Surviving in the Rainforest:
The Realities of Looting in the Rural Villages of El Petén, Guatemala

Rainforest Products and Seasonal Campsites

El Petén has an area of 35,850 square kms. and is the northernmost department of Guatemala. Its topography is formed by savannas, chert formations, low hills and two major mountain ranges: the Montañas Mayas to the east (1000 meters above sea level), and the Sierra del Lacandón to the west (600 meters above sea level). Lakes and lagoons are distributed over all of the territory and have been of major importance for human and wildlife populations since Precolumbian times. Rivers also have been an important source of food and transportation, mainly in the lowlands, where most of them are navigable.

The northern and western parts of El Petén are classified as Humid Subtropical Rainforest. The topography is hilly and its vegetation includes nance trees (Byrsonima crassifolia), allspice (Pimenta dioica), botán (Sabal morrisiana) and chicozapote (Manilkara zapota). On the southern and southeastern parts, the vegetation is classified as Very Humid Subtropical Rainforest and includes the area from Poptún –adjacent to the Belize border– to Sayaxché and La Pasión river, to the west. Common trees and palms in this zone include the ramón tree (Brosynum alicastrum), the corozo (Orbignya cohune), and the ceiba or silk-cotton tree (Ceiba penthandra). Temperatures in all the Petén vary between 19° C to 35° C ( 67° to 91° F).

My base for this study was centered north of Carmelita and Uaxactún, the northernmost settlements in El Petén, just before entering the Maya Biosphere Reserve. These two communities started as chicle gathering camps or campamentos chicleros in the 1890’s and gradually developed into villages with a permanent population, a school, churches, and government authorities under the jurisdiction of the local governments or Municipalidades of San Andrés and Flores, respectively. Their settlement pattern followed the orientation of the airstrips that were constructed around the 1930’s, to facilitate the transportation of chicle and other products, due to the lack of roads in those times. Both Carmelita and Uaxactún are located in the Multiple Use Zone and their population is dedicated mostly to the extraction of non-timber products. However, only Uaxactún’s inhabitants are actually settled in the middle of an archaeological site.

Chicle is the most important product, followed by xate palm which is used as ornamental dried plants, and allspice. Hunting is limited and is mostly for local consumption, since there are several prohibitions related to endangered species. Precious woods, like caoba (mahogany - Swietenia macrophylla) and cedro (cedar - Cedrela mexicana) have been overexploited and illegally traded, causing the reinforcement of protection laws. However, gum or chicle gathering is the legendary activity closely related to the modern history of El Petén by which the locals identify their socio-cultural background. Effectively, even though Yucatán, México had already been in the business since 1866, El Petén started to export chicle around 1890, so it is not strange to hear all sorts of anecdotes about most of the grandfathers and fathers of the present generation being intrepid chicleros. Dugelby (1995:34) noticed that because of its importance, chicle not only "dominated the political economy of Petén" but also "the imagination of the peteneros from 1890-1970".

Chicle collection is limited to the rainy season, usually from August to February, although weather conditions determine the actual periods of work. Camping depends on the time needed to be spent in the forest. Seasonal campsites are mostly needed by the chicle gatherers, and they can vary from simple shelters of wood and palm to more formal thatched structures. Each campsite includes one or more compounds on a cleared spot next to an aguada (seasonal water source) or a sibal (lagoon surrounded by reed-like vegetation or sibales). Ramón trees (breadnut) also have to be near, since the leaves are used to feed the mules.

In brief, the chiclería (the gathering method) consists in cutting the cortex of the chicozapote trees, from top to bottom, in a herringbone design, which enables the sap or chicle latex to flow down into a special bag tied to the base. The action is called picar and is done with a machete or long, curved steel blade. Each tree is worked once, and left to recover from three to eight years, or until the scars disappear. Each chiclero has to hike through the forest to locate the trees he wants to tap. The picado (making the cuts in the tree) is done with the help of a pair of spikes or espolones tied to the ankles, and with a thick rope or ropo, used for climbing. After cutting and collecting the bags’ contents in a bigger rubber bag or ahulado, the chiclero walks back to the camp carrying up to fifty pounds of sap. Traditionally, Sunday is the day when the chicleros cook the latex in big aluminum or iron pailas (tubs), where the gum is heated until all its liquid is evaporated and it can be easily manipulated and placed in wooden molds while it’s still hot. However, cooking days can vary depending on the quantity each person extracts.

Molds are washed with soapy water to prevent gum from sticking. When cool, the blocks or marquetas are unmolded and stamped with the chiclero’s initials, those of the camp foreman, and the contractor (Figure 4, shown below). Each block has to weigh approximately twenty-five pounds. For every quintal (100 pounds) each chiclero is paid a fixed price; but if they exceed the required weight, the extra ounces are not counted in the payment. Rain helps the latex flow, so the entire industry depends on the season’s rainfall. If the chiclero cannot produce enough gum to pay his expenses, he sustains great losses.

Xate (palm-leaf) cutting, on the other hand, is done year-round, with a peak harvest in April, and less demand from June to September (Dugelby, 1995:30; local xateros pers. com.). Men, women and children who participate equally in the xate business, can engage in other occupations at the same time, and still maintain their own schedule to walk into the jungle. While chicle gathering implies living in the rainforest for several months, xate cutters or xateros can live in a permanent village and make short trips to the forest, camping there if needed. The campsites they use can be shared with chicleros, or they can occupy them when it’s not gum season. The process consists of cutting the upper palms of the plant (stem and associated leaves), not the plant itself. Recovery time is only a few weeks, so the same plant can be used several times. Another advantage is that xate can be grown in gardens. However, due to the large quantities demanded, domestic production would require large plantations.

The rainforest then, continues to be the source of salable materials. An evident difference between the two activities is the availability of the source. Due to deforestation, chicozapote trees are not as abundant as they were 80, 30, or even 10 years ago, according to several eyewitness accounts. ⁷   Old men even remember that one could work all day without moving too far from one tree to another. Today, just locating trees can demand a lot of walking. Xate palms, on the other hand, are easier to find because they regenerate easily and grow close to each other, occupying the lower level of the forest. Xate does not depend on a particular season, although storage has to be done in warehouses with refrigerated rooms.

Common characteristics of both activities are the numerous levels of participation, which include the gatherer or tapper, the buyer or contratista (contractor), and finally the export companies. There are also several levels of contractors, who according to their ability to pay workers vary from simple intermediaries to major business people. In both cases women can also be contractors. Today two of them are renowned contractors in the chicle business, although no women are climbing trees any longer. North of Carmelita, on the way to the archaeological site of El Mirador, some of the main chiclero camps are El Tintal and El Arroyón, the former next to the site of the same name, and the latter next to a stream which makes it a suitable camp to return to each year. Other camps like El Sibalito, Los Pichos, La Florida, La Muerta, and others are not always occupied, but dependent on the seasonal mobility of the groups who depend on the availability of water sources and trees. North of Uaxactún, on the way to Río Azul, are El Corozal, El Manantial, Ixcán Río and others; on the way to Naactún are El Suspiro, El Zacatal, El Cartucho, and La Toronja which were occupied during the season of August 1996. Other major camps that belong to the Uaxactún-Dos Lagunas area are La Vitrola, Ponte Chango, El Centinela, Los Loros, Pitoreal, Los Monifatos, El Hule and others. It is known that there are around 800 or more chiclero camps in all the Petén territory. ⁸ 

The main areas for chicle gathering in El Petén are in the north, the southeast (in the Chiquibul river area), and the west (called the Lacandón). ⁹   White 1st. class gum (chicle de primera) is produced in the north and is in higher demand, while the other two are 2nd. and 3rd. class gums. Although there is some demand, the quality is not very good as it has a pink coloration. The chicleros call going to the southeastern region, chiquibulear, and implies making extra money in the rainy season in order to complete their production of gum. Due to the presence of explosives and mines, chicleros no longer extract in the Lacandón area, which historically had been suitable for hiding guerrilla groups because of the pristine jungle and difficult access. Earning extra money by the people who work in the rainforest can be complemented by hunting and looting.

Endnotes

7. By the 1970’s, 70-80% of El Petén was still covered with tropical rainforest. The population was also low (25,000 in 1964) even though colonization increased it severely since the 1800’s (when there were around 9,000 people). Today, forest cover has decreased dramatically while the population is over 400,000 (Dugelby, 1995:35; Schwartz, 1990:26).

8. Dugelby (1995:201) estimated that around 120 camps were occupied at the beginning of the 1992-1993 season, and that 200 camps were used by groups moving around for different reasons.

9. The places recognized by the chicle industry are Carmelita, Uaxactún, Dos Lagunas, Melchor de Mencos, Yaxhá, and La Libertad.

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