Father Ozuna explains, “The witnesses of the massacre prefer to testify in a calmer place and for this reason, they have chosen the place provided for by the parish.”
Totonicapan is one of the six states with higher poverty index in the country. Nevertheless, the residents pay one of the most expensive electricity rates. The excessive charge, the limited electricity coverage in rural areas and the low quality of electric service were some of the demands, which led the residents of Totonicapan last Thursday, October 4 to block the Ruta Interamericana, the most important highway of the country. In the clash between the demonstrators and the police force, eight persons died and another forty were wounded. Max Ozuna of the Augustinian Recollect community of Totonicapan explains, “Some are still in the hospital with some parts of their body amputated. In his communication, he said, “Everyone has had gunshot wounds.”
Violence broke out when the police and the armed forces tried to clear the picket lines of the rural folks, which were blocking the passage in different points of the highway.
Lawyer and psychologist
The parish has also provided the victims with a lawyer who can assist them all throughout the legal process, together with the other commissions assigned by the authorities of the indigenous people. Father Ozuna explains, “We assume this as ministry for justice. The vehicles of the parish were also made available to gather evidence of the massacre and to transport witnesses. Likewise, we are trying to accompany those wounded in the massacre, and to support those who were widowed and orphaned.”
Ozuna points out, “We wish also to employ a psychologist for few months, so that assistance may be extended to many persons, most especially, to women and the youngster who lived the tragedy or lost one of their family members.” Thus, support and solidarity of the rest of the clergy of the area are felt by the means taken by the Augustinian Recollects in the mother parish.
Since 1958
The presence of the Augustinian Recollects in this area goes back to 1958, when they were given the charge of the parishes of San Miguel Arcángel (Totonicapan) and Nuestra Señora de la Soledad del Calvario (Quetzaltenango). The latter was turned over to the diocese in 1970.
Since 1996, the Archdiocese of Los Altos is the ecclesiastical district that includes the states of Quetzaltenango and Totonicapan. It has an area of 4,890 square kilometers and a population of 1,300,000. Currently, the Archdiocese of Los Altos, with the Augustinian Recollect Mario Molina Palma as Archbishop, is composed of 32 parishes, and it has 28 diocesan and 30 religious priests. There are also some 40 religious sisters, 8 non-clerical religious brothers and 10 consecrated laypersons who are working in the Archdiocese of Los Altos. It has also17 theology seminarians.
The parish of Totonicapan has 100,000 inhabitants, which includes the whole territory of the city. Its populace, which is mainly indigenous, is distributed in its capital with 12,000 inhabitants, and 52 cantons or towns. In 1998, the parish church, which goes back to 1545, was declared co-cathedral of the Archdiocese.
In 1998, the Augustinian Recollects were also made in-charge of the Parish of Sagrada Familia in Quetzaltenango. It was made a parish in 1976 with a population of 30,000 distributed in the capital and five districts.