Chajul

{{Infobox settlement |official_name = Chajul |other_name = San Gaspar Chajul |native_name = |nickname = |settlement_type = Municipality |motto = |image_skyline = Guatemala Chajul 1950s.jpg |imagesize = |image_caption = Church in Chajul in the 1950s |image_flag = |flag_size = |image_seal = |seal_size = |image_shield = |shield_size = |image_blank_emblem = |blank_emblem_type = |blank_emblem_size = |mapsize1 = |map_caption1 = |image_dot_map = |pushpin_map = Guatemala |pushpin_label_position =bottom |pushpin_map_caption =Location in Guatemala |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = [[Image:Flag of Guatemala.svg|25px]] [[Guatemala]] |subdivision_type1 = [[Departments of Guatemala|Department]] |subdivision_name1 = [[Image:Flag of Quiché Department.svg|25px]] [[Quiché Department|El Quiché]] |subdivision_type2 = [[Municipalities of Guatemala|Municipality]] |subdivision_name2 = Chajul |subdivision_type3 = |subdivision_name3 = |subdivision_type4 = |subdivision_name4 =  |government_footnotes = |government_type = [[Municipal]] |leader_title = Mayor |leader_name = |leader_title1 = |leader_name1 = |leader_title2 = |leader_name2 = |leader_title3 = |leader_name3 = |leader_title4 = |leader_name4 = |established_title =  |established_date = |established_title2 =  |established_date2 = |established_title3 =  |established_date3 = |area_magnitude = |unit_pref = Imperial  |area_footnotes = |area_total_km2 = 716 |area_land_km2 =  |area_water_km2 = |area_total_sq_mi = |area_land_sq_mi = |area_water_sq_mi = |area_water_percent = |area_urban_km2 = |area_urban_sq_mi = |area_metro_km2 = |area_metro_sq_mi = |area_blank1_title = |area_blank1_km2 = |area_blank1_sq_mi =  |population_as_of = Census 2018 |population_footnotes = <ref>[https://www.citypopulation.de/en/guatemala/admin/ Citypopulation.de] Population of departments and municipalities in Guatemala</ref> |population_note = |population_total = 46658 |population_density_km2 = auto |population_density_sq_mi = |population_urban = 24247 |population_urban_footnotes = <ref>[https://www.citypopulation.de/en/guatemala/cities/ Citypopulation.de] Population of cities & towns in Guatemala</ref> |population_density_urban_km2 = |population_density_urban_sq_mi = |population_blank1_title =Ethnicities |population_blank1 = [[Ixil people|Ixil]], [[K'iche' people]], [[Ladino people|Ladino]] |population_blank2_title =Religions |population_blank2 =[[Roman Catholicism]], [[Evangelicalism]], [[Maya religion|Maya]] |population_density_blank1_km2 = |population_density_blank1_sq_mi =  |timezone = |utc_offset = |timezone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = |coordinates = {{coord|15|29|14|N|91|02|05|W|region:GT|display=inline,title}} |elevation_footnotes =  |elevation_m = |elevation_ft = |elevation_max_m = |elevation_min_m =  |postal_code_type =  |postal_code = |area_code = |blank_name = [[Köppen climate classification|Climate]] |blank_info = [[Oceanic climate|Cfb]] |blank1_name = |blank1_info = |website = |footnotes = }}

'''Chajul''' ({{IPA|es|tʃaˈxul}}; full name '''San Gaspar Chajul''') is a town and [[Municipalities of Guatemala|municipality]] in the [[Guatemala]]n [[Departments of Guatemala|department]] of [[Quiché Department|El Quiché]]. Chajul is part of the [[Ixil Community]], along with [[San Juan Cotzal]] and [[Santa María Nebaj]]. The Ixil region is isolated by beautiful mountains and has maintained its rich Ixil [[Maya peoples|Maya]] traditions and language. Chajul, Nebaj, and Cotzal make up the Ixil Region in the Department of Quiché in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Having been at the heart of the 36-year civil war, Chajul experiences post-war challenges such as emotional trauma, land displacement, and fragmented families.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}} Additionally, unemployment is high, large families live in one-room adobe houses with open cooking fires, opportunities for women are scarce, and family- and gender-based violence are common.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}} The community has a corn-based agricultural economy in which adults struggle daily to feed their families and the average income is $1–3 per day.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}} A 2002 study revealed that less than 1% of children graduate from high school (5% from middle school) as they are forced to leave school at a young age to help support the family household, leaving 75% of the adult population illiterate.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}} Chajul further suffers from common preventable health concerns, such as respiratory illness, intestinal disease, tuberculosis, malnutrition, and death during childbirth. Eighty percent of the Chajul population lives in poverty.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}}

== History == [[File:Weekly market at Chajul.jpg|thumb|Weekly market at Chajul. Maya villagers from surrounding areas come here to stock up on essentials]]

=== Franja Transversal del Norte === {{Main|Franja Transversal del Norte}}

{{Location map | Guatemala |AlternativeMap=Franja transversal guate relief.jpg | width = 250 | float = left | caption = Location of Chajul in [[Franja Transversal del Norte]] | label = Chajul | label_size = 80 | position = bottom | background = white | mark = Orange_pog.svg | marksize = 9  }}

The Northern Transversal Strip was officially created during the government of General Carlos Arana Osorio in 1970, by Legislative Decree 60-70, for agricultural development.<ref name=wikiguate>{{cite web|url=http://wikiguate.com.gt/wiki/Franja_Transversal_del_Norte|website=Wikiguate|title=Franja Transversal del Norte|access-date=30 October 2014|location=Guatemala|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704175847/http://wikiguate.com.gt/wiki/Franja_Transversal_del_Norte|archive-date=4 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> The decree literally said: "It is of public interest and national emergency, the establishment of Agrarian Development Zones in the area included within the municipalities: San Ana Huista, San Antonio Huista, [[Nentón]], Jacaltenango, [[San Mateo Ixtatán]], and Santa Cruz Barillas in [[Huehuetenango (department)|Huehuetenango]]; Chajul and San Miguel Uspantán in Quiché; Cobán, [[Chisec]], [[San Pedro Carchá]], [[Lanquín]], [[Senahú]], [[Cahabón]] and Chahal, in Alta Verapaz and the entire department of Izabal."{{sfn|Solano|2012|p=15}}

=== Guerrilla Army of the Poor === {{Main|Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres}}

On January 19, 1972, members of a new Guatemalan guerrilla movement entered Ixcán, from Mexico, and were accepted by many farmers; in 1973, after an exploratory foray into the municipal seat of Cotzal, the insurgent group decided to set up camp underground in the mountains of Xolchiché, municipality of Chajul.<ref name=ceh59/>

In 1974 the insurgent guerrilla group held its first conference, where it defined its strategy of action for the coming months and called itself Guerrilla Army of the Poor (-Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres -EGP-). In 1975 the organization had spread around the area of the mountains of northern municipalities of Nebaj and Chajul. As part of its strategy EGP decided to perpetrate notorious acts which also symbolized the establishment of a "social justice" against the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the judicial and administrative State institutions. They also wanted that with these actions the indigenous rural population of the region identified with the insurgency, thus motivating them to join their ranks. As part of this plan it was agreed to do the so-called "executions"; in order to determine who would be subject to "execution", the EGP gathered complaints received from local communities. For example, they selected two victims: Guillermo Monzón, who was a military Commissioner in Ixcán and José Luis Arenas, the largest landowner in the area, and who had been reported to the EGP for allegedly having land conflicts with neighboring settlements and abusing their workers.<ref name=ceh59>{{cite journal|author=Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico: Caso No. 59 |title=Caso ilustrativo No. 59 |journal=Guatemala: Memoria del Silencio |publisher=Programa de Ciencia y Derechos Humanos, Asociación Americana del Avance de la Ciencia |year=1999 |url=http://shr.aaas.org/guatemala/ceh/mds/spanish/anexo1/vol2/no59.html |access-date=20 September 2014 |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220235551/http://shr.aaas.org/guatemala/ceh/mds/spanish/anexo1/vol2/no59.html |archive-date=February 20, 2012 }}</ref> Arenas, who at that time a journalist had nicknamed as the "Ixcán Tiger" had been active in Guatemalan politics and during Carlos Arana Osorio presidency (1970–1974) was in charge of the Promotion and Development of Petén agency (FYDEP); later, he left politics for agriculture in his coffee and cardamom plantations in the Ixcán and the Ixil area, in [[Quiché (department)|Quiché]].<ref name=ceh59/>

On Saturday, 7 June 1975, José Luis Arenas was murdered when he was in the premises of his farm "La Perla" to pay his workers. In front of his office there were approximately two to three hundred people to receive their payment and four EGP members hidden among the farmers. After the business at hand was over, guerrilla members destroyed the communication radio of the farm and executed Arenas. Following Arenas murder, the guerrilla members spoke in Ixil language to the farmers, informing them that they were members of the Guerrilla Army of the Poor and had killed the "Ixcán Tiger" due to his alleged multiple crimes against community members. Then the attackers fled towards Chajul.<ref name=ceh59/>

José Luis Arenas' son, who was in San Luis Ixcán at the time, took refuge in a nearby mountain, waiting for a plane to arrive to take him to [[Guatemala City]], in order to immediately report the matter to Minister of Defense, general [[Fernando Romeo Lucas García]] (who later was president from 1978 to 1982). General Romeo Lucas replied, "You are mistaken, there are no guerrillas in the area".<ref name=ceh59/>

==Climate==

Chajul has an [[oceanic climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]]: ''Cfb'').

{{Weather box |location = Chajul |metric first = yes |single line = yes |Jan mean C = 14.6 |Feb mean C = 15.1 |Mar mean C = 16.6 |Apr mean C = 17.4 |May mean C = 17.5 |Jun mean C = 17.5 |Jul mean C = 16.7 |Aug mean C = 16.7 |Sep mean C = 16.8 |Oct mean C = 16.1 |Nov mean C = 15.7 |Dec mean C = 15.2 |year mean C = |Jan high C = 20.6 |Feb high C = 21.6 |Mar high C = 23.4 |Apr high C = 24.0 |May high C = 23.4 |Jun high C = 22.5 |Jul high C = 21.8 |Aug high C = 22.2 |Sep high C = 22.1 |Oct high C = 21.1 |Nov high C = 21.3 |Dec high C = 21.0 |year high C = |Jan low C = 8.7 |Feb low C = 8.7 |Mar low C = 9.9 |Apr low C = 10.8 |May low C = 11.6 |Jun low C = 12.5 |Jul low C = 11.7 |Aug low C = 11.2 |Sep low C = 11.6 |Oct low C = 11.2 |Nov low C = 10.1 |Dec low C = 9.5 |year low C = |Jan precipitation mm = 65 |Feb precipitation mm = 42 |Mar precipitation mm = 50 |Apr precipitation mm = 66 |May precipitation mm = 128 |Jun precipitation mm = 306 |Jul precipitation mm = 265 |Aug precipitation mm = 230 |Sep precipitation mm = 251 |Oct precipitation mm = 224 |Nov precipitation mm = 127 |Dec precipitation mm = 64 |year precipitation mm = |source 1 = Climate-Data.org<ref name="Climate-Data.org"> {{cite web|url=http://en.climate-data.org/location/54071/ |title = Climate: Chajul |access-date= 20 August 2015 |website= Climate-Data.org}}</ref> }}

== Geographic location ==

Chajul is surrounded by [[El Quiché Department]] municipalities:

{{Geographic location | Center= Chajul | North= [[Ixcán]] | East = [[Uspantán]]<ref name=segeplan>{{cite web|author=SEGEPLAN|title=Municipios de Quiché, Guatemala|url=http://www.segeplan.gob.gt/2.0/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&task=category&id=2:alta-verapaz&Itemid=333|location=Guatemala|website=Secretaría General de Planificación y Programación de la Presidencia de la República|access-date=30 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702175532/http://www.segeplan.gob.gt/2.0/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&task=category&id=15%3Aquiche|archive-date=2 July 2015|language=es|url-status=dead}}</ref> | South = [[San Juan Cotzal]]<ref name=segeplan/> | West = [[Santa Maria Nebaj|Nebaj]] }}

==See also == * {{Portal-inline|Guatemala}} * {{Portal-inline|Geography}} * [[El Quiché Department]]

==Notes and references==

===References === {{Reflist}}

===Bibliography=== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book|url=http://www.albedrio.org/htm/documentos/EstudioFranjaTransversalNorteCEDFOG.pdf|last=Solano|first=Luis|title=Contextualización histórica de la Franja Transversal del Norte (FTN)|publisher=Centro de Estudios y Documentación de la Frontera Occidental de Guatemala, CEDFOG|year=2012|access-date=31 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113172058/http://www.albedrio.org/htm/documentos/EstudioFranjaTransversalNorteCEDFOG.pdf|language=Spanish|archive-date=13 November 2014}} {{refend}}

[[Category:Municipalities of the Quiché Department]]