GuateLaw and Order
ByA rare ‘take the blinders off’ post from Kemmel and Lisa, medical missionaries in ChiChi:
Background info:
The town of Xepocol gets its water source from a spring in the town of Tzanixnam in the Department of Totonicopan about 22 Km away.
We live in a rural area, so country taxi’s (old Toyota pickups driven by teenagers/young adults) service the surrounding towns, bringing people to market in Chichi. They have special parking sections in market according to the town they service (eg., Xepocol or Tzanixnam or Paxot II), and no one is supposed to park there but the taxis.
Here’s the scoop:
Supposedly, a few days ago, the taxi drivers from Xepocol arrived at their parking spot in Chichi to find a truck parked there already. They got mad and jimmied the door, started the truck and pulled it into a nearby parking lot so they could fit their trucks in. The owner came back and couldn’t find his (new) truck for quite sometime. Finally after some investigation he found it, and found out who moved it. This man lives in Tzanixnam and owns the land where the tubing for the Xepocol water project passes. He was so mad that yesterday he cut the tubing and demanded that the town of Xepocol pay him Q45, 000 (roughly $5500) in damages and stated that they would not be allowed onto his land to fix it for 6 months as punishment for the deed.
The town elders went to talk with him and didn’t get anywhere other than if they didn’t pay the fine by the end of today, he would double it. Well, the town of Xepocol rounded up the 4 taxi drivers and meted out corporal punishment consisting of kneeling on gravel with 100-pound grain sacks on their backs for one hour, followed by a sound flogging, and they are responsible for paying the fine themselves. Everyone is hot under the collar today trying to figure out how they are going to get water to their homes for the next 6 months. One man in town has a spring on his property and is not going to charge for the water, but it is down in a ravine and will probably need a 5 HP pump to get it up to town.
This story is typical Guate in so many ways. Both the drivers, the property owner and the elders’ overreaction. Does no one every think, “Hmm, there is a cycle here…”?
Perhaps the four taxi drivers’ vehicles could be held by the property owner until they come up with the cash? Or do the taxi drivers not own the vehicles?
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10 Comments
December 17th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
It is typical indigena. I am sure that indigena leaders will find a way to blame ladinos for this. By the way, If you live in Guatemala, it important to start recognizing the different cultural attributes of each class and ethnicity in the country. Knowing that in indigena towns the townfolk might take collective action against you for perceived infractions, or that in Oriente someone might shoot you dead on the spot for a perceived insult is important. This knowledge is probably not important in Antigua.
December 18th, 2009 at 4:25 am
No they don't think about consequences. They don't have to because no one does. Personally, I'm glad it happened this way and I hope they don't get water for 6 months. It will teach the whole community a lesson in responsibility and accountability! It's nearly tribal law.
December 18th, 2009 at 5:24 am
I think it is really just more of the same, there is no functional legal system in Guatemala. There are rarely consequences for actions, including murder, so why would anyone follow the law? Seems to me everyone at every level of the legal system is open to bribes. If no one else follows the law why would you? And when you do ask for help from the legal system they basically laugh in your face. There are written laws and they are rarely followed. Actually, I am surprised the guy who owns the land, that the water passes through, did not get lynched. Glad to hear that the taxi drivers were humiliated for being punks and held responsible for their actions. In a country, without law, vigilante justice seems the only option. I am not an advocate of vigilante justice but if someone I loved was harmed in anyway and the legal system looked the other way I would make sure that whoever was involved paid for what they did. I have seen far too many people get away with murder (so to speak) in Guatemala and never even be investigated. I think most people are fed up with the law not working and I certainly understand taking the law into ones own hands. And it seems to only get worse.
December 18th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Perhaps I'm missing something here but it seems the taxi drivers did nothing worse than enforce their own rights in a seemingly responsible way. If the legal system of Guatemala is so fractured they know better than to appeal to some cop about this truck sitting where they're supposed to park so they took care of it– they took care of the situation. They could have torched it, stolen it, dismantled it, left it sitting in the middle of the street, done any number of things to vent their outrage– they moved it to a parking lot…
For all this talk of consequences, the incensed land-owner didn't seem to pause for reflection before ditching his truck where it ought not be. It reeks of entitlement, big boss man doing what he wants because no one can touch him. The correction was mild and proactive. So now these cabbies get ridiculed and tortured not because of what they did but because of the extreme reaction by some guy who decides to throw his weight around to punish everyone just because he's in the position to make people miserable.
I see people here getting out of their cars and moving scooters and motorcycles out of the way so they can park. No one cares, no one freaks out, it makes everyone able to function a little better. The major difference being that the scooters and motorcycles originally parked in relationship to previous parked cars, not intentionally blocking someone else's space.
December 18th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
I think you're absolutely right given the alleged facts that we were fed. There's more to this than meets the eye. To me it's inconceivable that the taxi drivers did not know whose truck they were moving. As to justice, where is it exactly?
December 18th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
I agree w/you and Brendan as far as the genesis of the situation (using story provided), it got out of hand as the truck driver was in the wrong and can't (won't) de-escalate the situation he precipitated – so now everyone suffers.
Not regarding this situation and speaking in general terms _ I agree w/Nancy, but don't feel alone in Guate, I've experienced this in so many other countries and once you learn the nuances, adapt. There's a lot to be said for prudent vigilant justice (not booger eater, emotion driven mob lynchings),. The unmatched 0% recidivism rate by those killed for repeat offenses of rape, murder, (or attempting the same) is rather satisfying…especially when you can tell a viuda down the street who was terrorized repeatedly over a year the 2 young men will never return…there are folks who deal with these things – in guate too.
As an aside, there are some municipalities where police do not accept bribes and local military cuartels have assisted the adjacent populace with crime problems – creating small safe zones from gangs/carjackers for the people leaving nearby…Not saying it's common by a long shot, but there are some places you can breath easier for awhile – It's worth trying to find out if you can do the same for your small piece of the world.
Merry Christmas.
1-0
December 18th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Point well taken. But then again your point involves thought and proactive reasoning. Something very few here have.
December 18th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Brendan, the taxi drivers are at fault for damaging property. That cannot be excused simply because the truck owner parked in the wrong space. Additionally, the damage to the truck does not justify cutting the water line. Everyone is wrong.
A friend of mine grew up here 50 years ago and returned just five years ago and commented to me, "Nothing has changed; there are a more cars, more roads, and cell phones, but the people are the same. Over the same two generations whole countries in SE Asia have joined the civilized world, but Guatemala is still stuck in the past."
Governments can't change until people change.
December 19th, 2009 at 1:27 am
Your friend sounds like a sphincter. Guatemala and SE Asia have been civilized longer than many European countries. They're just different. We would consider the way you treat your old people uncivilized. Of course that will come to Guatemala when we're finally civilized. Nevertheless, you're absolutely correct about everyone being wrong. There is no golden mean.
December 20th, 2009 at 10:41 am
While it's quite likely that you can damage a lock by jimmying it (or if they hotwired the car, damaging the wiring), if the cops had been involved and damaged the truck while removing it I doubt there would be any compensation… Sure, the taxi drivers might have been wrong in not seeking any aid from the authorities but I find it almost an academic difference in potential end result…
And also, how much of the truck driver's damages claim is to repair his pride over his truck?
But the most blatant wrong in this entire affair lies with the townspeople who decided to torture people… If you're going to resort to that level of primal savagery you may as well redirect it into something productive, like storming the land and repairing the waterlines.
Agreed, tho, that governments won't change until people change… Reading the complete waste of time that is the Copenhagen summit really reinforces that for me…