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Let’s review our history | Verapaz, little truth, little peace

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Let’s review our history | Verapaz, little truth, little peace

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The Royal Certificate of Nomination, dated January 15, 1547, states that, after making a report on the achievement of peace, “the aforementioned provinces of Lacandon, Tuzulutlan, Cobán” and Acala, which they proposed under the name of Vera-Paz (…), and I, in compliance with the teachings of religion and in the service of God and us (…) hereby express my mercy and my command that now and from now on the aforementioned provinces shall be named “La Vera-Paz” (…). “I, the King, by the order of His Majesty Juan de Samano.”1

Thus begins a parallel story, very idyllic and romantic, seasoned no doubt by Brother Antonio de Remesal, a Spanish religious, historian, and chronicler who did not arrive in America until 1613. His account, while containing valuable contributions such as the work History of San Vicente, Chiapas and Guatemala o A General History of the West Indies and a Special History of the Government of Chiapa and Guatemalaminimizing the truth of the cruelties committed and the wars fought. It even embellishes the death of Fray Pedro de Angulo, the first bishop of Verapaz, who, on his way from San Juan Chamelco to consecrate himself in Guatemala, died in Salama (April 1, 1562) under strange circumstances that raised speculation about a possible poisoning. Remesar embellishes this moment almost as an exaltation, “receiving the reward for the many glorious works he had suffered for the extension of love and faith”.2

The first two quotations correspond to the historian Agustín Estrada Monroy, supported, as indicated, in the General Archives of India and Antonio de Remesal.

My comment: A thoughtful analysis of the oral tradition of Salama shows that Brother Pedro de Angulo, who Misera colic (According to oral accounts from the second half of the 20th century) He may have suffered from acute appendicitis or peritonitis caused by intestinal obstruction.

The same royal document (mentioned above) contains data that could refute this. Historians such as André Saint-Loup, Didier Beaumerance and Juan-Pedro Laporte point out other paths related to the dynamics of territorial reduction. Let’s look at some.

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As the documents state, Acaláes was never Christianized or evangelized. After ending the lives of Friar Domingo de Vico, Friar Andrés López and about thirty warriors of Cacique Ajay Popo Obatz, they waged war on several fronts. Some managed to escape to the Sierra Chama, others managed to settle in what is now Baja Verapaz, founding the town of Santa Cruz el Joel, and still others relegated to the San Marcos neighborhood of Cobán, with its current zone 3, adjacent to San Marcos, called Barrio San Juan Acalá. Juan By Aj Pop O’ Batz, the name he took when he agreed to be baptized Akara Because the Akaras were imprisoned and concentrated there for causing Vico’s death. That being said, I (the author of this article) was born in that community.

The Lacandon territory (which had neither been Christianized nor evangelized until 1547) could only be entered peacefully around 1693 (the religion was led by brother Antonio Magill).3 The Itzaes family remained in the center of Petén until 1697, when they were weakened.4 Petén was not weakened even until 150 years after the conquest. At that time, there was no clearly defined northern limit (as there were east, west, and south) for how far Tezulutland could be traveled.

Saint-Loup adds further graciousness when he says of the Dominicans of Mexico: “In their provincial council of 1558 they solemnly declared that5 “It was not only legal but imposed as a duty of conscience that the king must protect his subjects from the attacks of which they were victims, which meant the total destruction of the Lacandones.”6

So, the Verapaz story is not so sweet. What they told us in school is not true at all, and even less peaceful.

1 Estrada-Monroy, Augustin. (1979). A K’ekchi’ World of True Peace. Guatemala: Army Press. P. 250-251.

2 Estrada-Monroy, Augustin. (1979). K’ekchi’ World of True Peace. Guatemala: Army Press. p. 314.

3 Laporte, Juan Pedro. (1994). Populations in northern Verapaz, Petén, and southern Izabal. In: General History of Guatemala. From the Conquest to 1700. Volume II. Guatemala: Association of Friends of the Nation. Foundation for Culture and Development. Pages 663 et seq.

4 Bomeranse, Didier. (1994). Lacandones and Itzas. In: General History of Guatemala. From the Conquest to 1700. Volume II. Guatemala: Association of Friends of the Nation. Foundation for Culture and Development. Pages 645 et seq.

5 “This means” refers to war.

6 Saint-Loup, André. (1994). La Vela Paz: 16th century. In: General History of Guatemala. From the Conquest to 1700. Volume II. Guatemala: Association of Friends of the Nation. Foundation for Culture and Development. Pages 627-636.

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