Chimel (Guatemala), 1959

By Edelberto Torres-Rivas

The emergence of Rigoberta Menchú Tum in the public life of a racist and exclusionary society like Guatemala’s is not just a symbolic event. It represents an unprecedented cultural and political fact, as she is a figure who encapsulates, in her condition as a woman, indigenous person, and poor peasant, the radically marginalized traits of a backward society.

She was born on January 9, 1959, in the village of Chimel, in the Quiché region. Illiterate until the age of twelve, she worked in agriculture and later as a domestic worker. Her biography summarizes the drama of Guatemalan violence. Her brother, Patrício, was kidnapped by the military in 1979 and never returned; her father, Vicente Menchú, died in the fire at the Spanish Embassy in January 1980; her mother, Juana Tum, was also kidnapped in 1980, and her younger brother, Victor, was killed by the military in 1983.

In 1981, Rigoberta Menchú went into exile, visiting several countries, and in 1985, she published a personal testimony in Paris: I Am Rigoberta Menchú, and This Is How My Consciousness Was Born. She developed intense activity in defense of indigenous peoples, and in 1992, she won the Nobel Peace Prize. Thanks to her work, she received worldwide recognition and several honorary doctorates. In 1993, she was chosen by the United Nations as a Goodwill Ambassador for the International Year of Indigenous Peoples. Currently, she is a promoter of the International Decade of Indigenous Peoples, as mandated by the General Assembly, and a personal advisor to the Director-General of UNESCO. She also engages in extensive civic activities in Guatemala, where she is often mentioned as a potential presidential candidate.