The Guatemalan Civil War killed over two-hundred thousand people, many of them just innocent people which had no involvement in the war. And an overwhelming amount were Mayans, eighty-three percent to be exact. The war was the cause of rising tension between the American backed Military and the various rebel groups who opposed it. The war killed led to the deaths of too many innocent people who had no involvement in the War at all.
The main cause of the war was the American backed coup of 1954 which brought in an dictator who killed ruthlessly based on little to no evidence of them simply supporting left wing ideas. And made up most of the rural population “Guatemala’s 36-year civil war began as left-wing guerilla groups started battling government
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Without little evidence against them “The long conflict was marked by abductions and violence, including mutilations and public dumping of bodies” (Timeline). The people had to deal with the everyday fear of them or their family being abducted or even killed by their government. And many saw their own family members bodies being treat like waste and just dumped in public areas. “For the next decade, a series of military-dominated governments escalated violence against guerilla groups and indigenous communities” (Timeline). For around ten whole years the country was in constant war with itself with the military government attacking mainly the rural people who supported left wing ideas, which led to one of the most violent periods in Guatemalan history. It is evident that the war, while in effect, led to terror situation on many innocent civilians who were punished for being of mayan ethnicity and living in an rural …show more content…
Under Arzu peace negotiations were finalized.” (timeline) after 36 years of bloody war and death of over 200,000 people being killed negotiations were finally completed and the Guatemalan civil war was finally over. “Terrorized by the violence, between 500,000 and 1.5 million Mayan civilians fled to other regions within the country or became refugees abroad.” People of mayan ethnicity were cruelly slaughtered just because of their ethnicity and to the point where a large amount of them fled their own countries, this shows how high the racial tensions were in guatemala. The resolution was hard fought for and when it came the people were finally able to live in their own homes without the fear of rebels or soldiers raiding their village forcing them out and even killing
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.
Rigoberta Menchu, a Quiche Indian woman native to Guatemala, is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for politically reaching out to her country and her people. In her personal testimony tittled “I, Rigoberta Menchu” we can see how she blossomed into the Nobel Prize winner she is today. Following a great deal in her father’s footsteps, Rigoberta’s mobilization work, both within and outside of Guatemala, led to negotiations between the guerillas and the government and reduced the army power within Guatemala. Her work has helped bring light to the strength of individuals and citizen organization in advocacy and policy dialogue on the world scale. In a brief summary of the book I will explore why Rigoberta Menchu is important to Guatemalan development, what she did, and how she helped her people overcome the obstacles thrown their way.
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.
Mexican civilization is very much affected due its contact. with France, New Orleans of the USA.”Design, style and gastronomy are expressions that show the vibe of Yucatan, sentiment relevance more than its personal kingdom.”(4).
From the time of its colonization at the hands of Spanish Conquistadors in the early 1500’s, Guatemala has suffered under the oppression of dictator after dictator. These dictators, who ruled only with the support of the military and only in their own interests, created a form of serfdom; by 1944, two percent of the people owned 70 percent of the usable land.
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
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
In the 1940’s, Colombia faced a civil war called, “La Violencia”, those at war were the two leading political parties, conservatives and liberals, over political eminence. The two parties settled a compromise to share power, yet these two groups saw a potential threat in the communist party whom at the time was very small and not influential. As Dudley notes, “the adversary made violence its strategy, and the communist fell right into its trap responding with the same strategy as the enemy” (Dudley 21). The communist party adopted “la combinacion de todas las formas de lucha” as the strategy to combat the government’s brutal use of force; this strategy was a combination of political campaigns held in the cities and war as a means of defending themselves in the rural areas. Rather than eradicating communism, the government’s actions helped strengthen the party’ capabilities as their popularity and defiance against the government began to grow. From such growth, new guerilla and nongovernmental organizations, that later split from their original intends, were
Anita Isaacs focuses on the consequences the new democracy faces after the rule of former President Molina, “The Congress stripped him [Molina] of immunity, thus diverting attention from its own corruption cloud; in last week’s elections, half its deputies were re-elected, and the same three incumbent parties obtained the bulk share of seats.” This lack in alternation of political parties may maintain a similar form of government but the new President Morales expresses reformational interest towards the corruption of the country. Guatemala does not have a strong enough justice system to properly restrain governmental power, but the state justly accused higher governmental officials of customs fraud resulting in the imprisonment of former President, Otto Pérez Molina, and Vice President, Roxana Baldetti. The removal of the top two rulers of the country from office uncovered Guatemala’s legitimate, democratic stability through one of the most important factors of a strong democracy, the rule of
... the Republic of Cambodia or government forces. United States forces joined into the fighting and some believe helped the Khmer Rouge to come out victorious and form the Democratic Kampuchea. The Vietnamese were brought into the battles and at the end there was a large sum of deaths, about 1.7 million. Still today, lasting effects of the war affect the country. Civil Wars are a part of history and part of the growth of a nation.
Throughout the past 60 to 70 years there has been speculation as to the involvement of the United States in the overthrowing of Jacobo Arbenz’ regime. The United States, through the CIA, although not officially confirmed, did participate in overthrowing Arbenz and his government. It was because of Arbenz’ land reforms, including that of United Fruit Co., that the CIA decided to invade Guatemala. They intervened to prevent Guatemala from falling to Communism by invading her to overthrow Arbenz’ government, which they believed was already following Communistic ideals. The main reason the intervention has been criticized is because it makes it confusing for people to know whether the CIA’s intervention actually helped Guatemala. The CIA’s intervention
This civil war was fought between the government and the rural poor, consisting of the domestic Mayan and ladino peasants. The powerless Mayans began leading protests and riots against the repressive government, demanding economical and political equality and inclusion of the Mayan culture in 1970 (Genocide in Guatemala). The Mayans were, however, restricted by the constant fundings of the supreme United States for the Guatemalan military (Guatemala). Efraín Ríos Montt, the military dictator during this extended period of inequality, began Operation Sofía. This program was designated to end the guerilla warfare initiated by righteous Mayan insurgent groups who endeavoured to defeat the dominant military government and reform. He committed countless crimes against the indigenous, including: widespread massacres, rape, and torture (Efraín Ríos Montt). The dictator was a military general who gained power through a coup d’etat and corrupted the government. In other words, this dictator was one of the main causes of the disappearance in
The Dark Ages were a time of great loss in regards to the lack of any grand achievement being made in Europe. After the fall of Rome, it was as if European society paused, and resumed during the Renaissance. This was not true for the Mayans, however. While the Europeans were squandering trying to subsist through the fall of the Roman Empire, the Mayans were building great pyramids, making substantial discoveries in astronomy and mathematics, their culture was rich. The Maya stood out for its sophisticated culture and society, which is eventually overshadowed by Europe’s monumental resurgence during the Renaissance period. It’s salient that the Maya never had a time period in which their culture was lost, despite the mysterious abandonment of
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