hey hey there

getting straight to the point - i found a reason for serious activism right here in Pana

ENCAPUCHADOS they are calling them because they wear hoods - they mask themselves and carry clubs.  It is after an old tradition - but it is not our regular dudes doing it - in fact, i talked to all the men i know and it's not any of them - even the ones who were in on the vigilante thing are not the bunch doing this... 

we were terrorized last year by Robbers - so they lynched somebody.... but this year it's another element pretending to maintain the "LAW" at night, but using it as an excuse to beat up our people - yah, usually the ones who've had a drink or two and are walking alone - which is not usually me - 

but still - stumbling home a little drunk is a famous pana pasttime and we want to defend it

 

don't we?  i do.  and i don't even go out at night...

 

Armed men in masks is really scary... Manuel Yach, the head of the COCODE Jucanya (our neighborhood government rep) says that even during the conflict, they wouldn't cover their whole face - they had a system of secret whistles to recognize who was with them and who wasn't... and he prefers a system to catch robbers with bells and sirens and all the neigbors run in... i've been at a couple of those, actually - very effective

and usually - honestly - our neighborhood thieves are our neighbors... 

so - the real issue of thieves is not really the issue - these guys are not us.  and they need to not be running our town.  It's really bad for tourism... we can't have any fun in town any more i don't know?!

 

this happened in San Pedro and the business owners took legal action against em and finally legally shut them down - so we can surely do that here - 

who they are, i think, are these Militant Evangelical Fanatics - the conflict the UN came here to end in the 90's was about persecution of catholic/socialist/workersrights/artists/intellectuals/journalists etc - we get all lumped in together for no good reason - i'm a far cry from a socialist but i like to write provocative things and have my own ideas... geez - this is the same seed and it scares me.  in fact, i'm told the guy most threatening is the FRG candidate for mayor, which is the army party - Rios Montt is still the top dude in it ya know... this is scary stuff i think... 

 

when it comes to the control of the minds of the guatemalan people, fear has been working well for the evangelical new middle class... if that's what they think they are...

Thugs are not a middle class

nice people don't have the energy to stay out all night just to beat up a kid.

 

i've been here 15 years now and the dynamic between 'gringos' which includes practically all the biggest business owners and home builders in town and the guatemalans who live here has always been really friendly - interdependent

we are not an apartheid like Santa Cruz - we have a more diverse economy than anyplace on the lake and considering what we've worked with over the years, it's pretty fair compared to other lake towns - Guatemalans - local mayans too - make good money here.  

we have a few bars, we have a few musicans - we used to attract musicians... we could make a scene to get tourists to come and enjoy the arts at the lake - 

we have people here to want to spend more time and money building up that part of our image

and our businesses.  We want to honor and respect them - we want to enjoy them, not hurt them.

 

i think they are not our solid citizens these encapuchados.... who are they?

how can they be working men in the day and up all night beating up kids - 

 

there's a MEETING at the muni on Wednesday night at 6PM

there are other meetings too but i don't know where yet...