Antes de leer
1) ¿Cuántos años tenía Rigoberta cuando empezó a
aprender español?
2) Qué crees: ¿Por qué no pudo aprender el español
usando un libro?
Ahora, lee:
At twenty years of age, Ms. Menchú had already lost
her father, her mother and a brother as a result of the indiscriminate violence
exercised by the armed forces of Guatemala in their attempts to control and
suppress the indigenous people.
After growing up amid this violence and repression,
Ms. Menchú decided to learn Spanish, using the language of her oppressors to
fight for the rights of her people. Since then, words have been her weapon in
her untiring defense of the human rights of all indigenous peoples.
Ms. Menchú states that, "We have seen repeated
occupations of our land, long lines of colonists have arrived, and they remain
today. In the case of my country, 65 percent of the inhabitants are indigenous.
The constitution speaks of protection for the indigenous. Who authorized a
minority to protect an immense majority?"
Ms. Menchú also states, "Racism in our
countries is a fact in that the Indian is not allowed to be a politician or
aspire to being head of state. It has reached the point that 99 percent of the
indigenous women have not gone to school. The indigenous are condemned to live
in a situation designed to exterminate them. They receive a pittance of a
salary, they neither speak nor write the language, politics dictates their
situation. Is this slavery? I don't know what it's called. It is not the same
as before because we are in modern times."
In 1992, Ms. Menchú won the Nobel
Peace Prize, becoming the youngest , as well as the first indigenous person to
ever win the prize.
Responde:
3) Hay una creencia (belief) que los indígenas en
la América Latina siempre son VICTIMAS y que no se organizan para luchar por
sus derechos. En el caso de Rigoberta Menchú, ¿qué hizo para luchar?
4) Rigoberta Menchú aprendió español para luchar y
defender. ¿Qué conexión ves entre los idiomas y la opresión? ¿Ves conflictos
causados por los idiomas?
5) Los idiomas (language) ¿es un tema (issue)
político en los estados unidos? ¿Cómo?
