ABSTRACT
On the western side of Guatemala’s mountainous altiplano is the departmental capital of Huehuetenango. From the bus station on the outskirts of town, a cramped minibus will take you to the highpoint where the ruins of the Mayan city of Zaculeu are revealed. The ruins – less spectacular than the view over sunlit, forested mountains – are mostly reconstructions of buildings long since destroyed and the colour of the stone used is the same stained grey as an inner-city tenement block. Behind the Coca-Cola kiosk is a one room museum. Zaculeu was the capital of the Mam people, one of the biggest branches of the Mayan family tree. The museum designers were clearly not over-concerned. The highlight inside is a series of badly drawn pictures that follow the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado on his journey to destroy the city in 1525.
Of eight million inhabitants [in Guatemala] … 68 per cent live in rural areas. Of these 90 per cent are indigenous people (about 4.5 million), the speakers of the 22 vernacular languages. 1
