The Guatemalan

Genocide

Daniel RothJoshua Goselwitz

Geoffrey Durocher

Genocide noun /’je-ne-,sid\: the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group

- Merriam Webster Online English Dictionary

The Guatemalan Civil War 1960 – 1996 Belligerents:

Government of Guatemala (R) Guatemalan Party of Labor (L) CIA

“Right vs. Left” anti-communist war: (CIA backed coup put right-wing military

dictator in power) Casualties: Native Mayan Populace

626 villages destroyed 200,000+ people killed or missing 1.5 million displaced 150,000+ driven to seek refuge in

Mexico

Stage 1 :: Classification Victimized Group: The Native

Mayans Since the Spanish Conquest in

the 16th Century, Mayans have been oppressed and considered inferior by their Spanish masters

Reasons for Victimization: American-backed military

dictatorship overthrown in 1944 by reformists (labeled as communists).

As a part of the protests, Mayan leaders occupied the Spanish Embassy (1980), causing Mayans to be declared “in support of a communist regime”

Stage 2 :: Symbolization Guatemalan native

Mayans already set apart from Spanish inhabitants due to severe social and economic oppression

Mayans had distinct cultural definitions (i.e. clothing, language, physical appearance, etc.) making them an easily determinable target.

Stage 3 :: Dehumanization Due to the distinct

social classes that had existed for centuries, the persecutors (the Spanish and Americans) already thought nothing of the Maya, so it took little to convince the army who the target was.

Stage 4 :: Organization The CIA was the

“mastermind” organizing and training the Guatemalan Government Forces with the intent of putting a capitalist regime in place.

The Guatemalan government and their forces (the Kaibiles) have been attributed with organizing and performing 90% of the atrocities committed

Stage 5 :: Polarization The event that

incited much of the hatred that existed between the Guatemalans and the Mayans resulted from the invasion and burning of the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala City

Stage 6 :: Preparation The government and

their troops would go into areas known to be inhabited by Mayans

No major preparations were put in place for the extermination of the Mayan people

Stage 7 :: Extermination When the killings began

in 1982, the soldiers would often march into Mayan villages on celebration days or market days, and corral the locals.

The locals (men, women and children, would be imprisoned, often raped, and then brutally killed.

Orders were often given to ensure that the execution was performed in such a way that “maximum suffering was assured”

Stage 8 :: Denial In 2001 the former military

dictator of Guatemala, José Ephrain Rios Montt was accused of acts of genocide, including 1200 deaths which occurred during Montt’s brief rule.

“We don’t have a policy of scorched earth, we have a policy of scorched communists. ”

-- José Ephrain Rios Montt