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EVO MORALES VISITS GUATEMALA, COULD CHANGE INDIGENOUS POLITICAL FUTURE.

Article Excerpt
Bolivia's President Evo Morales briefly visited Guatemala Sept. 12, but not to hobnob with his homologue Oscar Berger; they met only in passing. Morales was in the country at the invitation of his wider constituency, the nation's and the hemisphere's indigenous who celebrated the seventh assembly of the Fondo Indigena Latinamericano (FIL). He spent most of his 12 hours on the ground talking with indigenous and leftist leaders about what he called the "struggle for rights in which they are engaged."

It was a combined spiritual and political visit. Morales told his hosts, "I bring the greeting of the indigenous peoples of Bolivia, who after several centuries of oppression now have the possibility of reasserting ourselves to put an end to the oppression and marginalization of our peoples."

Rodolfo Pocop of the Coordinacion y Convergencia Nacional Maya, Guatemala's principal indigenous organization, responded, "On this historic day, guided by Ajaw Oxlayuj Q'anil, spirit of the seed, spirit of the morning star, spirit of Venus, the Coordinacion y Convergencia Nacional Maya Waqib Kej, which brings together a union of Maya organizations, expresses its profound gratification and joy for the visit of the president of Bolivia, companero Evo Morales Ayma."

Morales was asked to kneel, and three Maya priests enveloped his head in candle smoke to "invoke energies" for the president and presented him with the Sut, a ritual garment. No such ceremony has taken place before at the Hotel Westin Camino Real.

Focus and strength for indigenous movement

Along with expressions of solidarity, Morales brought to Guatemala a much-needed political focus to the indigenous movement. Although a national majority, the indigenous people have been organized in ways that have prevented them from gaining significant political power in the country. They have been divided by language barriers--there are 22 major languages and...

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