Meet
Our Translator
Laura Asturias
Journalist, Feminist
leasturias@itelgua.com
 Laura
Asturias lives thousands of miles away in Guatemala City. She is
a nationally renowned journalist and irrepressible feminist. She
writes a weekly column for Guatemala's leading newspaper, "Siglo
Veintiuno". She is co-editor of "La Cuerda", the only feminist mass
media publication in Guatemala, and the sole editor of "Tertulia",
a dynamite feminist e-zine which is the only extensive news service
on women distributed weekly from Central America. Laura is also
mom to two teenage children, and somehow runs a successful worldwide
translation business on the side.
Just a decade ago, it's
doubtful we would have ever met Laura. But one day three years ago,
in what still seemed like a local electronic conversation about
the Teresa Macías case, Laura jumped into the discussion asking
questions as if she were seated across the table.
Today, in what still
hasn't lost the touch of simply amazing, Laura has become a friend,
a colleague and an integral part of the Women's Justice Center community,
and we a part of hers. We regularly turn to Laura for speedy, impeccable
translations, and Laura often incorporates our work into her e-zine.
But it's the easy back and forth of email chat that sparks the comradery
that is most invaluable of all.
According
to Laura, the boom in Internet use among Latin American women came
after the 1995 UN-sponsored Beijing Women's Conference. In the Guatemalan
capital women have access in offices, at Internet Cafes, and at
computer stores. But, says Laura, for the vast number of women living
in rural areas, access remains virtually non-existent, solidifying
a continued isolation that is compounded by an illiteracy rate among
women which in some remote towns is as high as 95%, by 24 different
spoken languages, and a lack of respect for indigenous values and
culture in general.
Laura has an abiding
optimism that given good information and appropriate resources,
people learn and are willing to improve their lives. But it's an
optimism she says is tempered by the hard realities of the religious
far right installed at all levels of the Guatemalan government.
The current president of the Guatemalan Congress, for example, is
Efraín Ríos Montt, fanatical evangelical preacher and former dictator
responsible for the horrendous genocide during his de facto reign
in the early eighties.
Has the Guatemalan government
attempted to limit access to the Internet? "Not yet," says Laura
with characteristic verve, "But give them time!"
To
subscribe to the free Spanish-language e-zines "La Cuerda"
or "Tertulia" or, to obtain speedy, professional translations
of your texts at the rate of $5 per 100 words simply write Laura
at:
leasturias@itelgua.com
*Tertulia*
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