El Marguey is a collectivly run finca housing 20 familier, who farm the land. The finca is situated on the outskirts of the poluted Guatemala City and was a conflict area during the war. The inhabitants on El Marguey are active members of the CUC Comité de Unidad Campesino) An organization started in 1978 by poor, for the poor, that support the occupations of land peasants have carried out in the resent years and in that works against militarization and poverty. CUC became famous in 1980 when students and other members of the CUC occupied the Spanish embassy. They tried to put focus on the injustice going on in the country. The demonstrators were by the media and in the US labeled communists and the military burned down the embassy with the 39 demonstrators inside.

We stayed in a shed (still under construction) the week we spent on the finca. The peasants told us their story, we visited the school on the farm and we played with the kids, we played soccer with the kids as well as the parents, we worked in the fields and the last night there we drank and dances with them. It was an incredible week. They were so open and so caring, which you wouldn't think it possible with their past. They made the week in the cold shed feel like a week in pure luxury. It was very hard to say goodbye!

The inhabitants on the finca used to live in the neighboorhood and they had seen the finca unfarmed and empty for 20 years. The land was owned by the state, but the military also had interests in obtaining the area in order to buil housing for military veterans. The peasants first tries to obtain the land legally and the president told them that "it was possible". The peasents then started cleaning and farming the finca and after 5 days they received a decrete from the president Alfonso Portillo (he belonged to the "new rich"), which declared the land as property of the peasants. This, ofcourse, attracted more people.

The military arrived and scared the peasants, but they had to leave the finca because of the decrete. They arrived again just to scare the peasants, but when they came the third time they had obtained a decrete as well, known as "ley of El Marguey". This decrete stated that land belonged to the military. 500 men arrived from the military, while the peasants were working in the fields. As thet waited on the peasants to return from work, they robbed the stores. The millitary violently threw the peasants and their families on the street and destroied their houses.

They stayed 4 months just outside the finca in small houses of platic, that didn't really withstand the wind and the rain caractarizing the season. Before the removal from the finca they were about 35 families, but they were reduced to 21. They lived next to the military who also had temporary houses and they came to some sort of understanding during this time. While they stayed here they demonstrated in Guatemala City and tried in many other ways to put focus on their situation. After 4 motnhs the peasants moved back into the farm, but just on the outskirts of the land. They continued trying to obtain the land legally and regularly visited the different offices in Guatemala City. After many problems and much work the case goes to court and finaly the peasants seem to have some luck. The judge rules agains the military and the police later arrives to remove the military from the farm, just as the military once removed the peasants. It is still a very emotional subject for the peasants on the farm, while several of them faced death or were publicly humiliated by the military. The intimidation that was (is) part of the military's strategies has scared the mentality of the peasants today. As they were telling us their story several of them started crying or showed other signs of deep emotions.

The history of El Marguey is very tipical for the fincas in Guatemala. 72% of the land in Guatemala is, as mentioned before, owned by 3% of the population and much land today is unfarmed. Therefore there has been many occupations of land by peasants and often these happenings have turned into violent clashes between peasants, police and military. Since the siuation in Guatemala hasn't changed much within the last 50 years, occupation of land ccontinues and is becoming "normal". CUC support these occupations and tries to change the unfair distribution of land, as well as labour rihgts. Without the CUC El Marguey wouldn't be a collectivly run plantation today, men housing for military veterans.