The Idea of an Essay, Volume 2

113 land that indigenous families had passed down for generations. Without this land, the Mayan people had no choice but to re-locate to areas without jobs. They continue to suffer from this displacement, which occurred during the war, so the United States must provide permanent housing and other forms of humanitarian aid for these people. Although the Mayan indigenous people of Guatemala were poor before the war, they suffer increased poverty because of displacement during the civil war. In 1987, in the middle of the war, the percent of population living on $2 per day or less was highest in recorded history at over 70 percent of the total population (“Data: Guatemala”). This percent of severely impoverished people in Guatemala has slowly decreased since the end of the war but continues to be one of the highest in the world. Per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product), signifying the average standard of living in the country, increased during the civil war; “however, Guatemalan economic growth did not increase the income of the poor” (Booth 139). Although the country got richer, the poor stayed poor. The distribution of wealth in Guatemala meant that the richest people in Guatemala gained wealth without sharing any of it with the poorest people groups. Records show that “between 1970 and 1984 income distribution concentrated increasingly in the hands of the wealthiest fifth of the people,” still the Mayans did not benefit because “the income share of Guatemala’s poorest fifth shrank” in that same amount of time (Booth 139). The indigenous people were extremely poor before the beginning of the war, and this level of poverty has only worsened. The increased wealth of the country of Guatemala as a whole has not improved the lives of the poor, indigenous people. Although the country grows richer, the people who suffered during the war do not see any of this wealth; therefore, their lives continue to be difficult in post-war Guatemala. The Mayan people are in need of economic help after the war. America helped create a war, which left thousands of people in need of economic assistance. Because the United States is partially responsible for the economic hardships faced by the Mayan people, the U.S. should provide aid. The indigenous people of Guatemala continue to have poor education, resulting from the displacement and poverty caused by the war. The Mayan indigenous people continue to be the poorest people group in Guatemala today. In 1995 as well as in 2008, the