A phrase heard at countless public discussions in Guatemala and that appears in introductions to political manifestos or popular scientific papers goes like this: ”What has happened may not be forgotten so that it will never happen again!” With “what has happened” the speaker or author addresses the Civil War (or Internal Armed Conflict, as it is often called in Guatemala) that has taken 200,000 lives and made over one million people homeless during the thirty-six years it lasted.
Two key texts provide reference points for this programmatic declaration in Guatemala’s recent history. First, the Treaty of Oslo concerns the installation of an international Historical Clarification Commission and says that the “people of Guatemala have a right to know the whole truth concerning these events, clarification of which will help avoid a repetition of these sad and painful events and strengthen the process of democratisation in Guatemala”. The treaty also calls for a “promotion of a culture of harmony and mutual respect that will eliminate any form of revenge or vengeance is a prerequisite for a firm and lasting peace”.
Remember the past… But how and why? Guatemala’s Post War Debates over Narrative Authority as a Case of Renegotiating Historical Responsibility and Political Rights
JVF Conference Papers
