In loving, living memory, John Melançon 1928 – 2007
Like its dictator-nailing subtitle, “Granito” often feels in its certitude like an inversion of vintage neoconservatism.
GRANITO
How to Nail a Dictator
Opens on Wednesday in Manhattan.
Directed by Pamela Yates; edited by Peter Kinoy; produced by Paco de Onís; released by Skylight Pictures. At the IFC Center, 323 Avenue of the Americas, at Third Street, Greenwich Village. In English and Spanish, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes. This film is not rated.
Why Guatemalans Don’t Pay Taxes
http://www.newmaya.org/team-guate/why-guatemalans-dont-pay-taxes/
Summary:
The government has less revenue per GDP than even Haiti.
The government provides few services (has no money to do so in any case) and is known to be corrupt.
The unenlightened self-interested rich and big business of course just don't want to pay any taxes period.
The fundamental problem is no trust.
"From independence in 1821, an event led by the country's elite, an authoritarian state was created that excluded the majority of Guatemalans; it was racist in theory and practice and served to protect the interests of a small, privileged elite.... State violence has been fundamentally aimed against the excluded, the poor, and the Maya, as well as those who struggled in favor of a just and more equitable society....