Guatemala Essay Research Paper Guatemala A Country

Guatemala Essay, Research Paper

Guatemala, A Country Formed, Molded And Ruled By The Military

Guatemala is a relatively large Central American country located directly south of Mexico, and north of Honduras and El Salvador. It’s capital, Guatemala City, is the largest city in all of Central America. Guatemala has a population of 10,919,000 people, living on 42,042 square meters of land. The country’s government is technically democratic, although currently, the people do not really have much say at all . Guatemala, like so many other unfortunate Latin American countries has been plagued by the continuous reign of one tyrannous dictator after another. This tyrannical government was brought about by a military dominance and history that no other country has ever seen. During the Spanish Conquest of 1524, explorer Pedro de Alvarada began pillaging the tranquil Mayan city.states. This soon brought the country under Spanish control. The Indians were denied any rights, and forced to slave for their land. Ever since then, Guatemala has come to be known as “the land of eternal tyranny.”

This country has had a turbulent post.independence history as well. Guatemala gained independence from Spain on September 15, 1821; it briefly became part of the Mexican Empire and then for a period belonged to a federation called the United Provinces of Central America. From the mid.19th century until the mid.1980s, the country passed through a series of military dictatorships, insurgencies (particularly beginning in the 1960s), coups, and stretches of military rule with only occasional periods of representative government.

From 1944 to 1986

In 1944, Gen. Jorge Ubico’s dictatorship was overthrown by the “October Revolutionaries” ..a group of dissident military officers, students, and liberal professionals. A civilian president, Juan Jose Arevalo, was elected in 1945; he held the presidency until 1951. Social reforms which were begun under him were continued by his successor, Col. Jacobo Arbenz. Colonel Arbenz permitted the communist Guatemalan Labor Party to gain legal status in 1952. By the mid.point of Arbenz’s term, communists controlled key peasant organizations, labor unions, and the governing political party, holding some key government positions.

Despite most Guatemalans’ attachment to the original ideals of the 1944 uprising, key segments of society and the military viewed Arbenz’s policies as a menace. The army refused to defend the government when a group led by Col. Carlos Castillo Armas invaded the country from Honduras in 1954 and eventually took over the government. The assassination of President Castillo in 1957 precipitated a period of confusion from which Gen. Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes emerged as President in 1958.

A 1960 revolt by junior military officers failed, and some of the participants went into hiding, creating the nucleus of a guerrilla movement which established close ties with Cuba. In early 1963, a new military group, headed by Col. Enrique Peralta Azurdia, restored order. But the unconstitutional nature of the regime created disaffection, played upon by the guerrillas, especially among students. A constituent assembly drafted a new constitution, promulgated in September 1965. The presidential candidate of the moderate Revolutionary Party won by a plurality in the 1966 elections, thus briefly returning the country to a civilian presidency. Shortly after President Julio Cesar Mendez Montenegro took office, the army launched a major counterinsurgency campaign that largely broke up the guerrilla movement in the countryside . The guerrillas then concentrated their attacks in Guatemala City, where they assassinated many leading figures, including U.S. Ambassador John Gordon Mein, in 1968.

The country again came under military rule in 1970. The new President, Gen. Carlos Arana (1970.74), declared a state of siege, and an intense anti.terrorist campaign forced terrorist groups to reduce their activity markedly. He was followed by Gen. Kjell Laugerud Garcia, who was declared the winner in disputed 1974 presidential elections. His successor, Gen. Fernando Romeo Lucas Garcia, was inaugurated on July 1, 1978; he promised to attack vigorously Guatemala’s socioeconomic problems, but violence increased.

Three principal left.wing guerrilla groups..the Guerrilla Army of the Poor (EGP), the Revolutionary Organization of Armed People (ORPA), and the Rebel Armed Forces (FAR) conducted economic sabotage and targeted government installations and members of government security forces in armed attacks. These three organizations have since combined with a fourth guerrilla organization the outlawed communist party, known as the (PGT) to form the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG). At the same time, extreme right.wing groups of self.appointed vigilantes, such as the Secret Anti.Communist Army (ESA) and the White Hand, tortured and murdered students, professionals, and peasants suspected of involvement in leftist activities. As the March 1982 elections approached, political violence steadily grew as guerrillas sought to disrupt the electoral process.

The winner by plurality of the March 7, 1982, elections was former Defense Minister Gen. Anibal Guevara. Opposition centrist parties, though, claimed electoral fraud. On the morning of March 23, 1982, the National Palace in Guatemala City was surrounded by army t