[harperlee]

This is a bit off-topic, but I'm not happy about the simplistic and demagogic message of throwing a line separating indians and spanish and just stating that "The fighting started 500 years ago" and that "the arrival of Spanish colonists marked the beginning of a dark history". Oh really? Before Columbus they were all happy people in Eden? And all rulers have been oppresor spaniards for the last 500 years?

These are poor people, and there's not one only factor that keeps them poor. The reason for inequality is not based only on racism. It is not a clash of races. It's a little more subtle.

And further: it does not matter! You don't need to make this kind of points to raise awareness. Focusing on specific people, as they do immediately afterwards, is much more effective.

That said: this is great!

[cp9]

I mean that is pretty much what happened. of course the tribes fought against each other and everything wasn't amazing, but the arrival of the europeans absolutely destroyed the native peoples of the americas. that can't be in question. Disease and forced labor took a serious toll on the native populations, not to mention the loss of land. If you are interested in a first hand account of these atrocities I recommend reading Bartolome de las Casas (he was a near contemporary of Columbus and has secondhand accounts of 1492, plus his 1st hand accounts of the new world from the early 16th century).

Is it overly simplistic to say those atrocities directly lead to where Guatemala is today? of course, but discounting those factors is also a disservice.

[markdown]

Parachute journalism.