By Anonymous
Decades of political unrest in Guatemala finally came to
a head in 1962 with the formation of guerrilla movements against
the corrupt Guatemalan government. Many students and laborers
took to the streets in protest of the unstable government.
These distressed citizens formed guerrilla organizations,
one such being the Armed Rebel Forces (FAR) (Jonas 67). The
FAR gained support from those areas hit hardest by agrarian
reform. The theme of the FAR’s movement was armed self-defense.
The movement traveled from village to village explaining their
program and trying to organize resistance (Jonas 67). However,
the government initiated a military offensive, which not only
killed many of the movement’s top leaders but also many
peasants fell victim as well. The guerrilla movement of 1960’s
was over, however, the survivors reemerged in the 1970s to
reestablish the movement (Jonas 68).
The government was in the hands of the bourgeoisie and any
attempt to undermine their authority or take away their privileges
resulted in a coup, usually led by a military official, thus
adding to the country’s instability. In addition, the
bourgeoisie sought to further themselves from the peasants
(Jonas 87). This extreme polarization in the social structure
and the increase in poverty fueled the growth of the revolutionary
movement. During the period between 1963 through 1971, the
government replaced democratic practices with terror tactics
(Jonas 88). Guatemala spent many of these years in a state
of siege. This state of siege disguised the terror by explaining
that it was necessary in order to maintain public order and
combat leftist guerrilla insurgency. In addition, the Guatemalan
government simply eliminated their moderate and leftist opponents
by assassination (Jonas 88).
After 1966, death squads entered the scene in Guatemala. These
squads such as the MANO Blanca (“White Hand”)
and Ojo por Ojo (“An Eye for an Eye”) were organized
by the National Liberation Movement, the leading political
party in Guatemala (Jonas 62). In addition, the bourgeoisie
financed the death squads. Since the death squads operated
within the army and police forces, they conducted their activities
with impunity. The death squads’ focus was to carry
out the activities that violated Guatemalan law. They participated
in kidnappings, torture and assassinations and even published
death lists. The death squads targeted the petty bourgeoisie-union
leaders, intellectuals and those deemed as Communists. However,
the focus of death squads was on the workers and peasants
in guerrilla activity zones (Jonas 62).
During the 1970’s through the 1990’s, Guatemala
saw a reemergence of the guerrilla movement. However, this
time the movement targeted the participation of the social
class most greatly affected by Guatemala’s corrupt government.
The Mayan Indians of the highlands were living below the poverty
level in large part due to agrarian reform. Due to the bourgeoisie
taking their land in the 1970’s, they migrated for subsistence
and in the process lost their class distinction and identity
(Jonas 132). The Peasant Unity Committee (CUC) was one of
the first guerrilla movements that incorporated the support
of the highland Indians (Jonas 132). However, the government
worked tirelessly to repress these movements. After the massacre
at Panzos (1978), membership of the CUC increased dramatically
(Jonas 133). During the 1970’s many more guerrilla movements
emerged, all focused their participation on the highland Indians.
These guerrilla movements were the Guerrilla Army of the Poor
(EGP), Organization of the People in Arms (ORPA), and the
Guatemalan Labor Party (PGT). In January 1982, the EGP, ORPA,
FAR and PGT combined forces to create the Guatemalan National
Revolutionary Unity (URNG) (Jonas 134). The URNG in its revolutionary
government platform called for and end to repression and a
government guarantee of basic rights for all citizens (Jonas
134).
