The Guatemalan Civil war was one of the longest in history, 1960 to 1996, it had a massive effect on Guatemala resulting in 40,00 missing and over 200,000 deaths. The documentary is extremely informative in explaining who was on each side of the war and their goals. The documentary is very informative in helping link this particular civil war to the larger and worldwide Cold War.
The Cold War had a huge impact throughout Latin America. Guatemala like its neighboring Central American nations were seen as strategically important for both the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States supported, armed and trained the government military throughout the war, even though this military dictatorship was strongly against US policies, the fear of the spread of communism was seen as a much larger threat. However US and Soviet interest were not the main reason for the start of this brutal conflict. The main reason, which triggered the start of the civil war, was the students protest against the economic and social discrimination especially towards the indigenous peoples. The majority of the population was Maya or Indigenous yet the majority of the money and land was controlled by Creoles of European descent. The protest was violently ended with student being massacred.
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Any citizen that did not agree with the government was definitely tortured or killed. We also see in the documentary that many of the deaths took place just to create fear among the people. The soldiers killing their own citizens did themselves not know the reason for such horrific crimes but had to commit them as if not they would be killed like everyone else. Death squads were used throughout the war to create terror, which forced thousands of Guatemalans to relocate out their houses into the valleys and even into other
The article, “The Negro’s Civil War in Tennessee, 1861-1865” by Bobby L. Lovett, can be found in "The Journal of Negro History. Lovett's article relates the importance of the contributions the black soldiers of Tennessee made during the Civil War. He portraits to the reader the determination of these black Tennesseans fight to gain their freedom under some extremely violent and racial conditions.
The animated documentary shows various forms of victimization: threats and armed attacks against civilians, forced disappearances, bombings of the village and armed battles, child recruitment by the guerrilla, forced displacement, and the subsequent problems of unemployment, poverty and stigmatization in the cities .
Before reading this, I, like I am sure so many others, had no idea of the magnitude of injustices that can occur during these conflicts. Also, this was not very long ago, nor far away, and it speaks volumes of the differences in government ideology and politics. El Salvador is an extreme case of how a government will treat its citizens. Massacre at El Mozote truly was an eye-opener and I doubt I will soon forget it.
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.
...t years of the war started after 1980, and ended in 1992 with the Peace Treaty of Chapultepec, Mexico. This treaty did not bring the desired peace and progress to El Salvador. Instead, the fight continued in a way of political opposition without arms. The revolutionary forces became a political party that represents the rights of the workers. The right wing party, which was originally founded by D’aubuisson, stayed in power until the elections of 2009. The popular sectors of El Salvador still face extreme poverty and oppression caused by large companies. The church continues its work with the poor but in a more limited and conservative way. After 30 years of the death of Romero, the Salvadoran Church remembers him as the hero of the oppressed and the voice of the voiceless and cries on the fact that the church was never the same after the death of its major leader.
Gleijeses Piero. Shattered Hope The Guatemalan Revolution and The United States, 1944-1954. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991.
The turmoil between the North and South about slavery brought many issues to light. People from their respective regions would argue whether it was a moral institution and that no matter what, a decision on the topic had to be made that would bring the country to an agreement once and for all. This paper discusses the irrepressible conflict William H. Seward mentions, several politician’s different views on why they could or could not co-exist, and also discusses the possible war as a result.
The Central American country of Guatemala fought a bloody civil war for over 36 years. The internal conflict began in November of 1960 and did not end until December of 1996. The key players that fought where the Guatemalan government and the ethnic Mayan indigenous people that where extremely leftist compared to the Guatemalan government. The indigenous persons where joined by other non-government forces known as the Ladino peasantry and other rural poor. This civil conflict would escalate to a bloody series of events that inevitably would see the Guatemalan government regime held responsible for acts of genocide and other human rights violations.
The book Louisa Reynolds has written is an excellent source of information for someone to learn about events in the Guatemalan Civil War. It is a very detailed representation that allows an outside reader look threw an unfiltered lens at the horrors that occurred in Dos Erres. The events that took place in this unfortunate village have been examined and described in great detail that they can be used as a launching point in understanding what the Guatemalan government was willing to do to stamp out the guerrillas and the indigenous people of rural Guatemala. Louisa Reynolds’ clear and brutally honest depiction of events with detailed descriptions including the well, as one example, give more weight to the story being presented. Reynolds is
The civil war in El Salvador was one of the most destructive combats Central America had ever encountered. It was a settlement between the FMLN and the United States supported Salvadoran regime that led political settlement of El Salvador’s civil war. The full civil war lasted twelve-years
Commercialism played the most important role in starting the Spanish American War. The US needed Cuba and the Philippines because they were essential to trade and business. American business had an investment of about $50 million in Cuba and an annual trade stake of about $100 million. Senator Lodge said that whoever has control of Cuba will be able to control the entire Gulf of Mexico, which was important because Cuba was in the direct line of the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal was a key feature to the US Navy, so a base was needed in the Caribbean in order to protect it. A free and independent Cuba would help the US because it could put a naval base there. The overseas market was also important to trade and business with other countries. By getting control of the Philippines, the US would form commercial relations with countries in Asia. Raw materials that originated from Cuba and the Philippines were...
On the other hand, as Vargas points out every aspect of the Chicano struggle, the documentary Chicano, began with the struggles of the Mexican American's in the 1960's. They give a brief background of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo but not about the events that lead to the treaty itself. Without reading Vargas, the first part of the documentary series would be confusing. It did help to see the emotions of the Chicanos and major figures in the resistance moveme...
Michael F. Holt, in his article The Political Divisions That Contributed to Civil War, argued the American Civil War was caused by the breakdown of the two-party political system, which generated a local loss of faith in the entire political system, justifying the creation of a new political system in the South. It was the agency of individuals attempting to solve their political grievances. While Bruce Levine, in his article The Economic Divisions That Contributed to Civil War, maintained unresolvable economic divisions between North and South made the Civil War inevitable, as the two different economies could not indefinitely coexist. While the conflicting economies of the North and the South played a major role in fashioning the war,
However, this does not necessarily mean colonizing Latin America, but rather having it allied and influenced by the United States' mentality and agenda. The book describes the tactics used by the United States to align these countries' policies and politics with its own. The book effectively portrays the role of the United States in the political affairs of Latin American countries. Higgins examines the Eisenhower administration's invasion of Guatemala, which resulted in a revolt to remove the leftist President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán. The Arbenz administration posed a threat to the dominance of American companies in Guatemala, particularly the United Fruit Company.
Paraguayan War also known as The War of the Triple Alliance or the Great War was one of the bloodiest and deadliest war in Latin America. This war was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance which were Argentina, the Empire of Brazil and Uruguay. The war was took place in Paraguay starting from 1864 to 1870. The war has been described as the bloodiest war because of the losses of third fourth of the population in Paraguay. Not only that, it was estimated around 400,000 deaths including soldiers and civilians.