El retono
The place
El retono ("The sprout") in the Petén department, Sayaxché/La Libertad sector (Lower Petén, Usumacinta, Mexico border, Guatemala), at 132 m altitude, lowland tropical rainforest. Continuous Guatemala cluster (batches 260-403). A community forest shelter/camp in the Petén (Sayaxché, 60,000 inhabitants, Usumacinta river port + La Libertad, 100,000 inhabitants, agricultural + Usumacinta, 1,000 km GT-MX border + Petén, 36,000 km², one third of Guatemala's territory + Maya Biosphere Reserve, 21,000 km², established 1990, 6th-largest biosphere reserve in the world + Q'eqchi'/Itza Maya heritage (Q'eqchi' Maya people, 800,000 speakers of Q'eqchi' + Itza, 2,000 speakers of the endangered Itza language + iconic heritage of Maya civilization, Preclassic from 2000 BC, Classic 250-900, iconic collapse + Tikal, UNESCO 1979, iconic, 100 km², 3,000 structures, Temple I Grand Jaguar of Tikal 732 AD + iconic heritage of the Spanish conquest, Pedro de Alvarado 1524 + iconic heritage of the Guatemalan civil war 1960-1996, 200,000 dead, 45,000 missing, 626 massacres, 83% Maya victims, iconic + Peace Accords 29 December 1996, Óscar Berger + iconic heritage of Rigoberta Menchú, born 1959, Nobel Peace Prize 1992, iconic Maya figure + iconic heritage of Maya migration to the USA, 200,000 in caravans 2018-2024, migration crisis).
The setting
Petén, Sayaxché/La Libertad, Lower Petén, Usumacinta, MX border, Guatemala, 132 m, lowland tropical rainforest, continuous cluster batches 260-403, community forest shelter/camp in the Petén + Sayaxché 60,000, Usumacinta river port + La Libertad 100,000 agricultural + Usumacinta 1,000 km GT-MX + Petén 36,000 km², 1/3 of Guatemala + Maya Biosphere Reserve 21,000 km², est. 1990, 6th-largest biosphere reserve in the world, Q'eqchi'/Itza Maya, Q'eqchi' 800,000 speakers + Itza 2,000 speakers, endangered + Maya civilization Preclassic 2000 BC, Classic 250-900, iconic collapse + Tikal UNESCO 1979, iconic, 100 km², 3,000 structures, Temple I Grand Jaguar 732 AD + Alvarado conquest 1524, iconic + civil war 1960-1996, 200,000 dead, 45,000 missing, 626 massacres, 83% Maya victims, iconic + Peace Accords 29 Dec 1996, Berger + Rigoberta Menchú, born 1959, Nobel Peace Prize 1992, iconic Maya figure + Maya migration to the USA, 200,000 in caravans 2018-2024, migration crisis.
