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The Railroad All-Stars
Valeria, Vilma and Mercy are prostitutes living in Guatemala. The price for their services is two dollars. All three belong to a group of women who work in the vicinity of “La Linea”, the railway line that cuts straight across Guatemala City and runs to the Pacific Ocean. All of them dream of being treated with respect, and that the violence against them will end.
In order to publicise their plight – that also includes regular police harassment – they decide to found a football team. After weeks of training, they register for a local championship. But they are barred from taking part – simply because they are prostitutes. Their disqualification unleashes some hefty controversy that has a significant effect on their lives.
“We are women and mothers first, prostitutes second”, is the pronouncement at the top of their list of demands. Vilma, Valeria, Mercy and the other women are not inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. They are women and mothers who are struggling to survive in a world full of violence and hypo­crisy; women and mothers who have dreams, just like any other. “Women and Mothers” is therefore the slogan on a banner celebrating these female players from the wrong side of the tracks, as the newly-christened “Stars of La Linea” finally walk out onto the pitch to take part in the decisive game…
by Chema Rodríguez Spain 2005 90’

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