorp as evidenced in the film Gold Fever. (See the film on YouTube if you missed it in class) How are the citizens’ struggles echoed in the autobiography I, Rigoberta Menchú
“For indigenous populations, territory and land is not for sale. The land is Mother Earth, it protects us and gives us life. Companies like Goldcorp come into our community, they destroy the environment with open pit mining, consume and contaminate our water with clear evidence of health impacts.”
-Benito Morales, a human rights coordinator and lawyer for the Rigoberta Menchú Tum Foundation
In the documentary “Gold Fever” we are shown so many human rights violations and many other injustices that occurred after GOLDCORP started using mines in the area. The struggles between the citizens and the autobiography I, RIGOBERTA MENCHÚ are very similar in nature which acts as a bigger indicator to the struggles of the people of the indigenous people in Guatemala. The details of each story may vary but the bigger message is still the same.
The people suffer from the affects of GOLDCORP as they take over a plot of land in the area and beginning mining gold from the earth. In I, RIGOBERTA MENCHÚ the people of the Fincas suffer from malnutrition and starvation as they are sprayed with pesticides. In both instances both groups of people suffer from injustice at the hands of a power greater than they are, whether it be the land owners spraying pesticides or the major corporations. It is why both stories can be so easily connected. These are two groups of people trying to live their lives and survive while outside forces invade their community to take what they believe is owed to them.
It doesn’t stop at the people in power though as in both instances we see communities divide and turn on each other. In GOLDCORPS’ case we see the workers harrass, assault, and even attempt to kill the people resisting GOLDCORPS demands. A woman was shot but a worker and her neighbors refused to help her. Another woman had to flee her home and go into hiding to avoid being arrested because she didn’t stop the men from burning the machines. While these are specific to the documentary, we can still see these kinds of things happening in the autobiography. Rigoberta left for work but when she returned to her home later on she finds out that her father was arrested because he refused to cooperate with Ladino Landowners. They wanted the land that Rigoberta’s people saw as a sanctuary from the constant barrage of pesticides and because her father refused to give into their demands he was wrongfully jailed. This happened many times and Rigoberta and her family worked tirelessly to free him each time. Eventually Rigoberta and her family take part in a rebellion against the government and the people who seek to destroy their homes and because of this Rigoberta’s family is under attack regularly. Her brother is kidnapped and burned alive in front of the whole community, her mother is kidnapped, raped and killed, and her father is killed for protesting. In both instances we see the people who are trying to defend their freedom and their homes get attacked and pushed around by the government and those who believe that they can take what they want.
Though the odds are against the indigenous people in both instances, we still see them stand strong in what they believe in and continue to fight. The women in the documentary are constantly risking their lives and their family as they stand strong against the government and corporations. They risk losing everything but they choose to keep their homes despite pressure against their own community and their government. They protest even though they know at any moment they could be attacked or killed. This is no different than what Rigoberta and her family did. As her family dwindled, their fighting spirit did not. Rigoberta was the last one of her family and even though she should have been scared or should have given up she continues to fight because she refuses to bow to the injustice that her people felt and her family felt. So while these are tales of injustice and corruption, these are also tales of bravery and strength.
