NOT THE APPAREL COMPANY
Ever been to a true Banana Republic? I was.
It is beautiful, humid, and hot. It’s full of bright colors, intoxicating scents, and tastes. And it’s sad. Very sad.
Welcome to Guatemala.
Banana what?!
As a term, Banana Republic describes a corrupted, poor, and politically unstable country, with an economy based on exporting a single resource product (Bananas anyone?). The political science cookbook explains that a Banana Republic needs to be tropical and – preferably – Spanish speaking. An agriculture society divided into impoverished working masses ruled by corrupted oligarch minority is quite certainly a good start. In other words, Banana Republic is a derogatory descriptor for a volatile, servile dictatorship that promotes bribes, the exploitation of large-scale plantation agriculture, and – in no small extent – Yankee intervention.
But why go to all that bother. You can say it all in just one word – Guatemala.
I traveled throughout this beautiful Latin America country and have written quite a few posts about it. Guatemala is a real jewel of both nature and human diversity. It is a place you’d love to visit but hate to live in. I love Guatemala and pity it’s people. They have really gone through hell. I’ll save you the history of this Central American country, it’s so corny it’s almost a caricature (Go watch Woody Allen’s “Bananas”. You’ll see what I mean). Of course, there’s nothing funny about this specific caricature – civil war, despotism, crime, poverty, corruption, helplessness… not amusing.
Given the above, you’d expect Guatemala to be another gloomy, drab, and sad place. A Latin American version of one of those ill-fated African failed states. You’d be wrong. Guatemala is fun and cheerful. A blast to be in (for the record, “blast” as in exciting, not as being blown up to smithereens). A memorable place that will forever be lodged in your heart.
Spongebob Squarepants politics
Ronny Leiba, our Guatemalan companion, had a perfect explanation.
According to Ronny, Guatemalan society is divided into three main parts: The first, a small, mostly white, and wealthy aristocracy that controls the plantations, business, and politics. These direct decedents of the Spanish and European colonizers live lavishly in their grand haciendas and don’t mix well. Let’s call them the “Eugene Krabs” of Guatemala.
The second part is the poor masses of the original Mayans. Many of them still speak their original languages (some can’t utter a word in Spanish) and practice their original pre-Columbian religions under a thin – sometimes nominal – veil of Catholic Christianity. Divided into numerous different nations, speaking different languages and practicing different religions, the indigenous people of Guatemala make the mosaic fabric of this small Central American country. Like the exploited “Spongebob”, they seem not to care about their situation nor motivated to change it. If you ever believed in “ignorance is bliss” you’ll find reassurance in the objectively unprivileged yet superficially happy native masses.
The third are people like Ronny – “Squidward”s. Like the rest of Guatemala’s middle-class, Ronny is a mestizo – half Spanish, half native. He is also disillusioned with the system and the Catholic Church. Ronny smuggled the border to the USA, living in Boston before coming back. Like many other mestizos, he left the Catholic Church and became Protestant – a rapidly growing church in Guatemala, fueled by middle-class frustration and activism. Ronny knows the situation the way it is. He is angry over the detached exploitive aristocracy and is frustrated by the apathy and backwardness of the poor masses.
What next?
Guatemala is a spectacle of beauty. A happy place if you choose to close your eyes to the reality that surrounds you. Like other Banana Republics, it seems forever locked in a vicious cycle of corruption and despair. Would angry people like Ronny manage to make a change? I’m doubtful. Still, where there’s anger, there’s some hope.
Here’s to the Squidward of this world.