contains mild peril

Saturday, March 11, 2006

murals #2

I mentioned the commercial murals but Guatamala has endured 30-odd years of turmoil and civil war. In the last few years this has ended and there are clear signs of reconciliation being attempted. One way this comes through is in the painting of 'peace' murals on roadsides. Some of the country is very hilly, and corners on mountains have big splashes of white paint on rocks to prevent crashes. These white splotches have now been overpainted with political symbols such as the open 2-finger peace sign, the (Catholic) closed 2-finger symbol of peace, and a really good symbol of two hands which form the wings of a dove.
This is all really quite moving as you see them everywhere, and it looks like people are trying hard to promote peace. They're also extremely strong graphic images that use the same colours for each symbol so are instantly recognisable irrespective of how well or badly painted/ eroded.

** Actually I now realise one symbol is for the FRG - a party that is led by an admitted killer, pretty nasty and desperately crooked. Another symbol is from a 'party' of different paramilitary groups that came together.
Maybe I'm not really seeing what I think I'm seeing.

Its remarkable what you miss when you're a tourist.

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