Nuevo Horizonte is a community of former Rebel Armed Forces (FAR) combatants, who organized as a cooperative in 1998, after the signing of the peace accord. Those who founded the community and the cooperative created the Nuevo Horizonte Museum because they wanted to share the history of their struggle with future generations and the general public. The first initiative came about in 2015 at a meeting where the founders shared memories, photos and objects in a classroom at the popular education school. However, this exhibition was somewhat damaged by the weather, which led a group of youths to try to improve the conditions. This was made possible thanks to support from Canada (through AMICOS) and the museum expertise of the artist and archivist Marlon García. Both undertook the task of constructing a building and designing themed rooms for the exhibition. In seeking the origins of the “Horizonte” identity, they identified and studied stages of geological history, ancient Maya history, the periods of the country’s political history that led to the IAC and up to the post-war period. The main room is dedicated to the cooperative founders’ important struggles during the IAC and in post-conflict civilian life.
“We set up the museum so that our founders’ struggle, history, and processes are not forgotten and can serve as a lesson, a learning experience for ourselves and our children, as well as for children and young people from outside the community,” said Adelaida Ramírez Girón.
A group of youths underwent five years of training that enabled them to set up the museum, which opened two years ago. The content was created through intergenerational and participatory processes with the founders sharing their stories, despite the pain that remembering the war caused them. “All the content was approved in assemblies with the community’s founders.”
The best example of the cooperative’s dedication, commitment and perseverance is the tour of the “Forest of Life,” which covers 116 hectares, with several trails to follow, as well as camping facilities. This is a guided tour during which they share stories of their experiences as guerrillas, like how their knowledge about different plants’ benefits made survival in the jungle possible. Nature was therefore a key ally in protecting them from the army’s ferocious attacks in those years. “The jungle saved our lives, so now we have to save the jungle.”
The Nuevo Horizonte Community is located at km 443 on the road to Flores. They offer lodging, a restaurant and guided visits to the museum, the jungle, the lagoon and several of their projects.
Contact Information: +502 4476 5347 / turismo8comunitariocnh1998@gmail.com
Facebook: Museo Nuevo Horizonte.
Website: https://www.cooperativa-nuevohorizonte.org/
Museum hours: 8 to 16h; Admission Q35.