Tecpán's Central Park, 2001
Fischer and Hendrickson, Tecpán Guatemala
CHAPTER 1: TECPÁN
Tecpán's Central Park, 2001
The rapid pace of change in Tecpán never ceases to amaze. As we relate in the text, 2001saw the opening of two large shopping centers (one of which, the Plaza Tecpán, is seen at the right side of the above photo), a number of video rental shops, and an internet cafe. By 2002, the Pollolandia fast food chicken place that had opened in the Plaza Tecpán was gone, and most of the store fronts remained vacant; the competing shopping center down the street is found in similar circumstances. In addition in 2002 the carnation plantation on the outskirts of town, and a major employer, closed, hurt in part by post-September 11th security measures, delays, and costs.
On June 10th, 2002 thousands of people from Tecpán and surrounding villages and hamlets staged a massive demonstration against a tax the municipality was planning to levy. At some point the protest turned violent. Both organizers and police agree that the rock throwing was started by some young gang members who had infiltrated the march. In the end, windows were broken in the town hall, at some business, the mayors truck was turned over and lit on fire and the mayor and the police fled town for their lives. As of late July, the mayor has yet to return to town, and soldiers from the local military base are patrolling town.
Take a QuickTime video tour of Tecpán
(from the highway turn-off through downtown):
Take a QuickTime video tour of the big Thursday market:
