still
Standing
still
Standing
Finding Light Inside a Guatemalan Prison
Anaité Alvarado
Still Standing: Finding Light Inside a Guatemalan Prison
Copyright © 2018 by Anaité Alvarado
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
Cover design by Rain Saukas.
Print ISBN: 978-1-948062-05-3
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-948062-12-1
Printed in the United States of America
The content in this book is based off the author’s memories, records, and personal opinions. Actual events, locales, persons, entities, conversations, and other details may vary. Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals. While best efforts have been used in preparing this book, the author and publisher make no representations or warranties of any kind and assume no liabilities of any kind with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents or the opinions expressed. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be held liable or responsible to any person or entity with respect to any loss or incidental or consequential damages caused, or alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by the content contained herein.
Contents
Chapter 1: A Warrant for My Arrest
Chapter 2: The Beginning of the End
Chapter 6: El Centro de Detención Preventiva para Mujeres Santa Teresa
Chapter 8: It’s My Children’s Birthday . . . and I’m Not There
Chapter 9: Justicia para Anaité
Chapter 11: Life in Encamamiento
Chapter 12: Hearings, Hearings, and More Hearings
Chapter 13: Fasting, Encomiendas, and a Movie Marathon
Chapter 14: One More Day, One Less Day
Chapter 17: Death of the American Dream
My name is Anaité Alvarado and on January 5, 2016, I was arrested, taken away from my two five-year-old children, and sent to preventive detention for sixty-five days, accused of a crime I did not commit, with no evidence to justify my arrest and imprisonment. I hope my account of this harrowing experience will help shed light on the broken prison and justice system in Guatemala—one that, as this book goes to print, I am still dealing with—and that one day soon justice will prevail and absolve every innocent prisoner from the crimes they did not commit. This is my story . . . an ongoing battle with the hope that the truth will set me free.
Chapter 1
A Warrant for My Arrest
The intercom rang at 6:05 a.m., like every other weekday morning. It was the security guard at the first gate of our neighborhood complex, letting us know that my children’s school bus was on its way to my home. And like every other weekday morning, I opened my front door to send them off, only this time I was surprised by three police cars waiting outside. After the bus drove up to my house, I managed to say goodbye to my children and wish them a wonderful day. Then I stood there, watching the bus speed away, as I waited for the officers to approach me.
“Good morning,” said one of the officers. “We have a warrant to search your home.”
I wasn’t scared or surprised. Given the circumstances, my first thought was, Here we go. They are about to turn my home upside down!
Six or seven officers walked into my home, but they did not seem to touch or move anything. I entered my study and compliantly opened the only place in my house where I kept documents under lock and key. And since I tend to suffer from a sort of compulsion to over-organize, all my personal documents were in plain sight, in alphabetical order, and organized by size or color. From the binder clearly labeled “Banks,” they took an old folder that read “Green Millennium Precious Woods,” which contained a document that stated that I had been the first investor to believe in my husband years before. What had once been a proud moment in our lives, would now be used as evidence against me.
The