Crossing Borders

The second installment of the life of the Nobel Peace prize-winning activist, Rigoberta Menchú picks up her story where the first volume left off. In 1981, she fled from Guatemala to Mexico City, deeply traumatized by the violence against her family and community. She resolved to dedicate her life to the Indian cause and painstakingly built a solidarity movement with the Indians living as outlaws in Guatemala’s mountains. In 1988 she returned to Guatemala as a representative of the opposition in exile. She was immediately arrested and was released only after an international outcry, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992. The long haul to build effective representation for indigenous peoples has taken Menchú around the world and its telling is a thread throughout this book. Menchú also talks with deep affection about her mother and the traditions of her Mayan background.