Wonder Woman of the Week: Rigoberta Menchu

Citizens of the United States may not know the name of this week’s Wonder Woman. She was a civil rights leader in Guatemala who documented the mass execution of her people, published her observations of the genocide, and became a Nobel Prize recipient for her work. She was raised in a society that told her she was useless based on her race and who took that shame and turned it into beautiful literature. Her work also helped open the eyes of the world to the genocide happening in her country and highlight the hypocrisies in the complex hierarchy of post-colonial Latin America. The Wonder Woman of the Week is Rigoberta Menchu.

Latin America’s ethnic hierarchy is rooted in the foundations of European Colonialism. When the Spanish and Portuguese arrived in the region during the 16th Century, they enslaved the native people and imported more slaves from Africa. Intermarriage was common between Spanish colonists and Indigenous women (though likely forced) which created a difficult situation for the Spanish governors. A social hierarchy was established to make the citizens know who was in charge. At the top were the “Peninsulares;” those born in mainland Europe. Next were the “Criollos;” those born in America with full European heritage. Next were the “Mestizos;” those of mixed heritage. Finally, there were the “Indios;” those of wholly Indigenous heritage. [1]

This hierarchy established a culture of racism that encouraged the Mestizos to distance themselves from their Indigenous heritage- even killing Indios to prove their loyalties to Spain. After the Latin revolutions created independent countries, the Peninsulares faded from the social ladder and the Criollos became the top class- leading to even more violence toward the Indios- which included peoples like the Maya. By the 1930’s and 40’s- slavery in Latin America was outlawed, but those who dared identify as Indio were treated like slaves across the two continents. In Guatemala especially, the indigenous people- the Quiche Maya- were beaten, robbed, and assaulted simply because of their heritage. [2]

It was in this world that Rigoberta Menchu was born. Raised in a poor Quiche family, Menchu learned of the horrors of institutional racism from an early age. Her people were often forced to work on coffee plantations almost identical to the clave labor of the 16th Century. Menchu became involved in the local Catholic Church and quickly became an activist for social reform- for both women and Quiche Maya. During the height of the Cold War, Menchu’s father was arrested under false pretenses of claims that he was involved in guerilla warfare against the government. After his release, he founded the Committee of the Peasant Union (CUC) which Menchu later joined. [3]

Fearful that the Quiche may one day be seen as equal to the Mestizos- renamed the Ladinos- local landowners started a mass genocide to exterminate the Indigenous Guatemalans. In the ensuing genocide which lasted from 1960 to 1996, 450 Quiche towns were destroyed, two hundred thousand Quiche were murdered, and one million were displaced. Rigoberta Menchu was one of these displaced refugees who sought shelter in a foreign country. In 1983, Menchu published a collective story of the plight of her people in I, Rigoberta Menchu with the goal of exposing the horros of the genocide to a world audience. For her work, Menchu was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1992. When the civil war ended in 1996, Menchu returned to her country and immediately went to work rebuilding communities and founded the Rigoberta Menchu Tum Foundation (FRMT) to support struggling Quiche communities. [4]

Rigoberta Menchu was raised in a society that told her she was useless based on her status as a Native American. When civil war broke out and her own government funded a genocide of her people, Menchu fled her native Guatemala. After telling the story of her people- the Quiche- to the world audience, the Guatemalan government was forced to cease the war and answer for war crimes against millions of its own citizens. Menchu was a simple refugee who only wanted the world to know the horrors of civil war. Her story led to the end of the war. After returning to her country, she set to work repairing the damage, ran for president, and founded an organization established to support Indigenous communities. Menchu’s story helps explain how even the most ordinary people can accomplish greatness and that refugees of civil wars can save their people with something as simple as a story.

“The Spaniards- Peninsulares, Criollos, and Mestizos.” National Park Service. np, nd. Web. 19 October 2016.

Brintnall, Douglas. “The Guatemalan Indian Civil Rights Movement.” Cultural Survival. np, nd. Web. 19 October 2016.

“Rigoberta Menchu Tum- Biographical.” Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media, 2016. Web. 19 October 2016.

“Rigoberta Menchu Tum.” Nobel Women’s Initiative. np, nd. Web. 19 October 2016.