RIGOBERTA MENCHU
In recent years, a new voice has been added to the world stage. It is the voice of Latin American women. Long oppressed both by their culture and their governments, these voices have risen in protest against the inequalities and injustices that have plagued their lives. The most notable example of this new genre to emerge thus far was published in 1992 and subsequently won the Nobel Peace prize for its author, Rigoberta Menchu, a Guatemalan Indian activist. Menchu's account of life in Guatemala is a tale of horror and savagery perpetrated on all those who would dare to try to improve the lives of Guatemala's downtrodden. For the "crimes" of teaching people how to read, organizing labor, or even protesting despicable conditions, people are routinelytortured in ways that rival the Spanish Inquisition. After continuous, unbelievable torture in which he was maimed beyond belief, Menchu recounts that she watched while soldiers burned her younger brother alive (177). He was sixteen and the excuse offered for this treatment was that he was a communist. Americans like to think of themselves as the "good guys" to the country that beat Hitler, rebuilt post-World War II Europe with the Marsha
"Father Roy: Inside the School of the Assassins," National Catholic Reporter, v34 n23 (1998): April, pp. This occurred, and then the village people simply talked to the soldier, who was a fellow Indian, as to why the armywas indulging in such villainy. None of this narrative fits with the "official" story that is generally put out by the U. He was told that they were all communists and if he didn't kill them, he'd bekilled himself. Voices such as Menchu's are revealing the truth about the role that the U. On the condition that he hides from the army and commit no further evil, the villagers let the boy-soldier go. faced communist aggression on multiple fronts. Her voice has been added to others, and together they are drawing back the curtain of propaganda that has been foisted on the American public regarding U.
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