"I Was in Lucida"

1. Why does the poet say that she has been to Lidice?
The poet says that she has been to Lidice to tell the readers about the horror and story she experienced and learned as a Guatemalan in exile in Lidice, Czechoslavakia.

2. The poet comments on how strange it is to look through atrocity through windows at museums. How is this emotion unique from actually being involved in atrocity?
She makes the observation of foreign places and the strangeness of modern atrocity. The emotions are unique because she is curious of the assassinations and shows a kind of empathetic connection to the belonging and objects in the museum.

3. Esquivel writes, "And now, my heart in shreds,/ I think of the Super-Nazis/ in the Pentagon/ who have created more than 200 Lidices? in my little Guatemala/ sheltered by the diplomatic marketplace/ of false Western Democracy." What does she mean by this? Why does she reference the Pentagon and "false Western Democracy?" Please expound what you already know and research any questions you might have.
In hopes of appeasing Hitler, the western leaders acquiesced in his demand for the Czechoslovak territory known as the Sudetenland. Hitler disregarded the Munich settlement when he occupied the rump state of Czechoslovakia five months later, on March 15, 1939. The Nazi SS general Reinhard Heydrich was fatally wounded by a Czechoslovak commando team (parachuted from Britain) that had lain in wait for him at a turn in the road outside of Prague. In retaliation, the Nazis executed hundreds of Czech intellectuals and suspected resistance fighters, leveled the Czech town of Lidice, shooting its male inhabitants, deporting the women to a concentration camp, gassing most of the children, and sending a select few to German families for adoption
I believe that she mentions false Western Democracy representing United States and other governments involved that seem to be making things worse for the people.

4. Esquivel speaks to the fact that massacres are not a new concept in Guatemala. Do some research and write about one particular massacre that has occured in Guatemala. Be sure to include location as well as how many people were affected. What was the army's motive?
The Plan de Sánchez massacre took place in the Guatemalan village of Plan de Sanchez in July 1982. Over 250 people (mostly women and children, and almost exclusively ethnic Achi Maya) were abused and murdered by members of the armed forces. It was one of the most violent phases of Guatemala's Civil War, which pitted various groups of left wing insurgents against the government and the armed forces.

-Shannon Wong.