Prologue

Abstract

Julia, my translator, arranged for many clandestine meetings in outlying villages. One of the first such meetings was in Tzalbal, which lies about an hour outside Nebaj by vehicle. I had never been there before and had not asked specifically that she set up these, or any other, meetings. In March 1997, several days before we went to Tzalbal, the first guerrilla combatants had come down the mountain to a United Nations reinsertion camp that had been built near Tzalbal in late 1996 as a part of the Peace Accords.¹ In Nebaj, the reinsertion camp became a topic of discussion—mostly still in whispers. I had heard some Nebajeños say, “Those from Tzalbal were always guerrilleros.” I had heard others reply, “No more than anywhere else. But it will be hard for them to prove they are not guerrillero now.” Others asked, “Who decides where these camps go? Why do they have to be near here?” Nearly everyone asked, “Is the army going to be angry with us because it is here?” Many hoped that if the army became “angry,” it would limit its anger to Tzalbal.

If they ask you my name, tell them you don’t know. Tell them you can’t remember.

—Julia