From Guerrilla to Mayor: A Mayan Leader on Resistance, Peace & Developing the Conditions for Life

Welcome to a series within the series from Guatemala, Central America – three stories from three men I admire most in the world. Each different but related. Each from a different generation. And each navigating the last couple of decades differently since I spent time with them, in the municipality of Fray Bartolome de las Casas, in the central province of Alta Verapaz.

This is the story of a place too, in that sense. A place that’s been through the worst of things and some of the best of human endeavours as well. Offering us all some hard-won wisdom on how to transcend the former and tend the latter, even achieve some remarkable outcomes at times, but perhaps above all, how to live well regardless of those outcomes. 

First up, then, it’s a privilege to share my conversation with Don Ceferino de Paz González. Don Cef was Mayor of Fray when I arrived offering my services, a gringo with, at that stage, no organisational or financial backing. 

Don Cef had not long been elected, only a few years after the Peace Accords that formally ended a bloody decades-long war. He was then part of the political party that emerged from the guerrilla resistance. A mere boy when he joined that resistance, he’d dodged death, rose through the ranks, and then in peace time, became Mayor not once, but twice. 

21 years since I last saw him, we met at his home in Fray. He’d hardly changed, still looking sprightly at age 80. And generously, this proud, articulate, still optimistic elder, was up for a chat – full, frank and open. 

We sat out on the patio, late morning. The humidity and heat were on the rise amidst the lush green of these traditional Mayan tropical lowlands. And as we go, we drift deeper into personal terrain. And to take us out, he agrees to pick up the guitar.

Today’s episode is also tribute to my late mentor, systems thinking pioneer and much-loved figure, Professor Frank Fisher, on the 82nd anniversary of his birth. 

Thanks again to Dana Scott for so generously translating the Spanish into English.

Recorded 14 January 2025.

See more photos on the episode web page, and for more behind the scenes, become a supporting listener below.

Music:

Salta Montes, by Migra (from Artlist).

Regeneration, by Amelia Barden.

The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests.

Chapters

• 0:00 Opening And Guatemala Series Context
• 3:20 Meeting Don Seferino And Early Life
• 8:45 1954 Coup And Family Persecution
• 14:30 Joining The Guerrilla And Fragmented Movements
• 21:20 Ambush, Survival, And Logistics Shift
• 27:40 Massacres, Foreign Backing, And Community Costs
• 34:10 Unity Efforts And Peace Accords
• 39:45 From Combatant To Mayor And Builder
• 46:00 Culture As Resistance And Public Works
• 51:20 Second Term, Health And Education Gains
• 56:30 Water Scarcity And Governance Limits
• 1:00:50 African Palm, Jobs, And Environmental Tradeoffs
• 1:07:00 Equilibrium, Optimism, And Strategy
• 1:12:20 Energy, Services, And Realistic Hope