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Photo: Leia Onofrey
“I handed over almost everything I earned… the person came again to ask for more money. I told him ‘No. I already paid.’ He pulled out a gun… we fought hard and from that moment on I left [Guatemala].”
Pantaleón Tono Tono
Pantaleón is a welder at a commercial fishing company in Fairhaven, MA. In this excerpt, he describes growing up in poverty in Aguilix Chujuyub, Santa Cruz del Quiché, Guatemala, experiencing extortion from the Zetas, making the long and arduous journey across the border to Mexico and then to the United States in search of a better life, and being detained by I.C.E. He describes the challenges of learning English, working in a restaurant in Connecticut, and then moving to Massachusetts where he learned to paint boats and weld. He describes the tools he uses to weld, the dangers of welding, and his dream of starting his own welding company.
This interview was originally conducted in Spanish.
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Background Information:
Like many Guatemalan Mayans, Pantaleón fled his home country to escape extortion and violence perpetrated by the Zetas, one of Mexico’s most brutal drug cartels. To reach the United States, Central Americans must travel over land through vast deserts. Most hire a guide known as a coyote and they may pay in excess of $5000 for this service which is no guarantee of safe passage. At the border, they may be apprehended and detained. If they make it to the United States, without legal status, they are often subjected to exploitation.
