According to Roman Catholic tradition, the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared for the fourth and last time to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin on December 12th, 1531, on the Tepeyac Hill in modern day Mexico City. Guatemalan faithful flock to Guatemala City’s Guadalupe Sanctuary every year on the aforementioned date to venerate the Virgin of Guadalupe. As part of the tradition, children are dressed in indigenous outfits to represent Juan Diego who belonged to the Chichimeca ethnic group.

Gustavo García makes a living by selling images of the Virgin of Guadalupe and FC Barcelona during the annual veneration of the Virgin.

The armistice that ended the First World War was signed on November 11th, 1918. Since, many allied nations have adopted the date to commemorate members of the armed forces who have served in a war. In the United States, this day is observed as Veterans Day.
This year’s holiday marks the eight anniversary of a unique commemoration carried out by the Los Angeles chapter of Veterans for Peace (VFP) on the sands of world-renowned Santa Monica Beach. Every Sunday since Veterans Day 2003, numerous VFP members and volunteers have been erecting a temporary and symbolic cemetery aptly named Arlington West Memorial. White crosses represent one fallen Iraq or Afghanistan War veteran, while red crosses represent ten U.S. servicepersons killed in action in these two wars.

The setup begins at dawn and it is taken down before sunset.

Jerry Van, a Vietnam War Veteran, son of a World War II Veteran, and a member of the Los Angeles Chapter of Veterans for Peace, helps setup the Arlington West Memorial on November 11th, 2011.

Arlington West takes its name from Arlington National Cemetery located in Washington D.C.

Steve Davis, resident of Santa Monica, tries to help with the setup just about every weekend. “I am not a veteran, but I believe in the cause. It is important to show the cost of war.”

Besides the crosses, Crescent Moons and Stars of David, symbolizing Islam and Judaism, respectively, are also placed in order to represent non-Christian fallen soldiers.

A troop of U.S. soldiers marches by Arlington West before sunrise.

Michael Lindley, Vietnam War veteran and Arlington West co-coordinator, states: “I do it because it needs to be done. The public needs information… This whole idea of war to solve issues is not the way to go… The human and economic costs of war are outrageous. There is no good answer to a war. We could fund the entire Los Angeles Unified School District for a year with what we have spent on these wars in one day. And so we have classrooms with 40 kids in them.”

According to a February 2011 article by Agence France-Press, “the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq will allow for a reduced US defense budget in 2012 but the war in Afghanistan still costs the United States close to 300 million dollars a day.” (1)
For more statistics on the economic cost of the wars, please visit The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation’s Funding Chart as well as the website Cost of War managed by the National Priorities Project.

Lisa Green, resident of Venice who has ran for congress through the Green Party and is a recurring volunteer, states: “We need to expose the fact that wars are corporate driven. The amount of human suffering has devastating effects on our societies and our planet, which is our home.”

The Arlington West Memorial displays numerous signs with updated statistics. Besides U.S. military servicepersons killed or wounded, it also brings attention to the more than 1.5 million Iraqi and Afghani civilians killed since 2001.

When asked about why he wears Bradley Manning pins on his hat, Michael Lindley replies: “Bradley Manning is a hero. He took the opportunity to share information with the public that we needed to hear.” Bradley Manning is a U.S. Army soldier who has been accused of allegedly passing classified data to WikiLeaks and held in solitary confinement since July 2010.

Pepe Romero, resident of Santa Monica who migrated from Mexico in the 1970s, helps out every week. “I jog every Sunday morning, so since I saw this, just feel like I need to chip in.”

In addition to the red and white crosses, flag-covered coffins with blue crosses are displayed in order to represent the fallen military personnel for that week.

Friends and family members of fallen U.S. soldiers often use the memorial to place flowers and messages to their loved ones.

The website antiwar.com records the official numbers of U.S. soldiers killed since 2001: Iraq: 4,483 and Afghanistan: 1,833. Nevertheless, these numbers pale in comparison to those who make it back and are permanently scarred physically or psychologically: 33,183 veterans have been wounded or injured and CBS reported in 2010 of a suicide epidemic among returning veterans with 18 taking their own life every day. (2)

Arlington West Memorial home page click here.

In Photos slideshow click here.
MiMundo.org’s photo essay on Arlington West in 2006 click here.
Versión en español aquí.

1 “Afghan war costs $300 million a day: Pentagon“ http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gNQ3JbWwd6t-PzkuECkRJvsAlNkA
2 Keteyian, Armen. “VA Hid Suicide Risk, Internal E-Mails Show”. July 30, 2010.
 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/21/cbsnews_investigates/main4032921.shtml

iPad/iPod/iPhone users view slideshow here.

MiMundo.org contributes with Cover photograph and other images inside.

“This reader brings together more than 200 texts and images in a broad introduction to Guatemala’s history, culture, and politics. In choosing selections to include, the editors sought to avoid representing the country only in terms of its long experience of conflict, racism, and violence. And so, while offering many perspectives on that violence, this anthology portrays Guatemala as a real place where people experience joys and sorrows that cannot be reduced to the contretemps of resistance and repression. It includes not only the opinions of politicians, activists, and scholars but also poems, songs, plays, jokes, novels, short stories, recipes, art, and photographs that capture the diversity of everyday life in Guatemala. The editors introduce all of the selections, from the first piece, an excerpt from the Popol Vuh, a mid-sixteenth-century text believed to be the single most important source documenting pre-Hispanic Maya culture, through the final selections, which explore contemporary Guatemala in relation to neoliberalism, multiculturalism, and the dynamics of migration to the United States and of immigrant life. Many pieces were originally published in Spanish, and most of those appear in English for the first time.”

To purchase from Duke University Press.

On July 7, 2010, Diodora Hernandez, a staunch anti-mining activist, was shot point-blank on the right eye outside her home in the small community of San José Nueva Esperanza – only a few meters from a fence that delimits Goldcorp’s Marlin Mine. One year after her miraculous recuperation, Diodora’s anti-mining stance and activism remains as steadfast as ever.

A flurry of events in mid-2010 brought international attention once again to the controversial Canadian-owned Marlin gold mine:
-May 24: the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) calls on the government of Guatemala to “suspend mining activity at the Marlin mine and take steps to protect the health of the surrounding indigenous communities.” (1)
-June 16: James Anaya, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, visits San Miguel Ixtahuacán and eventually issues a report concluding that “Guatemala is currently experiencing a high degree of social unrest in connection with the natural resource extraction activities taking place in the traditional territories of indigenous peoples, which has serious impacts on indigenous peoples’ rights, and threatens governance and economic development.” (2)
-July 7: Three weeks after Anaya’s visit, Diodora Hernández is shot point blank in the face.

Exactly one year after the shooting, Diodora expresses her thoughts on the local radio station The Voice of the People: “They tried to kill me because I do not want to sell my plot of land!”

“People around here do not think about the future or their children, but only on the present, the money they can get for the present,” states Diodora.

Diodora, walking alongside Carmen Mejía and trailed by one of two plainclothes police officers who provide security around the clock, states: “I will never sell my plot. This is where I was born, and I will die here. Even if I did sell it, where would I go?”

Diodora, who lost her right eye as a result of the attack, lives with her daughter María and granddaughter Olga in what now seems the ghost town of San José Nueva Esperanza.

“I am sad because most of my neighbors have sold out and left. But me, hmmm, don’t you worry, I will continue on with the struggle! I am firm as a tree. Standing I am, and standing I will remain.”

During 2011, two Goldcorp shareholders have presented a resolution asking the company to suspend operations at the Marlin mine. (3)
Meanwhile, on September 19, 2011, Goldcorp was removed from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index due to “ongoing allegations of human rights violations and evidence of environmental contamination in communities affected by Goldcorp’s mining activities.” (4)

“Goldcorp’s removal from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index will not make a difference in the daily lives of communities in Guatemala, Honduras and elsewhere who are living with long-term impacts from this company’s operations,” says Jennifer Moore, Latin America Program Coordinator for MiningWatch Canada, “but this is another indication that the company can’t just paper over the damage that it’s doing.” (5)

Two recent feature length documentaries on the Marlin Gold Mine:
The Business of Gold: Chronicle of a Conflict Foretold (2010, Collectif Guatemala). More information and distribution: jmcvicar@gmail.com

Life for Gold (2011, Caracol Producciones). More information and distribution: caracolproducciones@yahoo.es

This photo essay was made possible with the logistical support of Rights Action.

Versión en español aquí.

1 “IACHR calls on the Guatemalan government and Goldcorp to halt mining”. The Guatemala Times. June 10, 2010. http://www.guatemala-times.com/news/guatemala/1668–iachr-calls-on-the-guatemalan-government-and-goldcorp-to-halt-mining.html
2 Anaya, James. “Report on natural resource extraction and the Marlin Mine in Guatemala.”

http://unsr.jamesanaya.org/notes/report-on-natural-resource-extraction-and-the-marlin-mine-in-guatemala

3 http://goldcorpoutofguatemala.com/2011/03/23/shareholders-announce-resolution-to-suspend-controversial-goldcorp-mine-in-guatemala/
4 http://www.miningwatch.ca/news/goldcorp-removed-dow-jones-sustainability-index
5 Ibid.

iPad/iPod/iPhone users view slideshow here.

Work produced with the support of Dutch NGO Solidaridad during 2008-09.

iPad/iPod/iPhone users view slideshow here.

From Sept. 26 to Oct. 23, 2011:
Bassin de la Villette
Face au 45 quai de Seine
Paris, France

Besides contributing to the core exhibit with images from the Guatemalan Chixoy Dam case involving the massacres of Maya Achi communities in Rabinal, MiMundo.org’s role expanded as the exhibit arrived in Guatemala. During this portion of the exhibit’s tour, MiMundo.org was commissioned to photograph several Guatemalan cases involving conflicts and struggles for water, including issues involving metal mining, troubled Lake Atitlan, and Mayan spirituality in relation to Water, among others.

The Exhibit was displayed from March to October 2011 in several cities, including:

Palacio de Cultura, Guatemala City.

Palacio de los Capitanes y Parque Central, Antigua.

Centro Cultural de la Academia de Lenguas Mayas, Santa Cruz del Quiché.

Centro Cultural Casa No’j, Quetzaltenango.

iPad/iPod/iPhone users view slideshow here.

Miguel Ángel Albizures writes: “Another one of the great defenders of the rights of the people, the unbreakable Alfonso Bauer Paiz, he who defeated henchmen and served humbly the people of Guatemala, Chile, Cuba, Nicaragua, and particularly those who fled certain death in Guatemala by seeking refuge in Mexico.” (1)

Renowned Guatemalan writer and poet Carolina Escobar Sartí, niece of Alfonso Bauer Paiz.

Don Ponchito’s widow, Miriam del Rosario Colón Arriaga de Bauer Paiz.

“Attorney Bauer Paiz, I am in love with you!” Last words by Miriam del Rosario Colón Arriaga de Bauer Paiz to Don Ponchito’s coffin.

Images of Alfonso Bauer Paiz taken by MiMundo.org over the years:

Alfonso Bauer Paiz and Raúl Nájera of H.I.J.O.S. during an event commemorating National Day of the Detained-Disappeared. June 21, 2007.

Alfonso Bauer Paiz before the March for Remembrance. June 30th, 2007.

Alfonso Bauer Paiz during the March for Remembrance. June 30th, 2007.

Alfonso Bauer Paiz during the March for Remembrance. June 30th, 2007.

Alfonso Bauer Paiz speaks to the crowds after the March for Remembrance on June 30th, 2009. Event that coincided with the tenth anniversary of H.I.J.O.S., Bauer Paiz exhorted those in attendance: “Youth of today, the future is in your hands!”

Short reportage about Alfonso Bauer Paíz published in 2009 on TeleSur. Produced by Caracol Producciones, 3 minutes (Spanish only).

First segment of the 95 minute documentary Testimonio documenting the life of Alfonso Bauer Paiz. Produced and directed by Uli Stelzner, 2003 (in Spanish with English subtitles).
To watch the rest of the documentary’s segments in YouTube, click here.

Versión en español aquí.

1 http://www.elperiodico.com.gt/es/20110712/opinion/198009/