Guatemalan Civil War Research Paper

Insurgencies during the Guatemalan Civil War
Guatemala is made up of 13 million people, the second largest country next to El Salvador in Central America. It has had a long history of violence, political instability, and foreign corporations exploiting the country’s natural and economic resources. There is a large gap in income between the rich and the poor. The indigenous Mayan Indians are the most impoverished people and yet make up the majority of the population. During the colonization period, the Spaniards colonized Guatemala. During this colonization, the indigenous people were being oppressed by the Spaniards. Being a Spanish colony, Guatemala was governed by wealthy landowners. The largest landowner and employer was the United Fruit
Company. This company had the greatest influence on the country, which caused many problems because it accepted large tax breaks. The company also abused its power through politics that caused a coup that led to “an era of human rights violations against Guatemalans” (PBS Frontline World)
The Guatemalan Civil War was the longest lasting civil war in Latin American history. It lasted for thirty-six years, starting in 1960 and ending in 1996. In 1944, the October Revolutionaries, which was a group of “rebellious military officers, students, and liberal professionals,” overthrew General Jorge Ubico’s dictatorship (U.S Department of State). In the next few years both Juan Jose Arevalo and Colonel Jacabo Arbenz, in succession, ran the country and created new political and social reforms. These reforms helped strengthen poor and urban workers at expense of the military and big landowners such as the United Fruit Company. Arbenz managed to confiscate 40 percent of the land from the United Fruit Company. The confiscation of the company’s land caused uproar during the Eisenhower administration because Eisenhower thought that this would translate into a communist government in Guatemala. In response, he supported the CIA’s secret operation to supply weapons and funding for paramilitary groups to oppose President Arbenz (PBS Frontline World). Then on July 2, 1954, a coup led by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas, backed by the U.S, helped drive out Arbenz from office and seek refuge in Mexico (PBS Frontline World/ Guatemala Facts). The Guatemalan government refused to help Arbenz against the coup because they too supported the American attacks (U.S Department of State).
Many of the people of Guatemala, specifically the Mayan people, were against the Guatemalan government because of the social and economic injustices and the discrimination towards them. The government ignored the rights of the indigenous working classes and the poor (Heifer International). Both of these classes wanted to have an equal chance in landownership and finance. Excluding Arbenz and Arevalo, most of the politicians and presidents were of European descent. Thus making them elitist however, a vast majority of the population were the indigenous people. The wealth and land were unfairly distributed throughout the country (PBS Frontline World). The European elites and military allies wanted to keep the wealth and land amongst the prosperous because it would mean control over the government. When Arbenz tried to redistribute the wealth and land fairly amongst the population, the European elites were upset and the US government intervenes. Thus, insurgencies ensued. Guatemalan guerilla groups fought for social and economic justice and to end discrimination against the indigenous people (Heifer International).
Four major left-wing guerilla groups formed during the civil war, the Guerilla Army of the Poor (EGP), the Revolutionary Organization of Armed People, (ORPA) the Rebel Armed Forces (FAR), and the Guatemalan Labor Party (PGT), which later formed into the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity in 1982 (URNG). These groups organized “economic sabotage and targeted government installations and members of government security forces in armed attacks” (Global Security). In response to these attacks the government created the local civilian defense patrol, also known as PAC. PAC was able to recapture much of the land the guerilla groups had taken but at the cost of many indigenous people’s lives (U.S Department of State). This was a minor victory for the Guatemalan government, however; as time went on, more attacks occurred.
Because of the high activity of violence from the left wing groups, extreme right wing groups were created. In particular, the Secret Anti Communist Party (ESA) and the White Hand began to torture and murder anyone who was involved in left wing activities. This included professionals, peasants and students (Global Security). In 1966, when President Julio Cesar Mendez Montenegro was in office, the army attempts to create a counter insurgency campaign. This campaign only fought off the guerillas in the countryside, which then changed their focus to Guatemala City. In the city, the guerillas managed to assassinate many political leaders including US Ambassador John Gordon Mein (PBS Frontline World).
The U.S continuously supported the right wing groups even when they knew about the genocide being committed. This shows how little the U.S knew about the situation in Guatemala. All the government saw was a potential communist threat that could possibly destroy a country. However, if our government had investigated further, they would have seen that it was only a Politician trying to create an equal opportunity for his indigenous people. Arbenz was only trying to help the people of Guatemala by returning some of the land they had originally owned before the elitist group came in and took over. The only real reason the U.S came into Guatemala was because they wanted to protect their company, the United Fruit Company, from losing land to native Guatemalan’s and have less money in their pockets.
It is apparent that the forces used against the guerilla groups were unsuccessful in that many civilians were killed.
It is estimated that around 200 thousand people were killed (Heifer International). One million were homeless and 45 thousand “disappeared” (Odyssey: Latin American Stage). These numbers signify failure of a counterinsurgency because instead of killing the people that were fighting against the government, the counter attacks were placed on civilians. Even though some of the indigenous people were not part of the insurgents, they were still prosecuted because they were “communists.” On the other hand, from the Guatemalan’s point of view, these numbers could be seen as a success because of the amount of leftist insurgents dead. The threats of these guerilla groups were decreasing in the government’s
eyes.
The Guatemalan government and people suffered through a tough war only to face issues later on.
To this day, many people still do not know what happened to their family and friends when they “disappeared.” Many families were also displaced during the civil war and have yet to come back to the country. More recently, human right’s activist found the secret files from the civil war in an abandoned building thought to be storing explosives. The human rights activists hoped that the Guatemalan government would take steps in dealing with “the legacy of decades of state repression” (Watts). Furthermore, this war shows how the U.S has not changed in its tactics, meaning that when the U.S goes into a country to help, they end up starting a war and then leave the country to deal with it. To this day this is still occurring. An example of that is the Iraq war. The U.S went there during the 1980’s and created and funded the Taliban to rise up against the government for social and economic reform. However, as the years progressed and the U.S vacated the country, the Taliban turned into what it is today. This goes to show that the U.S help is not actually help at all but rather a way of implementing our ways into countries where it may not
work.

Works Cited
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