Word: guatemala
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Whatever the exact numbers, there is little doubt that the tide of undocumented Hispanic aliens has reached flood stage. Many thousands have come from Central and South American countries like Guatemala, Colombia and Ecuador, but about 90% are Mexican. On foot, by air or in autos, they filter across the 2,000-mile-long southern U.S. border. Last year nearly 1 million illegal entrants were apprehended and deported by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. But, admits Los Angeles Police Officer Antonio Amador, "the only way we're going to stop them is to build a Berlin Wall...
...Deep in Guatemala's Petén rain forest, five men dig into a curious mound in the earth. They suspect that an ancient tomb lies somewhere beneath it, and before long, their hunch is confirmed. Just below the surface, they uncover a huge limestone slab, or stela, inscribed with Mayan symbols. A little deeper they find the tomb, filled with jade and alabaster jewelry, brilliantly colored ceramic platters and other priceless antiquities created by Mayan craftsmen long before Columbus reached the shores of the New World...
When such ancient treasures are discovered in Guatemala and many other Latin American nations, they legally become part of the national heritage and cannot be taken from the country without official sanction. But to the stealthy diggers in the Guatemalan jungle, the law means less than a Mayan glyph. They are members of one of Latin America's oldest and least honorable professions-grave robbers and clandestine treasure hunters...
...about acquiring pre-Columbian art. As a result, several stolen treasures have been quietly returned from the U.S. Among them: a rose-colored panel dominated by the Mayan sun god, taken from a temple in the Mexican state of Campeche, and part of an ancient staircase from Tamarindito in Guatemala...
Some summer students give back to their host countries as much as they gain. Brigham Young University's "Project Guatemala" is more of a mission than a course. For eight weeks, 44 students teach nutrition, agriculture and health care to Guatemalans. Last year engineering students built frame houses to replace dwellings that had been destroyed by the 1976 Guatemala City earthquake. Their reward: six to eight credits...