Orden del Quetzal

The Orden del Quetzal is Guatemala’s highest honor bestowed upon individuals, organizations or entities whose civic, scientific, literary, artistic, or humanitarian contributions to the country merit special recognition. Supuestamente.

Peace Corps Guatemala received the Orden del Quetzal in 2005 from the then President Óscar Berger. The national Peace Corps Director at the time, Gaddi H. Vasquez, came to Guatemala to accept the award at a ceremony attended by the U.S. Ambassador John R. Hamilton, President Berger, Guatemalan dignitaries, returned and current Peace Corps Volunteers, and PC staff members. Ambassador Hamilton called it a “red-letter day in the history of U.S.-Guatemalan relations.”

During training we were informed of the high honor and shown the award, which hangs proudly on the wall at the Peace Corps office. Everyone who is or has been a part of Peace Corps Guatemala is very proud of the distinction, but I now wonder if it is really even a distinction at all and whether or not it is something to be proud of.

The other week President Álvaro Colom made an official visit to Cuba to meet with Fidel Castro. Along with publicly apologizing for Guatemala’s involvement in the Bay of Pigs invasion, Colom awarded Castro with the Orden del Quetzal. Due to health reasons, Fidel was unable to meet with Colom, so his brother Raúl accepted the award on his behalf.

The news of awarding of the Orden del Quetzal to Castro was not happily received by many Guatemalans, and a handful of past recipients opted to return theirs. But as I recently learned, Castro was not the first person of questionable character to receive the honor.

After the trip, the national newspaper, Prensa Libre, ran an article recounting other dubious bestowals of the Orden del Quetzal. Ex-dictators Benito Mussolini of Italy, Augusto Pinochet of Chile, Alfredo Stroessner of Paraguay, Jorge Videla of Argentina, and Hugo Banzer of Bolivia all have received the Orden del Quetzal. And the fact that the Guatemalan National Lottery, ex-presidents’ wives, an aquatic park, and the personal secretary of a former vice-president among others are also holders of the Orden del Quetzal makes one question the eminence of the award.

I just hope Cervantes isn’t judging Peace Corps by the company it keeps amongst Orden del Quetzal recipients.