2011-07. Farewell to the Legendary Alfonso Bauer Paiz: Until Always Don Ponchito!
July 12th, 2011.
The legendary Guatemalan lawyer and political activist, Alfonso Bauer Paiz, passed away at the age of 93 due to heart failure on Sunday, July 10th, 2011. Revered as an exemplary citizen and the last of an outstanding generation, Bauer Paiz held several official posts during the revolutionary governments of the so-called Guatemalan Spring between 1944 and 1954. Exiled for many years after the U.S.-led coup d’état in 1954 turned the country into a violent downward spiral that led to an eventual genocide, Bauer Paiz participated in the Latin American revolutionary processes in Chile, Cuba, Nicaragua, and eventually aided Guatemalan refugees in Mexico. Before his burial, the man lovingly known as “Don Ponchito” was paraded for one last time along the streets of Guatemala’s historic center.Photograph of Alfonso Bauer Paiz during the March for Remembrance on June 30th, 2009.
Prior to the burial ceremony, an event in honor of Don Ponchito was held at the Paraninfo Cultural Center in Zone 1.
Don Ponchito’s widow, Miriam del Rosario Colón Arriaga de Bauer Paiz.
Miguel Ángel Albizures writes: “Another one of the great defenders of the rights of the people, the unbreakable Alfonso Bauer Paiz, he who defeated henchmen and served humbly the people of Guatemala, Chile, Cuba, Nicaragua, and particularly those who fled certain death in Guatemala by seeking refuge in Mexico.” (1)
Renowned Guatemalan writer and poet Carolina Escobar Sartí, niece of Alfonso Bauer Paiz.
Don Ponchito’s widow, Miriam del Rosario Colón Arriaga de Bauer Paiz.
“Attorney Bauer Paiz, I am in love with you!” Last words by Miriam del Rosario Colón Arriaga de Bauer Paiz to Don Ponchito’s coffin.
Images of Alfonso Bauer Paiz taken by MiMundo.org over the years:
Alfonso Bauer Paiz and Raúl Nájera of H.I.J.O.S. during an event commemorating National Day of the Detained-Disappeared. June 21, 2007.
Alfonso Bauer Paiz before the March for Remembrance. June 30th, 2007.
Alfonso Bauer Paiz during the March for Remembrance. June 30th, 2007.
Alfonso Bauer Paiz during the March for Remembrance. June 30th, 2007.
Alfonso Bauer Paiz speaks to the crowds after the March for Remembrance on June 30th, 2009. Event that coincided with the tenth anniversary of H.I.J.O.S., Bauer Paiz exhorted those in attendance: “Youth of today, the future is in your hands!”
Short reportage about Alfonso Bauer Paíz published in 2009 on TeleSur. Produced by Caracol Producciones, 3 minutes (Spanish only).
First segment of the 95 minute documentary Testimonio documenting the life of Alfonso Bauer Paiz. Produced and directed by Uli Stelzner, 2003 (in Spanish with English subtitles).
To watch the rest of the documentary’s segments in YouTube, click here.
Versión en español aquí.
1 http://www.elperiodico.com.gt/es/20110712/opinion/198009/