Abstract
Short story by a Guatemalan author living in Mexico
Guatemala's last authentically democratic government under Jacobo Arbenz was overthrown in a US-backed coup in 1954. Since then there has been a succession of brutal military regimes and unrepresentative civilian governments. Violence against opponents, and against the indigenous peoples who make up 60% of Guatemala's population (for whom integration into national life has often meant extermination), is reported to have cost more than 150,000 lives in the past 30 years; it reached a paroxysm in the 1980s under the regimes of Generals Lucas Garcia and born-again Christian Ríos Montt. The latter ruled for 17 months in 1982–3, during which time Amnesty International reported many thousands of people killed by either the army or army-controlled ‘death squads’. In August 1983, Ríos Montt was deposed by his defence minister Mejía Víctores. Despite promises of reforms and elections, the large-scale killings and ‘disappearances’ have continued. In recent months the targets have been those considered a threat in the towns – labour leaders, university staff, and journalists.
Augusto Monterroso, like Alaide Foppa who is also featured in this issue, is a Guatemalan intellectual who has found it impossible to live and publish his writing in Guatemala. He has lived in Mexico for many years, where his work is published by the Editorial Joaquin Mortiz, which was established by someone who was himself a refugee from the Spanish Civil War, and who has adopted a courageous policy of publishing work by many Central American exiles. This story is taken from the collection Obras Completas (y otros cuentos) Complete Works (and Other Stories).