IN GUATEMALA, SINCE THE SPANISH
CONQUEST, LADINOS (MIXED SPANISH & INDIAN) HAVE DOMINATED INDIANS BY CONTROLLING
THEIR LAND & LABOR FOR THE PAST 30 YEARS IN GUATEMALA, THE MILITARY HAS SYSTEMATICALLY
ELIMINATED ALL OPPOSITION TO ITS REPRESSIVE GOVERNMENT
FROM 1978-1985 POLITICAL VIOLENCE OVERWHELMED THE COUNTRYSIDE WITH ARMY ATTACKS,
TORTURE, & DISAPPEARANCES
MILITARY & DEATH SQUADS HAVE TARGETED LABOR UNION ACTIVISTS, PEASANT ORGANIZERS,
STUDENTS, UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS, LEFTIST POLITICIANS, & LIBERAL CLERICS
THE GOVERNMENT RECRUITED INFORMERS IN RURAL COMMUNITIES THE ARMY MILITARIZED
INDIAN PROVINCES FORCING TEENAGE BOYS & MEN INTO CIVIL PATROLS & FORCING REFUGEES
INTO MILITARY-CONTROLLED "MODEL VILLAGES"
THE GUATEMALAN OLIGARCHY (RULING CLASS) FORMED AN ALLIANCE WITH THE MILITARY
GENERALS THE TRADITIONAL BASE OF THIS OLIGARCHY WAS THE AGRO-EXPORT SYSTEM
COFFEE EXPORT BEGAN IN THE MID 1800s IT WAS FINANCED, PROCESSED, & MARKETED
BY GERMANS GERMANS ACQUIRED SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNTS OF COFFEE-GROWING LAND 1870-1920
MUCH LAND WAS SEIZED FROM MAYAN INDIANS FOR COFFEE PRODUCTION FOR EXPORT LABOR
WAS PROVIDED PRIMARILY BY INDIAN & MESTIZOS PEASANTS
IN WWII THE GOVERNMENT WAS FORCED BY THE U.S. TO CONFISCATE GERMAN COFFEE
INTERESTS & ALLOW U.S. INVESTORS TO CONTROL THE COFFEE MARKET U.S. INVESTORS
FIRST CAME TO GUATEMALA FOR BANANAS, NOT COFFEE THE OWNER OF THE BOSTON FRUIT
COMPANY FORMED UNITED FRUIT COMPANY IN 1899, WHICH CHANGED THE HISTORY OF CENTRAL
AMERICA THEY ESTABLISHED A MONOPOLY OF PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION OF BANANAS
& ACQUIRED VAST TRACTS OF LAND IN THE TROPICAL LOWLANDS
IN 1904 DICTATOR MANUEL ESTRADA CABRERA (1898-1920) GAVE UNITED FRUIT THE
RIGHT TO BUILD A RAILROAD IN RETURN FOR THE RAILROAD, UNITED FRUIT WAS GIVEN
170,000 ACRES OF THE BEST LAND IN GUATEMALA BY THE 1930s UNITED FRUIT WAS THE
LARGEST LANDOWNER IN GUATEMALA UNITED FRUIT OWNED INTERNATIONAL RAILWAYS, DOCKS,
PORTS, & SHIPS UNITED FRUIT FORMED A POWERFUL ENCLAVE ECONOMY "BANANA REPUBLICS" (COSTA RICA,
HONDURAS, PANAMA) "COFFEE REPUBLICS" (GUATEMALA, EL SALVADOR, NICARAGUA)
C. AMERICA WAS DEPENDENT ON THE
EXPORT OF COFFEE & BANANAS (70% OF ITS EXPORTS) GENERAL JORGE UBICO (DICTATOR
IN 1931) GAVE UNITED FRUIT A 99 YEAR PERMIT TO OPERATE ITS BANANA PLANTATION
UNITED FRUIT DID LITTLE FOR CENTRAL AMERICA'S ECONOMIES, BUT EXERTED STRONG
CONTROL OVER C. AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS
CLASS CONFLICT IN C. AMERICA TOOK
PLACE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE, BETWEEN MOSTLY INDIAN PEASANTS AND LANDLORDS
[1945-54 ARéVALO & ARBENZ] IN 1945
JUAN JOSE ARéVALO WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT, ENDING OVER 100 YEARS OF DICTATORSHIP
HE WAS A POPULIST:
LABOR RIGHTS LEGISLATION HELP TO
SMALL LANDOWNERS ENCOURAGED WORKERS & PEASANTS TO ORGANIZE
IN 1950 JACOBO ARBENZ WAS ELECTED
& PROMISED:
ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE IMPROVED LIVING
STANDARDS FOR THE POOR LAND REFORM (REDISTRIBUTION)
THE CHIEF TARGET WAS UNITED FRUIT
WHICH LEFT 85% OF ITS LANDS IDLE HE DISTRIBUTED 1.5 ML. ACRES OF LAND TO 100,000
FAMILIES THIS MEANT DIRECT CONFRONTATION WITH UNITED FRUIT THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
& UNITED FRUIT DEMANDED $16 MILLION IN COMPENSATION WASHINGTON DEVELOPED AN
ANTI-COMMUNIST DOCTRINE IT ACCUSED GUATEMALA OF BEING "IN THE GRIP OF A RUSSIAN-CONTROLLED
DICTATORSHIP"
UNITED FRUIT LOBBIED FOR A COUP
SEC. OF STATE JOHN DULLES WAS A SR. PARTNER IN UNITED FRUIT'S NY LAW FIRM CIA
DIRECTOR ALLEN DULLES - FORMER MEMBER OF THE LAW FIRM ASST. SEC. OF STATE ON
INTER-AMERICAN AFFAIRS - BROTHER OF THE FORMER UNITED FRUIT PRESIDENT THEY ACCUSED
ARBENZ OF BEING SOFT ON COMMUNISM & BRANDED HIS REGIME A THREAT TO U.S. SECURITY
JOHN DULLES TOOK IT TO THE OAS,
BUT FAILED TO GET ACTION EISENHOWER APPROVED A PLAN "OPERATION SUCCESS" WHICH
WAS COVERTLY ORGANIZED & FINANCED BY THE CIA
IN 1954 THE DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED
ARBENZ WAS OVERTHROWN BY COL. CARLOS CASTILLO ARMAS WHO HAD BEEN TRAINED AT
FORT LEAVENWORTH ARMAS HAD TRAINED HIS ARMY ON A UNITED FRUIT PLANTATION WITH
ARMS CLANDESTINELY FLOWN IN FROM FLORIDA
OVER 400 U.S. BUSINESSES OPERATE
IN GUATEMALA IN COOPERATION WITH THE MILITARY:
DEL MONTE (ANNUAL EXPORT SALES OF
$75 ML) GOODYEAR (63,000 ACRES OF RUBBER PLANTATIONS) RALSTON PURINA BANKAMERICA
(FINANCED A MEATPACKING PLANT WHOSE OWNER WAS INVOLVED IN DEATH SQUADS) COCA
COLA (WHOSE OWNER HAD DEATH SQUADS KILL UNION LEADERS) PHILIP MORRIS 10 CHEMICAL
COMPANIES WHICH MANUFACTURE PESTICIDES HOTELS: SHERATON, RAMADA, WESTIN MCDONALDS,
PIZZA HUT (PEPSICO) TEXACO
AFTER THE COUP, 9000 PEOPLE WERE
ARRESTED & TORTURED 1.5 ML. ACRES OF LAND WERE RETURNED TO LARGE LANDOWNERS,
INCLUDING UNITED FRUIT AGRARIAN REFORM WAS REPEALED TRADE UNIONS & PEASANT MOVEMENTS
WERE DESTROYED WASHINGTON PROMOTED GUATEMALA AS A "SHOWCASE OF DEMOCRACY" A
NEW SERIES OF MILITARY DICTATORS RULED, EACH MORE REPRESSIVE THAN THE FORMER
THE U.S. GAVE $80-$90 ML. TO GUATEMALA, IN ADDITION TO MILITARY AID IT RECEIVED
FUNDS FROM WORLD BANK, ON THE CONDITION THAT CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS WERE TO BE
GIVEN TO U.S. COMPANIES
IN THE 1960s A GUERRILLA GROUP FORMED
TO CHALLENGE THE MILITARY IT AROSE OUT OF A FAILED COUP BY JUNIOR MILITARY OFFICERS
SEVERAL GUERILLA GROUPS FORMED: MR-13, PGT, FAR; 1970s: EGP, ORPA IN 1982 THEY
UNITED INTO THE URNG (GUATEMALAN NATIONAL REVOLUTIONARY ARMY) FIGHTING TO/FOR:
1. ELIMINATE REPRESSION 2. DISTRIBUTE
LAND 3. EQUALITY BETWEEN INDIANS & LADINOS 4. EQUAL RIGHTS 5. SELF-DETERMINATION
THE PENTAGON ESTABLISHED A COUNTERINSURGENCY
BASE IN GUATEMALA COUNTERINSURGENTS USED AERIAL BOMBING & SCORCHED-EARTH ASSAULTS
ON COMMUNITIES SUSPECTED OF AIDING THE GUERRILLAS DEATH SQUADS APPEARED
PEASANTS IN INDIAN COMMUNITIES WERE
REGULARLY MASSACRED BETWEEN 1966-1976 20,000 PEOPLE HAD BEEN KILLED BY DEATH
SQUADS
HALF OF GUATEMALA'S POPULATION CONSISTS
OF INDIGENOUS MAYAN PEOPLES WITH STRONG ETHNIC IDENTITIES CONDITIONS IN MAYAN
COMMUNITIES:
9 OUT OF 10 FARM FAMILIES LIVE ON
PLOTS TOO SMALL TO PROVIDE THEIR BASIC NEEDS THE POOREST 50% CONSUME ONLY HALF
OF THE DAILY CALORY REQUIREMENT LIFE EXPECTANCY FOR LADINOS IS 64 YEARS LIFE
EXPECTANCY FOR INDIANS IS 44 YEARS
THE LARGEST GUERRILLA GROUP (EGP)
WAS BASED IN EL QUICHé; THEY WERE CONCERNED WITH ETHNICITY & DOMINATION OF INDIAN
PEOPLES BY THE AGRO-EXPORT CAPTIALIST SYSTEM
THE GUATEMALAN ARMY LAUNCED A BLOODY
COUNTERINSURGENCY CAMPAIGN IN THE ALTIPLANO (1980-83) IT LARGELY SUCCEEDED IN
SEPARATING EGP FROM ITS INDIAN BASE OF SUPPORT
IN 1978 CUC (CAMPESINO UNITY COMMITTEE)
FORMED ITS LEADERS WERE DRAWN FROM THE CHRISTIAN-BASED COMMUNITIES BEING ORGANIZED
IN THE HIGHLANDS ON JAN. 31, 1980 CUC OCCUPIED THE SPANISH EMBASSY TO PROTEST
MILITARY OCCUPATION OF EL QUICHCHé 39 PROTESTORS WERE BURNED ALIVE IN THE EMBASSY,
INCLUDING RIGOBERTA MENCHU'S FATHER IN 1981 CUC JOINED WORKERS, SLUM DWELLERS,
& STUDENTS TO FORM THE FP-31 GOVERNMENT REPRESSION INCREASED, FORCING THEM UNDERGROUND
GEN. ROMERO LUCAS GARCIA (1978-82)
BEGAN A SCORCHED EARTH CAMPAIGN GEN. EFRAIN RIOS MONTT OVERTHREW HIM IN A COUP
IN 1982 CARTER HAD CUT MILITARY AID TO GUATEMALA REAGAN RESUMED ECONOMIC & MILITARY
AID & TOLD RIOS MONTT THE U.S. WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO A "FRIENDLY & FRUITFUL"
RELATIONSHIP WITH GUATEMALA IN 1985 U.S. MILITARY AID WAS $300,000; IN 1986
$4.8 ML. WAS APPROVED TERRORISM ESCALATED, ESPECIALLY AGAINST INDIAN COMMUNITIES
RIOS MONT WAS A FANATICAL EVANGELIST
& BELIEVED COUNTERINSURGENCY WAS A HOLY CRUSADE AGAINST COMMUNISM THE ARMY DESTROYED
440 VILLAGES & DISAPPEARED 50-75,000 PEOPLE RIOS MONTT HAD A "BEANS & RIFLES"
PLAN
HE ORGANIZED INDIAN BOYS & MEN INTO
PATROLS TO SERVE AS EYES & EARS FOR THE ARMY (900,000 SERVED) GAVE FOOD TO THOSE
WHO SUPPORTED THE ARMY STATED: "IF YOU ARE WITH US, WE'LL FEED YOU; IF NOT,
WE'LL KILL YOU" IN ALL, 100,000 HAVE BEEN KILLED SINCE 1960
BETWEEN 1978-85 500,000 WERE DISPLACED
& 350,000 REFUGEES FLED INTO MEXICO & THE U.S.
IN 1983 DEFENSE MINISTER GEN. OSCAR
MEJíA VíCTORES OVERTHREW RIOS MONTT HE HAD COUNTERINSURGENCY TRAINING IN THE
U.S. HE CREATED MODEL VILLAGES TO:
EXERT CONTROL OVER MAYAN INDIANS
GIVE FOOD FOR WORK (& GAIN ACCESS TO CHEAP LABOR) EDUCATE TO BUILD ANTI-COMMUNISM
& INTEGRATE INDIANS INTO THE NATION TEACH SPANISH LANGUAGE & CUSTOMS SUBSTITUTE
CORN FOR AGRI-EXPORTS BUILD NEW ROADS TO ALLOW MILITARY ACCESS TO ISOLATED AREAS
MANY INDIANS OPTED FOR SURVIVAL
OVER REPRESSION MOST OF THE GUERRILLA ORGANIZATIONS WERE DESTROYED THROUGH COUNTER
INSURGENCY
IN 1985 GUATEMALANS ELECTED VINICIO
CEREZO HE PROMISED NOT TO CHALLENGE MILITARY POWER OR PUSH FOR SOCIAL & ECONOMIC
REFORMS CEREZO CALLED FOR PEACE NEGOTIATIONS
THE CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT HAS NOT
ELIMINATED HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
THE MILITARY HAS BEEN UNWILLING
TO RETIRE FROM GOVERNMENT THERE HAS BEEN A RESURGENCE OF ACTIVITY AMONG WORKER,
URBAN SQUATTER, AND CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS THE MILITARY HAS BEEN UNABLE TO CRUSH
GUERRILLA ACTIVITY
IN 1989 GUERRILLAS REGROUPED HUMAN
RIGHTS ABUSES INTENSIFIED FROM 1990 TO THE PRESENT
IN 1993 PRES. JORGE CERRANO WAS
OUSTED
PRES. RAMIRO DE LEON CARPIO IS CRITICAL
OF THE MILITARY ACTION AGAINST GUERRILLAS
PEACE TALKS HAVE BEEN PURSUED WITH
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ACTING AS INTERMEDIARY
ETHNICITY & RESISTANCE
ETHNICITY: IS BASED ON PERCEPTIONS
OF SHARED HISTORY & SOCIOCULTURAL TRADITIONS THAT DISTINGUISH MEMBERS OF A GROUP
FROM OTHER GROUPS
ETHNICITY IS OFTEN VIEWED AS THE
CUSTOMS--LANGUAGE, RELIGION, CLOTHING, & TRADITIONS--SHARED BY MEMBERS OF HARMONIOUSLY
ORGANIZED COMMUNITIES BUT ETHNICITY IS RELATED TO THE STRUCTURE OF POWER POLICIES
REGARDING ETHNIC GROUPS:
GENOCIDE ETHNOCIDE OPPRESSION ASSIMILATION
MULTICULTURALISM
MANY INDIGENOUS GROUPS HAVE ORGANIZED
AROUND THEIR ETHNIC IDENTITY AS A MEANS OF RESISTANCE
LIBERATION THEOLOGY
CATHOLIC ACTION & EVANGELICAL GROUPS
BEGAN WORKING IN INDIAN COMMUNITIES THE CATHOLIC CHURCH FOSTERED CATHOLIC ACTION
IN THE 1950s TO PROMOTE ORTHODOX CATHOLICISM IT WAS SUPPORTED BY CONSERVATIVE
INTERESTS TO COUNTERACT THE RADICALIZATION OF IMPOVERISHED MAYANS WHO WERE THOUGHT
TO BE "COMMUNISTS" SUPPORTING THE REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENTS OF ARéVALO & ARBENZ
FROM 1945-54 LOCAL CATECHISTS WERE TRAINED TO RUN THEIR OWN RELIGIOUS STUDY
GROUPS
MAYANS CAME TO REINTERPRET THEIR
LIVES BASED ON A NEW UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHRISTIAN GOSPEL LOCAL COMMUNITIES
APPROPRIATED & REWORKED THESE IDEOLOGIES AS A FORM OF ETHNIC RESISTANCE...RECREATING
THEIR ETHNICITY IN RESPONSE TO NATIONAL ECONOMICS & POLITICS THIS NATIONAL MOVEMENT
CROSS-CUT LOCAL DIFFERENCES IN LANGUAGE & COMMUNITY IDENTITY
THE GOVERNMENT, FEARING CATECHISTS
WOULD POLITICIZE THE RURAL POPULATION, PERSECUTED THEM DURING THE GENOCIDAL
CIVIL WAR BETWEEN LEFTIST GUERRILLAS & THE MILITARY GUERRILLAS GAINED LEGITIMACY
WITH PEASANTS: THEY LEARNED INDIAN LANGUAGES THE RADICAL CLERGY INCREASED RECRUITMENT
OF INDIANS INTO THE GUERRILLA MOVEMENT...BY SAYING REVOLUTION WAS A PATH TO
SOCIAL JUSTICE
GOVERNMENT REPRESSION FORCED OTHERS
INTO THE GUERRILLA MOVEMENT LOSS OF LAND LED OTHERS TO JOIN
THE CIVIL WAR HAS ENDED, BUT REPRESSION
CONTINUES IN GUATEMALA
RIGOBERTA MENCHU BECAME AN INTERNATIONAL
SYMBOL (IN EXILE) FOR HER WORK AND WON THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE IN 1992