What Were The Causes Of The Guatemalan Civil War

The Guatemalan Civil War was a war that lasted a really long time. It lasted 36 years. It all began with Colonel Jacobo Arbenz. During Arbenz’s term, he made it so that communists controlled key peasant organizations, labor unions, and the governing political party. Many people, including the Army did not approve of what Arbenz was doing. Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas from Honduras invaded Guatemala in 1954. The Guatemalan army refused to back up Arbenz, which caused Colonel Armas to take over their government. Colonel Armas was murdered on July 26, 1957.
Following Armas’ death, General Ydigoras Fuentes took power. Junior military officers revolted in 1960. Their mission failed so they went into hiding. They then, established close ties with Cuba. Meanwhile, four guerrilla groups formed in Guatemala. There was the EGP (The Guerrilla Army of the Poor) , the ORPA (Revolutionary Organization of Armed People) , the FAR (Rebel Armed Forces) , and the PGT (Guatemalan Labor Party). These four groups formed all into one to make URNG (Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity) in 1982.
In 1966, Julio Ceasar Mendez Montenegro was elected president. Montenegro launched a counterinsurgency campaign which split up all of the guerrilla groups. The guerrilla groups were very furious with Montenegro’s actions and they concentrated their attacks on
Ambassador John Gordon Mein in 1968. Next in line for presidency was Rios Montt. Montt was the candidate of the Christian Democracy Party in 1974. Even though he was running for president, he was denied the right to become president due to fraud. The guerrillas and their allies denounced Rios Montt. Montt found out about this and he sought out to defeat the guerrillas with military actions and economic reforms. Montt threatened the guerrillas into joining his army. Montt then was elected president due to partial vote but it was at the cost of many deaths of