The Guatemalan delegation threatened to remove the consultative status of the International Indian Treaty Council. It was a very aggressive reaction. They probably thought that if they could kill twenty indigenous people in El Quiche, they could shoot a few at the United Nations with the same arrogance. Their principal international ally was the US, which had been annoyed by the presence at the UN of Navajos, Hopis, Lakotas and Yaquis. It was sad to see these governments closing ranks to defend their repressive colleagues.

—Crossing Borders by Rigoberta Menchu, Mayan recipient of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize