This busy story also eventually involves a pair of Guatemalan refugees, Estevan and Esperanza.

"In public school, I think I would have dropped out, ended up selling drugs," said Miguel, 18, the son of a Guatemalan political refugee.

In the mid-1980s, about 25,000 Guatemalan refugees had fled into the state to escape civil war there .

"For the first time, Salvadoran and Guatemalan refugees will have a meaningful opportunity to secure political asylum under United States law."

In the 1980s, many Guatemalan refugees fled across the river to relative safety in Mexico.

Few of the estimated 100,000 Guatemalan refugees from past repression have returned, even though the new peace treaty calls for the return of refugees and exiles.

It took a lawsuit and settlement to finally end our Government's discrimination against Salvadoran and Guatemalan refugees.

Guatemalan refugees became an important political and economic influence on seeking an end to the civil war, which finally came about in 1996.

He has also worked with aboriginal groups in Guatemala, and with Guatemalan refugees in Mexico.

In 1986, coordinating agencies began to employ Guatemalan refugees in the excavation, restoration and maintenance at Edzná.