Guatemalans began fleeing to the United States during the three and a half decade long Civil War (1960-1996), and today, child migration fueled by a desire to escape from violence is still very prevalent. This violence began during the Civil War, when civilians were often attacked and treated as military objectives. In the years after the war, violence has remained prevalent, and acts receive little response from the police. Additionally, the corruption of the government and justice system parallel conditions during the War. Political instability, corruption, and violence have become engrained in Guatemalan society, and as a result, the magnitude of these issues has become clouded. Beginning in the Civil War, individuals responded to dangerous …show more content…
On November 13, 1960, the first revolt against the Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes regime began in Eastern Guatemala, because rebels were angered by his conservatism and dishonesty. Thomas and Marjory Melville, two historians describe this government as “ideologically conservative, blatantly dishonest and constantly erratic. Radicals were especially angered by President Ydígoras’ role in the 1961 CIA Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. The radicals were defeated, but this began the left-wing guerrilla movement and the Civil …show more content…
Beginning in 1966, the military caused radical leaders to disappear as a method of state terrorism. In addition to army violence, guerrillas also used violence to promote their cause. To justify this violence, the Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres (Military Guerrillas of the Poor), a new radical organization, deemed it “popular justice.” The individuals tried were charged and often killed by guerrillas for counterrevolutionary acts committed during the 1960s. This violence continued throughout the 1970s and escalated in 1978, when the existing armed opposition groups began to fight with the military. The government responded to this engagement with persecution and repression directed at discontent. Instead of fining, or sending criminals to jail, law enforcement employed death squads of police officers to deal with many instances of petty crime. Disputes were settled by assassination, rather than arbitration. During this period, radical leaders were killed, leading many to believe that the government was involved, and that death squads were given lists of targets. In addition to police violence, guerrilla violence also increased. These groups burned houses, killed innocent men, women and children, and completely destroyed villages routinely. As the War continued, violence no longer involved only guerrillas and the army; it
Starting a new life is very problematic for many Central American children that migrate to the United States. There are a lot of difficulties involved in the process to migrate to the United States including the journey to get there. An extremely common way to migrate is by train. Migrants usually take away many life lessons from the journey to the United States such as the generosity and assistance from fellow Central Americans. On the other hand there’s extreme hardships. For example, the many robberies, and gang violence a migrant can face on the journey to the United States. During the trip, migrants learn that they usually cannot take things for granted, especially how scarce food, supplies, and other necessities are.
On July 26, 1953, the war for Cuba’s independence began, and for 6 years many Cubans fought for their freedom. The most famous of these revolutionary icons being Fidel Castro, who led the main resistance against the Cuban government. On January 1, 1959, Fidel Castro and the rest of the Cuban's succeeded. This revolutionary war went on to affect the entire world and Eric Selbin believes it is still affecting it. Throughout Eric Selbin's article, Conjugating the Cuban Revolution, he firmly states that the Cuban revolution is important in the past, present, and future. Selbin, however, is wrong.
In January of 1959 , Communist dicator Fidel Castro took over Cuba. The United States in 1961 tried to overthrow Fidel by arming rebels and attempting to support them. This was the failure known as the Bay of Pigs. In October of 1962 , The US finds evidence that medium range nuclear sites had been installed in Cuba. They annonce that on the twenty-third that a quatntine was being Cuba and that any ship carrying offensive weapons to Cuba wasn’t allowed. Five days later , the crisis was averted when the Soviets began to remove the
The story of the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs , located on the southern coast of Cuba about 97 miles southeast of Havana, was one of mismanagement, poor judgment , and stupidity ( " Bay Pigs " 378). The blame for the failed invasion falls directly on the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and a young man by the name of President John F. Kennedy. The whole purpose of the invasion was a communist assault Cuba and Fidel Castro ended . Ironically , thirty nine years after the Bay of Pigs , Fidel Castro remains in power . First, we need to analyze why the invasion happened and then why it did not work .
Frankel, Max. A. “Cuba - A Case of Communist Take-Over.” The New York Times Magazine July 1961: 59-64 Guido, Jessica. “The Invasion and the Failure.” The Invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.
The Civil War in El Salvador lasted from 1980 to 1992, and the El SAlvadoran government was doing their best to minimize the threat of their opposition. Their main opposition, The Frente Farabundo Marti Para La Liberacion Nacional; otherwise known as the FMLN, was a guerrilla group that was organized to fight the corruption in the country. 175). One of the main goals of the organization was to create a new society that is not degrading its citizens and promotes equality. Throughout El Salvador’s history, one organization to the next would run the country through repressive actions and social injustice. One of the main reasons that the FMLN fought the acting government were due to these social restraints on the lower- class citizens in El Salvador.
By the end of the 2000s, while it seemed to many that there was no end in sight to the violence, behind the scenes senior gang leaders in El Salvador admitted to having grown tired of the gang warfare. Many of them, reflecting on the destruction the inter-gang violence had wrought on the communities in which their mothers, wives, children and grandchildren lived, felt compelled to look for a solution.... ... middle of paper ... ... Having grown increasingly frustrated with these rampant displays of impunity by gangs, the Salvadoran public pressured its government to prioritize public security above all else.
Gleijeses Piero. Shattered Hope The Guatemalan Revolution and The United States, 1944-1954. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991.
These documents detailed a series of counterinsurgency sweeps through Guatemalan regions to kill the enemy guerillas and destroy their bases with extreme force. The prosecution proved with evidence that General Rios Montt was guilty of 1,771 indigenous people, forced displacement of 29,000 people, at least nine cases of sexual violence and various cases of torture (Burt 2). The violence was overwhelming when described in court and included powerful testimonies that showed indiscriminate massacres, rape, infanticide, destruction of crops to induce starvation, and abduction of children (Burt 2). The use of defense patrols was also produced as evidence against the General, citing that these where used as methods to undermine local populations and instill fear amongst the citizens of these villages.
The Mayan Genocide was a result of a civil war concerning communism and democracy between corrupt leaders and the people of Guatemala. The Guatemalan army carried out the genocide under the self-proclaimed name “killing machines”. According to the article Genocide in Guatemala “the army destroyed 626 villages, killed or “disappeared” more than 200,000 people and displaced an additional 1.5 million, while more than 150,000 were driven to seek refuge in Mexico”. The army murdered and tortured without regard to age or gender, men, women, and children all alike. In an attempt to end the conflict Peace Accords were signed, in spite of the fact that there was little change. Directly following the Mayan genocides, Guatemala faced physical and emotional
Cuban Dictator was overthrown by Fidel Castor. The main problem was that the United States
The root cause of the conflicts that occurred before, during and after the civil war in El Salvador is the disparity between the rich and the poor. Built upon the backs of the colonial system introduced by the Spaniards during the colonial period, the hacienda system, sustaining unequal distribution of wealth and land, polarized the country. While the Spaniards acquired labor through the economienda system in which the Spanish crown gave a set number of natives to Spanish elites, the elites acquired land through haciendas. Attempting to exploit the production of cash crops and monopolize agriculture, the Spanish elites made haciendas, large landowning estates. (Kraft)
In order to fully understand why the Cuban Revolutionary War occurred, it is important to know what was happening in Cuba before the war, what was influencing Cuban decisions at that time, and what precipitated the revolution where eventually Fidel Castro came into power. In 1933 General Gerardo Machado ruled the tyrannical government in Cuba, but his regime began to disintegrate. Enter a young Cuban Army Officer, Fulgencio Batista who had caught the attention of the Cuban people. Batista began a campaign to take over the rule of Cuba. His effort was successful as he allied with unions and student groups and because the Machado regime had effectively fallen apart. Batista was Cuba’s president in the early 1940’s and ran again for President in 1952. Before the elections could be completed, Batista was afraid he would lose the election, so he seized power without warning and cancelled the elections.
Medina states, “Gang rule is absolute and young people are extremely vulnerable to forced recruitment into the gangs. Adolescents are continually intimidated and subjected to violence, pressurised into joining the gangs or working for them as drug pushers or in other roles” (Medina). This fear dynamic is used in order to promote corruption within the system of migration. The migrants that decide to escape are forced to encounter constant dangers while migrating. Medina states, “Fear of deportation is largely behind the failure to report crimes; in order to get their destination, most migrants will continue on their journey as soon as possible, leaving the experiences behind them, shrouded in silence” (Medina). This silence thrives on the system of corruption which implicates Mexico’s passivity to protect migrants from violence. Overall, this represents enduring the consequences the migrants face and the perseverance to
In 1953, Castro led 165 rebels in an attack on the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba (Charabati 2). The attack failed and Castro spent 15 years in prison, after which he ended up in exile in Mexico (Charabati 3). In Mexico, Castro met a military doctor named Ernesto “Che” Guevera who supported revolution against Cuba’s military dictator Fulgencio Batista (Charabati 3). Castro was introduced to communist and other radical ideals through Guevara and other rebels in the Moncada army barracks raid. He also sought political positions to gain the power and influence to execute his plans. When campaigning for these position...