Guerrilleros

I just saw a documentary by the same name at the 4th annual Mexico City documentary film festival. The film was about URNG guerrilla fighters in the Guatemalan civil war, and their lives 10 years after the 1996 signing of the Peace Accords. Having been something of an academic and an activist with a ten year commitment to Guatemala, I tend to be critical of most things I see--it didn't show enough of the ethnic struggles that characterize the country, the poverty, the current political situation. But I found myself sitting and munching popcorn next to one of the guerrilla fighters featured in the film, glancing at his profile in the dark as I watched him speak on the screen. And I was reminded that there are some stories, some personal moments, that transcend criticism. After the film, there was a question and answer session. When most of the questions had been asked, a mother in the audience turned to her daughter, another of the guerrillas featured in the film. It was the first time she had seen footage of her daughter from that period--in camouflage, firing a gun, in the mountains far away from home. Addressing the audience, she said her daughter had always been "inquieta" when it came to social movements. For a second, I couldn't tell how she felt about her daughter's participation in the civil war. But then, her voice began to crack and she said to her daughter. "I am proud that you were so brave that you would face a world you didn't know, the uncertainty and death, to give this gift to humankind."