Jennifer Waleska Coguox Barrios and Rogelio Hernández León

En Lak Etch: Guatemalan Youth Activist Tour Stops at Center for Latin American Studies
GusTavo Adolfo Guerra Vásquez, Comparative Ethnic Studies

On Tuesday, February 25th, the Center for Latin American Studies hosted a talk by Jennifer Waleska Coguox Barrios and Rogelio Hernández León, both Guatemalan youth activists. They are in the Bay Area on a speaking tour titled “K’exam K’aslem En Resistencia, Exchange of Cultural Resistance, Life Experience and Struggle.” During their tour, the activists seek to foster exchange with Bay Area youth and raise awareness about issues that young Guatemalans face in the shantytowns around Guatemala City and in rural areas such as Santa María Tzejá. Discussing topics ranging from gang violence to state violence, bilingual education to the current teachers’ strike, Coguox Barrios and Hernández León gave an honest and articulate portrayal of the situation of present day Guatemala from young peoples’ perspectives.

The speakers represent a coalition of Guatemalan youth organizations. Jennifer Waleska Coguox Barrios is a member of Iqui Balam, a youth group that addresses issues such as H.I.V. that impact young people through popular theater and other creative practices. Rogelio Hernández represents the Santa María Tzejá Student Association Kemb’al No’j, which has implemented scholarships for young people from Santa María Tzejá. Recipients of the scholarships fulfill a service commitment after graduation to repay the community for its support. The third organization that is involved in this effort is H.I.J.O.S. Guatemala, a group of children of the disappeared. These Guatemalan young people have come to speak on behalf of globalization, but not the globalization of sweatshops and exploitative conditions. They seek to globalize “a struggle for a different América,” the América that José Martí dreamed of and Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Mayan Nobel peace prize winner, continues to struggle for. These organizations seek to create a youth culture of resistance that transcends boundaries.

En Lak Etch is a Mayan expression that roughly translates as, “you are my other self.” It is an expression used not only by people coming from Mayan lands, but also by Latino youth activists in the Bay Area who empathize with indigenous struggles in the Américas. Participants in the tour hope to organize with youth from the San Francisco Bay area to sponsor travel between the two communities. Their goal is to show youth on different sides of geopolitical borders how much they have in common.

Although the challenges facing youth in the Bay Area are different in many ways from those faced by their counterparts in Guatemala, the participants were able to draw parallels between them. For example, both countries spend astronomical sums on the military while education programs face cutbacks and inadequate funding. This disproportionate spending shows that the priorities of both governments are similar. Additionally, programs that directly benefit youth are either minimal or non-existent in poor areas of both nations. Youth in Guatemala and the Bay Area also share concerns about violence, health care and the lack of employment training and opportunities for young people.

Despite their differences, youth from Guatemala and the San Francisco Bay Area have much to share and discuss. For this reason the steps taken by these organizations should be met with enthusiasm. The young people that created this cultural exchange have shown that no matter how many difficulties they face, they will continue to struggle for a brighter future for all. The young people who participate in these exchanges stand to learn a lot about themselves and their “other selves.”

Mr. León talks with an attendee after the event.