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* I have copied the entire Menchu article from the main page and am drafting edits here in my sandbox. See main article here: Rigoberta Menchú.*

Rigoberta Menchú Tum ( Spanish: [riɣoˈβeɾta menˈtʃu]; born 9 January 1959) is a K'iche' Indigenous feminist and political and human rights activist from Guatemala. Menchú has dedicated her life to publicizing the rights of Guatemala's indigenous peoples during and after the Guatemalan Civil War (1960–1996), and to promoting indigenous rights internationally.  CITE 

She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 and the Prince of Asturias Award in 1998, in addition to other prestigious awards. She is the subject of the testimonial biography I, Rigoberta Menchú (1983) and the author of the autobiographical work, Crossing Borders (1998), among other works. Menchú is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. She ran for president of Guatemala in 2007 and 2011, having founded the country's first Indigenous political party, Winaq.

Contents

 * 1Personal life
 * 2Guatemalan Activism
 * 2.1Politics
 * 3International Activism
 * 4Legacy
 * 4.1Awards and honors
 * 4.2Publications


 * 4.2.1Controversies about her testimony
 * 5See also
 * 6References
 * 7Bibliography
 * 8External links

Personal life[edit]
Rigoberta Menchú was born to a poor indigenous family of Q'iche' Maya descent in Laj Chimel, a rural area in the north-central Guatemalan province of El Quiché. Her family was one of many Indigenous families who could not sustain themselves on the small pieces of land they were left with after the Spanish conquest of Guatemala. '''Menchu's mother began her career as a midwife at age sixteen, and continued to practice using traditional medicinal plants until she was murdered at age 53. Her father was a prominent activist for the rights of Indigenous farmers in Guatemala. Both of her parents regularly attended Catholic church, and her mother remained very connected to her Maya spirituality and identity. Menchu considers herself to be the perfect mix of both her parents. (same citation for all added sentences) She believes in many teachings of the Catholic Church, but her mother's Maya influence also taught Menchu the importance of living in harmony with nature and retaining her Maya culture.'''

In 1979-80 her brother, Patrocinio, and her mother, Juana Tum Kotoja (ACCENT ON FIRST O), were kidnapped, tortured and murdered by the Guatemalan army. Her father, Vicente Menchu Perez, died in the 1980 Burning of the Spanish Embassy, which occurred after urban guerrillas took hostages and were attacked by government security forces. In January 2015, Pedro García Arredondo, a former police commander of the Guatemalan army, was convicted of attempted murder and crimes against humanity for his role in the embassy attack.

MOVED CONTENT DOWN TO G.A.

In 1984, Menchú's other brother, Victor, was shot to death after he surrendered to the Guatemalan army, was threatened by soldiers, and tried to escape.

In 1995, Menchú married Ángel Canil, a Guatemalan. They have a son, Mash Nahual J’a ("Spirit of Water").

Guatemalan activism[edit]
'''From a young age, Menchu was active alongside her father, advocating for the rights of Indigenous farmers through the Committee for Peasant Unity. She believes that the roots of Indigenous oppression in Guatemala stem from issues of exploitation and colonial land ownership. Her early activism focused on defending her people from colonial exploitation. '''

After leaving school, Menchú worked as an activist campaigning against human rights violations committed by the Guatemalan armed forces during the country's civil war, which lasted from 1960 to 1996. Many of the human rights violations that occurred during the war targeted Indigenous peoples. '''Women were targets of physical and sexual violence at the hands of the military. '''

In 1981, Menchú was exiled and escaped to Mexico where she found refuge in the home of a Catholic bishop in Chiapas. A year later, at 23 years old, she narrated a book about her life, titled Me llamo Rigoberta Menchú y así me nació la conciencia (My Name is Rigoberta Menchú, and this is how my Awareness was Born), to Venezuelan author and anthropologist Elizabeth Burgos. '''Menchu narrated the book in Spanish, although she had only learned to speak it three years prior. Spanish was a language that had been forced upon Indigenous peoples by colonizers, but Menchu sought to master the language and turn it against her oppressors. The book was soon translated into five other languages including English and French. It made her an international icon at the time of the ongoing conflict in Guatemala, and brought attention to the suffering of Indigenous peoples under an oppressive government regime.''' After being exiled in 1981, Menchú continued to organize resistance to oppression in Guatemala and organize the struggle for indigenous rights by co-founding the United Republic of Guatemalan Opposition. Tens of thousands of people, mostly Mayan Indians, fled to Mexico from 1982 to 1984 at the height of Guatemala's 36-year civil war.

Menchú served as the Presidential Goodwill Ambassador for the 1996 Peace Accords in Guatemala. That same year she received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award in Boston.

After the Guatemalan Civil War ended, Menchú campaigned to have Guatemalan political and military establishment members tried in Spanish courts. In 1999, she filed a complaint before a court in Spain because prosecutions of civil-war era crimes in Guatemala was practically impossible. These attempts stalled as the Spanish courts determined that the plaintiffs had not yet exhausted all possibilities of seeking justice through the legal system of Guatemala. On December 23, 2006, Spain called for the extradition of Guatemala of seven former members of Guatemala's government, including Efraín Ríos Montt and Óscar Mejía, on charges of genocide and torture. Spain's highest court ruled that cases of genocide committed abroad could be judged in Spain, even if no Spanish citizens were involved. In addition to the deaths of Spanish citizens, the most serious charges include genocide against the Maya people of Guatemala.

Politics[edit]
On February 12, 2007, Menchú announced that she would form an indigenous political party called Encuentro por Guatemala and that she would stand in the 2007 presidential election. She was the first Maya, Indigenous woman to ever run in a Guatemalan election. Had she been elected, she would have become Latin America's fourth indigenous president after Mexico's Benito Juárez, Peru's Alejandro Toledo and Bolivia's Evo Morales.

In the 2007 election, Menchú was defeated in the first round, receiving three percent of the vote.

In 2009, Menchú became involved in the newly founded party Winaq. Menchú was a candidate for the 2011 presidential election, but lost in the first round, winning three percent of the vote again. Although Menchú was not elected, Winaq succeeded in becoming the first Indigenous political party of Guatemala. Menchú commemorating the Treaty on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2009

International activism[edit]
Menchú has become involved in the indigenous pharmaceutical industry as president of "Salud para Todos" ("Health for All") and the company "Farmacias Similares," with the goal of offering low-cost generic medicines. She has served as president of "Salud para Todos" since 2003 and has opened pharmacies all over Guatemala. As president of this organization, Menchú has received pushback from large pharmaceutical companies due to her desire to shorten the patent life of certain AIDS and cancer drugs and increase their availability and affordability.

In 1996, Menchú was appointed as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in recognition of her activism for the rights of Indigenous people. has used her position as an UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador to attend various lectures and conferences, including giving a lecture on "Human Rights and Social Justice" at UCONN in 2012. In this capacity, she acted as a spokesperson for the first International Decade of the Worlds's Indigenous Peoples (1995-2004), where she worked to improve international collaboration on issues such as environment, education, health care, and human rights for Indigenous peoples.  In 2015, Menchú met with the general director of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, in order to solidify relations between Guatemala and the organization.

In 2006, Menchú was one of the founders of the Nobel Women's Initiative along with sister Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Wangari Maathai, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire. These six women, representing North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, decided to bring together their experiences in a united effort for peace, justice and equality. It is the goal of the Nobel Women's Initiative to help strengthen women's rights around the world.

Menchú is a member of PeaceJam, an organization whose mission is to use Nobel Peace Laureates as mentors and models for young people and provide a way for these Laureates to share their knowledge, passions, and experience. She travels around the world speaking to youth through PeaceJam conferences. She has also been a member of the Foundation Chirac's honor committee since the foundation was launched in 2008 by former French president Jacques Chirac in order to promote world peace.

Menchú has continued her activism in recent years, according to the Prensa Latina, by continuing to raise awareness for issues including political and economic inequality and climate change. '''She continues to be a spokesperson for human rights, including the current violations occurring in Venezuela. (CITE new article)'''

In Menchú's interview with El Comercio in September of 2019, she stated that while there are many human rights violations occurring in Venezuela, she would be hesitant for a foreign power to intervene with the current government.

Awards and honors[edit] ADD LINKS TO WIKI PAGES HERE
The Nobel Peace Prize Medal awarded to Menchú is safeguarded in the Museo del Templo Mayor in Mexico City.


 * 1992 Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy and social justice work for the indigenous peoples of Latin America
 * Menchu became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize at the time, and its first Indigenous recipient.
 * 1996 UNESCO Goodwill Ambassado r position for her advocacy for the indigenous peoples of Guatemala
 * 1996 Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award for her authorship and advocacy for the indigenous peoples of Guatemala
 * 1998 Prince of Asturias Prize for improving the condition of women and the communities they serve. (Jointly with 6 other women.)
 * 1999 asteroid 9481 Menchú was named in her honor (M.P.C. 34354)
 * 2010 Order of the Aztec Eagle for services provided for Mexico
 * 2018 Spendlove Prize for her advocacy for minority groups

Publications[edit]

 * I, Rigoberta Menchú (1983)I, Rigoberta Menchú
 * This book, also titled My Name is Rigoberta Menchú and that's how my Conscience was Born, was dictated by Menchú and transcribed by Elizabeth Burgos
 * Crossing Borders (1998)I, Rigoberta Menchú
 * Daughter of the Maya (1999)I, Rigoberta Menchú
 * The Girl from Chimel (2005)I, Rigoberta Menchú
 * The Honey Jar (2006)
 * K'aslemalil-Vivir. El caminar de Rigoberta Menchú Tum en el Tiempo (2012)

Controversies about her testimony[edit]
More than a decade after the publication of I, Rigoberta Menchú, anthropologist David Stoll investigated Menchú's story and claimed that Menchú changed some elements about her life, family, and village to meet the publicity needs of the guerrilla movement. The controversy caused by Stoll's book received widespread coverage in the US press of the time. In her own critique of Stoll's work, titled The Silencing of Maya Women from Mama Maquin to Rigoberta Menchu, anthropologist Victoria Sanford highlights inaccuracies in Stoll's book, and claims that he used highly questionable sources as research informants.

John Beverly, author of The Margin at the Center: on Testimonio (Testimonial Narrative), describes the genre Testimonio as "documentary fiction" due to the other genres it encompasses, including autobiography, confession, interview, and diary. Much of the conflict surrounding Menchú's testimony, I, Rigoberta Menchú, stems from different interpretations of the Testimonio genre. Menchu herself states "I'd like to stress that it's not only my life, it's also the testimony of my people."

Anthropologist David Johnson defends Menchú's testimony by suggesting that the irregularities in her autobiography are irrelevant because they help to accomplish what he identifies as the original purpose of her testimony: to recount the story of a typical poor Guatemalan. John Feffer, a renowned author and co-director at the Institute for Policy Studies, suggests that Menchú's testimony has remained relevant because of the way in which it describes the life of a Guatemalan during the Guatemalan Civil War.

The Nobel Committee dismissed calls to revoke Menchú's Nobel Prize, rejecting the claims of falsification by Stoll. Geir Lundestad, the secretary of the Committee, said Menchú's prize was awarded because of her advocacy and social justice work, not because of her testimony.