In 1992 the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Rigoberta Menchú Tum from Guatemala, in recognition of her work for social justice and ethno-cultural reconciliation based on respect for the rights of indigenous peoples. Like many other countries in South and Central America, Guatemala has experienced great tension between the descendants of European immigrants and the indigenous population. In the 1970s and 1980s, that tension came to a head in the large-scale repression of indigenous peoples. Menc