Panabaj

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Panabáj, located on the edge of Lake Atitlán in the western highlands of Guatemala, was a small village (canton or aldea) within the municipality of Santiago Atitlán in the department of Sololá. Most of the 3,000 residents were Tzu'tujil Maya people. Like many indigenous populations around the lake, the residents of Panabaj suffered greatly during the 36-year-long Guatemalan Civil War that ended in 1996. In 1990, 13 unarmed civilians were gunned down while protesting at an army base located in Panabáj. International media attention forced the Guatemalan government to close the base and declare Santiago Atitlán and its environs a "military-free zone."

[edit] Landslide

During the early morning hours of October 5, 2005, the town was destroyed in a landslide triggered by torrential rains associated with Hurricane Stan. A half-mile-wide river of mud poured off the saturated slopes of the volcano that loomed over the village, burying people and buildings as many as 15 to 20 feet deep.

Fewer than 80 bodies were ever recovered, but about 1,000 are missing and presumed dead. About 5,000 people were made homeless. Efforts to recover remains were halted the week after the landslide. At the request of Santiago Atitlán's mayor, Panabáj was declared a mass gravesite which will prevent the return of residents. Relief provision was hampered by a large number of major natural disasters in 2005 in general and in particular by diversion of resources to deal with a severe earthquake in Pakistan that occurred just a few days after the mudslide.

For more information see Pueblo a Pueblo at http://www.puebloapueblo.org

Website for Panabaj Relief Fundacion La Semilla at http://www.fundacionlasemilla.net/english/