The Quetzaltenango Intercultural Park, which has been in operation since 2004, holds a railway museum, a library, a sports park, conference facilities, venues for cultural events, and much more. At the beginning of this year, one of the basements was opened to the public as a Museum of Memory.
The Park is located in the old Altos railway station, which in 1945 was converted into the Manuel Lisandro Barillas Military Brigade, or Military Zone 17-15, and was used as a center for detention, torture and disappearance, such as in the cases of Emma Molina Theissen, Emeterio Toj and Efraín Bamacá.1 Artist in residence Bryan Castro, along with a group of forensic science students, is dedicated to reviewing and preserving the site and its findings. They have found pieces of clothing, papers, bullets of different calibers, bones, an identity card, etc. – in short, evidence that speaks of the horrors experienced in this place. Likewise, in aQuetzaltenango Intercultural Parkn area identified as a dungeon, there are installations on the wall and ceiling that appear to have been torture devices.2 “The Museum seeks to raise awareness, provide an experience and promote understanding of past human rights violations, fostering an intergenerational dialogue in the space.”3
Location: 4ta calle between 19 and 21 avenida, Zone 3, Quetzaltenango.
Contact Information: 5874 8494 / centrointerculturalquetgo@gmail.com
Website: https://www.parqueintercultural.com/
Hours: Monday to Friday, 8 to 16h; Saturday, 8 to 12h
1Parque Intercultural Quetzaltenango, Museo de la Memoria, website, accessed November 27, 2024.
2Interview with Berenice Citá, Director of the Intercultural Centre, November 15, 2024.
3Parque Intercultural Quetzaltenango, Op. Cit.