Men with Guns Page #2

It's like nobody here speaks Spanish.

Who's that? Who's out there?

Seora, is this Rio Seco?

Of course it is. Are you blind?

I've never been here before.

Nobody wants to talk to me.

We're just poor sugar people here.

Almost nobody comes here.

Who are you?

- I'm Dr. Fuentes.

- That's good, a doctor.

We need a doctor,

because the one we had died.

Died?

How?

- They killed him.

- Who killed him?

Those men. The men with guns.

You saw this?

- I'm blind, can't you see that?

- I'm sorry.

But I know everything

that happens here.

They made everyone witness,

even me.

The doctor and three others,

out there.

Somebody shot them?

No. They burned them with gasoline.

I smelled it.

First the gasoline, then the fire,

and then the men.

They cooked them all.

Why?

Because they had guns and we didn't.

But why Cienfuegos? Why the doctor?

- They didn't like him.

- But why?

"Why, why, why?"

You talk like a parrot.

Are you the only one

who speaks Spanish?

- Then why won't anyone talk to me?

- They don't know you.

But you're talking to me.

It doesn't matter if I die.

They've killed all my children.

- Who killed them?

- The men with guns.

But who are these men?

Are they white or Indian?

When an Indian puts on a uniform,

he becomes white.

You'd better go now, doctor.

What's wrong?

The people here don't know you.

I taught your doctor.

His name was Cienfuegos.

He was a good student.

Cienfuegos wasn't a good doctor.

- Why do you say that?

- So many of his patients are dead.

My camera!

Damn it!

Thousands of them. Tore their hearts

out and threw them in the well.

Must have had a labor surplus.

Hello! We meet again!

The accounts say there was a stream

of blood running down the pyramid.

In Mexico.

Pardon?

Not here. In Mexico. The Aztecs.

But it says here...

Not our people.

It was other tribes

attacking from the north.

Honey, he said it was

foreigners invading from the north.

That's not what it says in the book.

- I found this in the lobby.

- Read it.

It's written in italics.

You read it poetically.

There is a place where the air

Is like a caress

Where gentle waters flow

A place where your burdens

Are lifted from your shoulders

On wings of peace

They can't be talking about this place.

This is near Bali.

A place to forget

A place to grow

A place where each day is a gift

And each person is reborn

Where is this paradise on earth?

This heaven, this safe harbor?

They murdered Cienfuegos.

Who told you that?

I heard a rumor in the capital,

so I went to the village.

He wasn't there.

The guerrillas kidnapped him.

They told me

he was burned to death.

What is your name, sir?

Dr. Fuentes. Humberto Fuentes.

Dr. Humberto Fuentes.

I'll send somebody to investigate.

We have to stop these rumors.

That won't change anything.

If the guerrillas kidnapped him,

killed him, then...

Then you'll be returning to the capital?

I'd like to keep on, visit another

student of mine in Tierra Quemada.

I wouldn't advise you to go there.

Why not?

There have been some incidents

with guerrillas up there.

And then there are deserters,

bandits and the Indians...

Well, they're Indians, right?

They won't talk to anybody.

A white face comes along, and...

I'm sure my student is there.

If you want to, go ahead,

but I can't guarantee your safety.

Could I see your identification?

I need to make sure you're a doctor,

not a journalist.

We've had problems with journalists

up there.

They go up to take pictures,

then they disappear.

And I get blamed for it.

I won't take any pictures.

They stole my camera.

Your identification, please.

Hey, old man!

Are you lost?!

Excuse me, seora...

...do you know

where Dr. Arenas is?

The doctor here.

Do you know him, seora?

Dr. Arenas.

Nobody knows

where Dr. Arenas is?

Dr. Arenas. Don't you know him?

Seoras, don't you know if he's here?

She isn't sick.

This is malnutrition and thirst.

Food.

What do you feed her?

She's too big

for breast-feeding.

She needs solid food, like corn.

You understand?

There's no corn. Only coffee.

- What do you eat?

- Nothing.

I don't have food, only medicine.

Your daughter needs food.

Vegetables, fruit, rice.

These are coffee people.

They pick coffee to buy food.

Okay, so buy food.

They say the coffee price is bad.

So the pay is too low to buy food.

This village is f***ed.

Where is the doctor?

- The other doctor, Dr. Arenas?

- He's gone.

Gone where?

They took him.

- Who took him?

- The army.

- Where to?

- To the school.

- Is he still there?

- They said they were taking him there.

Where is the school?

Look, we're here.

- Here?

- No, here.

- Really?

- Yes. Where's the school?

Is there a road that leads there?

I'll show you for 2 reals.

Fine.

Tell your mother you're

coming with me.

- I don't have a mother.

- Then your father.

I don't have one.

He doesn't have anyone.

What's wrong?

I'm hungry.

I'm as f***ed as the rest of them.

That woman needed food.

That's who I should be feeding.

She didn't have anything to sell.

- Here.

- What?

Stop here.

The school is here?

No, but it's where the doctor is.

Show me.

My 2 reals first.

These are people.

- Human beings.

- Not anymore.

What are they doing here?

This is where they take you

when you graduate.

Why were they killed?

Because the army was mad at them.

They didn't even bury them.

To make an example.

Example of what?

That it's a bad idea to get the army

mad at you.

Why did they kill Dr. Arenas?

- He was a doctor.

- I know that, but why kill him?

Because he was a doctor.

- Was he a good doctor?

- Yes. He fixed my broken wrist.

- Did the village people like him?

- No.

- Why not?

- He wasn't one of them.

People should know about this.

Everybody knows.

The army brought us to see

what could happen to us.

I didn't know anything about it.

Because you're a stranger.

I'll take you back.

You're going home?

I don't know.

I may go to Caras Sucias.

You'll get lost.

I know how to find it.

You can't come with me.

- Where will you sleep?

- In a hotel.

- There aren't any hotels out here.

- And in your village.

They might kill you.

Who?

The men who are hiding.

When you came there was a signal...

...and all the men went into hiding.

Now they know you're alone,

so they might kill you.

I haven't done anything to them.

So what? You're a stranger.

I know where we can sleep.

This was the school.

But after the teacher disappeared...

...the army brought people here

to ask all the questions.

They'd scare people by saying,

"We'll take you to school."

If you survived, people said you

were educated.

If you didn't, they said you

had graduated.

How do you know all this?

They brought me here with three girls.

The girls washed their clothes...

...cooked for them

and did it with them.

And I did all the other work.

Were they prostitutes?

The soldiers called them whores,

but they didn't pay them.

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