Reply #6: I was in Chiapas in 1990 and met a lady who worked with the Mayan refugees. [View All]

[nealmhughes]

I wanted to go out to one of the camps to visit, but she told me it wasn't safe -- not from the Maya, but from the Federal Army from Mexico City, and the possibility that I might cross the border into Guatamala.

It is hard to believe that 17 years have passed and the refugees are still there.

The visit was exciting but sad, the chicle sellers on the street of the zocalo in San Cristobal de las Casas was absolutely shocking, I had seen kids do that in border towns, but not adults until I got to Chiapas. Meanwhile I would go back to my colonial palace with A/C by day and heat by night and agua purificado for the showers and sit by the fire and listen to Victor Jara songs by South American and European tourists. . . On the other hand, the Maya were wonderful and shy about speaking in public -- and the hotel manager told me only the men had a bit of Spanish and the women might be able to count to make change and a few other words! It was really hard to believe that I was only a few hours away from Merida or DF. I bought as many handicrafts I could afford on that trip, straight off the loom from the makers.