ABSTRACT
Guadelupe Victoria's self-appointed local historian Don Felipe and Don Ernesto of Río Azúl had become good friends after Don Ernesto and his family arrived in Guadelupe Victoria, Chiapas shortly after their flight to Mexico in January 1982. Felipe actively remembers the tales from his ancestors about how Guadelupe Victoria was formed by refugees. He knows, perhaps better than anyone, that Guadelupe Victoria is also a Jacalteco town. Because of these historical and ethnic connections, Guadelupe Victoria was a likely choice of destinations for many of the Jacaltecos fleeing violence. Most of the inhabitants of Guadelupe Victoria older than forty proudly remember their connections to Jacaltenango and, at least on occasions, speak the Jacalteco language themselves. As the mandatory work required by the government was seasonal, though perhaps requiring one hundred days in succession, the Jacalteco workers were allowed to return to their farms to raise their families' food.
