Migrants or Refugees? Violence and Forced Migration in Southern Mexico and Guatemala, 1950-2000

FAIN: HB-282616-22

Catherine Ann Nolan-Ferrell
University of Texas, San Antonio (San Antonio, TX 78249-1644)

My book project, Migrants or Refugees? Violence and Coerced Migration in Southern Mexico and Guatemala, 1950-2000 investigates the causes and impacts of Guatemalan migration into southern Chiapas. Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, the border between Guatemala and Mexico had little impact on social and economic networks that developed with the regional coffee economy. Lasting economic, social, and cultural ties formed between communities on both sides of the border. By early 1981, violence from the Guatemalan Civil War (1963-1996) and deepening poverty pushed growing numbers of Guatemalan campesinos to migrate for work on Mexican coffee fincas. Simultaneously, intensifying conflict led thousands of indigenous villagers to abandon their homes and seek safety in Mexico. Some Guatemalans were depicted as unwitting ‘victims’ who deserved asylum and assistance. Others were labeled as “too political” or “opportunistic” and received little support.

Associated Products

““La Población Desarraigada: Dispersed Refugees and Alternate Citizenships in Chiapas, Mexico” (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: ““La Población Desarraigada: Dispersed Refugees and Alternate Citizenships in Chiapas, Mexico”
Author: Catherine Nolan-Ferrell
Abstract: LASA 2023 “La Población Desarraigada: Dispersed Refugees and Alternate Citizenships in Chiapas, Mexico” Catherine Nolan-Ferrell, PhD Associate Professor of History, UTSA catherine.ferrell@utsa.edu During the Guatemalan civil war and genocide, an estimated 500,000 to 1.5 million civilians fled their homes and rural communities to escape intense violence. Approximately 200,000 people, mostly indigenous Mayans, crossed into southern Mexico, forming refugee camps or sheltering in Mexican communities. Guatemalan villagers’ choices to flee to Mexico became a way to both escape violence and resist military domination during Guatemala’s brutal civil war. This massive displacement created distinct challenges to both the Guatemalan and Mexican government’s ability to assert sovereignty over their borders. It also questions what citizenship meant to people who faced persecution by the very governments who supposedly protected them. This paper investigates how and why some displaced Guatemalans avoided official status as refugees, instead creating alternate forms of community that they believed served their interests. 1985. By fleeing to Mexico, many indigenous Guatemalans highlighted the fact that the government could not (or would not) guarantee basic protections to all Guatemalan citizens. Guatemalan authorities deflected criticism of its “scorched earth” policies, arguing that extreme measures were necessary to defeat the guerrillas and eliminate their popular base, claims that only highlighted the government’s illegitimacy to many Maya communities. As waves of campesinos crossed the border into southern Mexico, they faced difficult choices about how to identify themselves and the consequences of these labels. The vast majority (75%) of Guatemalan campesinos who fled to Mexico chose to live as “desarraigadas” or uprooted peoples. They faced an increasingly precarious legal status as “stateless people” who lived outside of minimal protections provided by international a
Date: 06/26/2023
Conference Name: LASA 2023: America Latina y el Caribe: Pensar, Representar y Luchar por Derechos,

¿Repatriación o reasentamiento? Guatemaltecos en México, 1984-1990 (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: ¿Repatriación o reasentamiento? Guatemaltecos en México, 1984-1990
Author: Catherine Nolan-Ferrell
Abstract: En el apogeo de la crisis de los refugiados guatemaltecos (1981-1984), se estima que 200 000 indígenas de ese país buscaron su seguridad en México. Algunos establecieron campamentos de refugiados formales, y eventualmente obtuvieron el apoyo del ACNUR, el gobierno mexicano y la Iglesia Católica. Otros se asentaron en comunidades ejidales mexicanas o trabajaron en plantaciones de café que se agrupaban a lo largo de la región fronteriza. Cuando en Guatemala se instauró un gobierno civil, la presencia de los refugiados en México creó un problema tanto para el oficialismo guatemalteco como para el mexicano. El gobierno y el ejército guatemalteco iniciaron a presionar a los refugiados en México para que regresaran a “casa”, en un esfuerzo por reforzar su legitimidad. Al mismo tiempo, los funcionarios mexicanos fluctuaron entre el apoyo a los refugiados y la preocupación acerca de una presencia prolongada de los guatemaltecos en su frontera sur. En esta ponencia se examinará cómo los refugiados guatemaltecos, campesinos mexicanos, dueños de fincas y varios representantes de las agencias del gobierno local y federal negociaron definiciones inclusivas y exclusivas de nacionalidad. El gobierno guatemalteco intentó afirmar la soberanía sobre los refugiados promoviendo su regreso, pero los indígenas guatemaltecos rechazaron a menudo la reintegración, porque no confiaban en el régimen. Las autoridades mexicanas también intentaron controlar a los campesinos guatemaltecos clasificándolos como refugiados o migrantes económicos. Al mismo tiempo, trabajadores de ambos lados practicaban formas de nacionalidad para satisfacer sus propias necesidades.
Date: 11/01/2022
Conference Name: XVI Reunión Internacional de Historiadores de México

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