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143-417: José Efraín Ríos Montt ( Spanish: [efɾaˈin ˈrios ˈmont] ; 16 June 1926 – 1 April 2018) was a Guatemalan military officer, politician, and dictator who served as de facto President of Guatemala from 1982 to 1983. His brief tenure as chief executive was one of the bloodiest periods in the long-running Guatemalan Civil War . Ríos Montt's counter-insurgency strategies significantly weakened

286-677: A Catholic church dedicated to the Virgen del Carmen . This new capital was founded on 2 January 1776. On 15 September 1821, Gabino Gainza Fernandez de Medrano and the Captaincy General of Guatemala , an administrative region of the Spanish Empire consisting of Chiapas , Guatemala, El Salvador , Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Honduras, officially proclaimed its independence from Spain at a public meeting in Guatemala City. Independence from Spain

429-515: A biodiversity hotspot . Although rich in export goods, around a quarter of the population (4.6 million) face food insecurity . Other extant major issues include poverty, crime, corruption, drug trafficking, and civil instability. With an estimated population of around 17.6 million, Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America, the 4th most populous country in North America and

572-403: A military coup that overthrew Lucas and prevented Guevara from succeeding him as president. On March 23, the coup culminated with the installation of a three-person military junta , presided by General Efraín Ríos Montt and composed also of General Horacio Maldonado Schaad and Colonel Luis Gordillo Martínez. Ríos Montt had not been directly involved in the planning of the coup and was chosen by

715-479: A "capable left-of-center military officer" who would shift Guatemala "perceptibly but not radically to the left." The official candidate for the 1974 election was General Kjell Laugerud , whose running mate was Mario Sandoval Alarcón of the far-right National Liberation Movement . Pro-government posters warned "voters not to fall into a communist trap by supporting Ríos," but Ríos Montt proved to be an effective campaigner, and most observers believe that his FNO won

858-402: A bomb exploded near his carriage. It has been suggested that the extreme despotic characteristics of Estrada did not emerge until after an attempt on his life in 1907. Guatemala City was badly damaged in the 1917 Guatemala earthquake . Estrada Cabrera continued in power until forced to resign after new revolts in 1920. By that time his power had declined drastically and he was reliant upon

1001-477: A congressional majority in the 1999 general election . Authorized by the Constitutional Court to run in the 2003 presidential elections , Ríos Montt came in third and withdrew from politics. He returned to public life in 2007 as a member of Congress, thereby gaining legal immunity from long-running lawsuits alleging war crimes committed by him and some of his ministers and counselors during their term in

1144-437: A court order forbade Ríos Montt from leaving the country while it determined whether he should stand trial on charges related to jueves negro and the death of Ramírez. On November 20, 2004, Ríos Montt had to request permission to travel to his country home for the wedding of his daughter, Zury Ríos , to U.S. Representative Jerry Weller , a Republican from Illinois . On January 31, 2006, manslaughter charges against him for

1287-527: A dangerous jungle infested with jaguars to meet his former friend. Zavala not only did not capture him, he agreed to serve under his orders, thus sending a strong message to both liberal and conservatives in Guatemala City that they would have to negotiate with Carrera or battle on two fronts – Quetzaltenango and Jalapa. Carrera went back to the Quetzaltenango area, while Zavala remained in Suchitepéquez as

1430-474: A date that is today commemorated as the day of this branch. The Navy was founded on 15 January 1959, by the then President Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes , due to the need to protect the country's marine resources, which at the time were the object of illegal predation by fishing boats from neighboring countries. It is a state entity with functions as a police agency for seas and rivers. The Guatemalan Air Force ( Spanish : Fuerza Aérea Guatemalteca; FAG ) constitutes

1573-501: A decisive victory over a guerrilla force already weakened by the blows landed upon it by General Benedicto Lucas during the last months of his brother's government. Since then, he is, more than the Lucas brothers, the bête noire of the revolutionaries who do not forgive him for having consummated their defeat by turning their own weapons against them and in particular by the appeal to the moral and religious sentiments so profoundly rooted among

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1716-473: A few men left, he managed to escape, badly wounded, to Sanarate . After recovering somewhat, he attacked a detachment in Jutiapa and got a small amount of booty which he gave to the volunteers who accompanied him. He then prepared to attack Petapa near Guatemala City, where he was victorious, although with heavy casualties. In September of that year, Carrera attempted an assault on the capital of Guatemala, but

1859-458: A formative period, in which the peoples typically lived in huts in small villages of farmers, with few permanent buildings. This notion has been challenged since the late 20th century by discoveries of monumental architecture from that period, such as the Mirador Basin cities of Nakbé , Xulnal, El Tintal , Wakná and El Mirador . The Classic period of Mesoamerican civilization corresponds to

2002-500: A friend: "Now he is the king of the Indians, indeed!" Guzmán then left for Jalapa, where he struck a deal with the rebels, while Luis Batres Juarros convinced President Paredes to deal with Carrera. Back in Guatemala City within a few months, Carrera was commander-in-chief, backed by military and political support of the Indian communities from the densely populated western highlands. During

2145-450: A huge column of Quetzaltenango and Totonicapán indigenous people came down from the mountains to vote for him. Reyna was elected president. José María Reina Barrios was president between 1892 and 1898. During Barrios's first term in office, the power of the landowners over the rural peasantry increased. He oversaw the rebuilding of parts of Guatemala City on a grander scale, with wide, Parisian-style avenues. He oversaw Guatemala hosting

2288-793: A majority in the National Congress. Ríos Montt then served four consecutive one-year terms as president of Congress, from 2000 to 2004. President Portillo admitted the involvement of the Guatemalan government in human rights abuses over the previous 20 years, including two massacres that took place during Ríos Montt's presidency. The first was in Plan de Sánchez , in Baja Verapaz , with 268 dead, and in Dos Erres in Petén , where 200 people were murdered. In May 2003,

2431-462: A member of the Liberal Party , he sought to encourage development of the nation's infrastructure of highways , railroads , and sea ports for the sake of expanding the export economy. By the time Estrada Cabrera assumed the presidency there had been repeated efforts to construct a railroad from the major port of Puerto Barrios to the capital, Guatemala City. Owing to lack of funding exacerbated by

2574-664: A military commander and later the first president of Guatemala. The liberal forces impaled Alvarez's head on a pike as a warning to followers of the Guatemalan caudillo . Carrera and his wife Petrona – who had come to confront Morazán as soon as they learned of the invasion and were in Mataquescuintla – swore they would never forgive Morazán even in his grave; they felt it impossible to respect anyone who would not avenge family members. After sending several envoys, whom Carrera would not receive – and especially not Barrundia whom Carrera did not want to murder in cold blood – Morazán began

2717-577: A military coup from becoming president. Ríos Montt always claimed that the corresponding article had been written into the Constitution specifically to prevent him from returning to the Presidency and that it could not legitimately be applied retroactively . In the 1990s Ríos Montt enjoyed significant popular support throughout Guatemala and especially among the native Maya population of the departments of Quiché , Huehuetenango , and Baja Verapaz , where he

2860-426: A month later by the declaration of a state of siege , curtailing the activities of political parties and labor unions under the threat of death by firing squad for subversion. Critics have argued that, in practice, Ríos Montt's strategy amounted to a scorched earth campaign targeted against the indigenous Maya population, particularly in the departments of Quiché , Huehuetenango , and Baja Verapaz . According to

3003-533: A native revolt, much like that of 1840; their only request from Carrera was to keep the natives under control. The altenses did not comply, and led by Guzmán and his forces, they started chasing Carrera; the caudillo hid, helped by his native allies and remained under their protection when the forces of Miguel Garcia Granados arrived from Guatemala City looking for him. On learning that officer José Víctor Zavala had been appointed as Corregidor in Suchitepéquez, Carrera and his hundred jacalteco bodyguards crossed

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3146-624: A peasant. With Salazar gone, Carrera reinstated Rivera Paz as head of state. Between 1838 and 1840 a secessionist movement in the city of Quetzaltenango founded the breakaway state of Los Altos and sought independence from Guatemala. The most important members of the Liberal Party of Guatemala and liberal enemies of the conservative régime moved to Los Altos, leaving their exile in El Salvador. The liberals in Los Altos began severely criticizing

3289-477: A rural pacification strategy known as Fusiles y Frijoles ( lit.   ' Rifles and beans ' ), often rendered into English as "beans and bullets" to preserve the alliteration of the original. The "bullets" referred to the organization of the Civil Defense Patrols ( Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil , PAC), composed primarily of indigenous villagers who patrolled in groups of twelve, usually armed with

3432-464: A scorched-earth offensive, destroying villages in his path and stripping them of assets. The Carrera forces had to hide in the mountains. Believing Carrera totally defeated, Morazán and Barrundia marched to Guatemala City , and were welcomed as saviors by state governor Pedro Valenzuela and members of the conservative Aycinena clan  [ es ] , who proposed to sponsor one of the liberal battalions, while Valenzuela and Barrundia gave Morazán all

3575-560: A significant event in the ascendency of Protestantism within the traditionally Catholic Guatemalan nation (see Religion in Guatemala ). Ríos Montt later befriended prominent evangelists in the US, including Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson . The security situation in Guatemala had deteriorated under the government of General Romeo Lucas García . By early 1982, the Marxist guerrilla groups belonging to

3718-457: A significant part of Guatemalan society after he departed from power in 1983. In 1990, anthropologist David Stoll quoted a development organizer as saying that she liked Ríos Montt "because he used to get on television, point his finger at every Guatemalan, and say: 'The problem is you!' That's the only way this country is ever going to change." Violence escalated in the countryside under the Guatemalan military's plan Victoria 82 , which included

3861-417: A single M1 rifle and sometimes not armed at all. The PAC initiative was intended both to provide a pro-government presence in isolated rural villages with a majority Mayan population and to deter guerrilla activity in the area. The "beans" component of the counter-insurgency strategy referred to programs seeking to increase civilian-military contact and cooperation by improving the infrastructure and resources

4004-481: A tactical maneuver. Carrera received a visit from a cabinet member of Paredes and told him that he had control of the native population and that he assured Paredes that he would keep them appeased. When the emissary returned to Guatemala City, he told the president everything Carrera said, and added that the native forces were formidable. Guzmán went to Antigua to meet with another group of Paredes emissaries; they agreed that Los Altos would rejoin Guatemala, and that

4147-553: A vote of 38 to 2, with 15 opposition deputies abstaining. According to independent journalist Carlos Rafael Soto Rosales, Ríos Montt and the FNO leadership knew the election was fraudulent, but acquiesced in Laugerud's "election" because they feared that a popular uprising "would result in disorder that would provoke worse government repression and that a challenge would lead to a confrontation between military leaders." General Ríos Montt then left

4290-470: Is celebrated on the prior Monday, and if it occurs on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday it moves to the following Monday. The Armed Forces today number at around 39,000 active personnel. The Army or Land Forces are the oldest military branch of the armed forces. In the middle of the 19th century, General Rafael Carrera promoted it with the triumph in the Battle of San José La Arada, dated to 2 February 1851,

4433-493: Is one of the substantive peace accords, mandated that the mission of the armed forces change to focus exclusively on external threats. Presidents Álvaro Arzú and his successors Alfonso Portillo , Óscar Berger and Álvaro Colom , have used a constitutional clause to order the army on a temporary basis to support the police in response to a nationwide wave of violent crime, a product of the Mexican criminal organizations going across

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4576-585: Is represented by regional kingdoms, such as the Itza , Kowoj , Yalain and Kejache in Petén, and the Mam , Ki'che' , Kackchiquel , Chajoma , Tz'utujil , Poqomchi' , Q'eqchi' and Ch'orti' peoples in the highlands. Their cities preserved many aspects of Maya culture. The Maya civilization shares many features with other Mesoamerican civilizations due to the high degree of interaction and cultural diffusion that characterized

4719-549: The Fondo de Cultura Económica , noted that the army's counter-insurgency in the Guatemalan highlands had been launched at the end of 1981, before the coup that put Ríos Montt in power, and that the reported massacres peaked in May 1982 before dropping off rapidly as a consequence of the policies implemented by the Ríos Montt regime. According to Sabino, the guerrillas were effectively defeated by

4862-456: The Center for Strategic and International Studies , "an important component in the 'normalization' of the Guatemalan environment was a marked decrease by late 1982 in the state of fear and violence, which allowed the repositioning of Guatemala's civilian urbanized leadership toward a more vital role in national affairs." Sociologist and historian Carlos Sabino, in a work published initially in 2007 by

5005-549: The Central American Federation in San Salvador a little later, forcing Morazán to return to El Salvador to fight for his federal mandate. Along the way, Morazán increased repression in eastern Guatemala, as punishment for helping Carrera. Knowing that Morazán had gone to El Salvador, Carrera tried to take Salamá with the small force that remained, but was defeated, and lost his brother Laureano in combat. With just

5148-561: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to the four modern evils of hunger, misery, ignorance, and subversion. He also pledged to fight corruption and what he described as the depredations of the rich. The government junta immediately declared martial law and suspended the constitution, shut down the legislature, and set up special tribunals ( tribunales de fuero especial ) to prosecute both common criminals and political dissidents . On April 10,

5291-560: The Gospel Outreach Church . In 1982, discontent with the rule of General Romeo Lucas García , the worsening security situation in Guatemala, and accusations of electoral fraud led to a coup d'état by a group of junior military officers who installed Ríos Montt as head of a government junta . Ríos Montt ruled as a military dictator for less than seventeen months before his defense minister, General Óscar Mejía Victores overthrew him in another coup. In 1989, Ríos Montt returned to

5434-522: The Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) umbrella organization had made gains in the countryside and were seen as threatening an attack on the capital, Guatemala City . On March 7, 1982, General Ángel Aníbal Guevara , the official party's candidate, won the presidential election , a result denounced as fraudulent by all opposition parties. An informal group described as oficiales jóvenes ("young officers") then staged

5577-470: The Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) political party in 1989. In the run-up to the 1990 general election , polls indicated that Ríos Montt was the most popular candidate, leading his nearest rival by as many as twelve points. The courts ultimately prevented him from appearing in the ballots because of a provision in the 1985 Constitution of Guatemala that banned people who had participated in

5720-606: The Gulf of Honduras . The territory of modern Guatemala hosted the core of the Maya civilization , which extended across Mesoamerica ; in the 16th century, most of this was conquered by the Spanish and claimed as part of the viceroyalty of New Spain . Guatemala attained independence from Spain and Mexico in 1821. From 1823 to 1841, it was part of the Federal Republic of Central America . For

5863-746: The Jimmy Carter administration suspended aid to Guatemala due to the grave violations of human rights by the Guatemalan government. In 1981, the new Reagan administration authorized the sale to the Guatemalan military of $ 4 million in helicopter spare parts and $ 6.3 million in additional military supplies, to be shipped in 1982 and 1983. President Ronald Reagan traveled to Central America in December 1982. He did not visit Guatemala but met with General Ríos Montt in San Pedro Sula, Honduras , on December 4, 1982. During that meeting, Ríos Montt reassured Reagan that

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6006-490: The K'iche' (Quiché) nation . Alvarado later turned against the Kaqchikel, and eventually brought the entire region under Spanish domination. During the colonial period, Guatemala was an audiencia , a captaincy-general ( Capitanía General de Guatemala ) of Spain, and a part of New Spain (Mexico). The first capital, Villa de Santiago de Guatemala (now known as Tecpan Guatemala ), was founded on 25 July 1524 near Iximché ,

6149-461: The Marxist guerrillas organized under the umbrella of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) while also leading to accusations of war crimes and genocide perpetrated by the Guatemalan Army under his leadership. Ríos Montt was a career army officer. He was director of the Guatemalan military academy and rose to the rank of brigadier general . He was briefly chief of staff of

6292-591: The Mexica to refer to the Kaqchikel city of Iximche , but was extended to refer to the whole country during the Spanish colonial period. The first evidence of human habitation in Guatemala dates to 12,000 BC. Archaeological evidence, such as obsidian arrowheads found in various parts of the country, suggests a human presence as early as 18,000 BC. There is archaeological proof that early Guatemalan settlers were hunter-gatherers . Maize cultivation had been developed by

6435-553: The New World , the Spanish started several expeditions to Guatemala, beginning in 1519. Before long, Spanish contact resulted in an epidemic that devastated native populations. Hernán Cortés , who had led the Spanish conquest of Mexico , granted a permit to Captains Gonzalo de Alvarado and his brother, Pedro de Alvarado , to conquer this land. Alvarado at first allied himself with the Kaqchikel nation to fight against their traditional rivals

6578-663: The School of the Americas , and later at Fort Bragg in North Carolina and the Italian War College. From the start of his career, Ríos Montt acquired a reputation as a devoutly religious man and as a stern disciplinarian. Ríos Montt did not play any significant role in the successful CIA -sponsored coup of 1954 against President Jacobo Arbenz . He rose through the ranks of the Guatemalan army and, in 1970–72, served as director of

6721-540: The Supreme Court suspended Ríos Montt's campaign and agreed to hear a complaint brought by two right-of-center parties that the retired General was constitutionally barred from running for president. Ríos Montt denounced the ruling as a judicial manipulation and, in a radio address, called on his followers to take to the streets to protest against it. On 24 July, in an event that came to be known as jueves negro ("Black Thursday"), thousands of masked FRG supporters invaded

6864-534: The United Provinces of Central America . In 1840, Belgium began to act as an external source of support for Carrera's independence movement, in an effort to exert influence in Central America. The Compagnie belge de colonisation (Belgian Colonization Company), commissioned by Belgian King Leopold I , became the administrator of Santo Tomas de Castilla replacing the failed British Eastern Coast of Central America Commercial and Agricultural Company . Even though

7007-447: The oficiales jóvenes because of the respect that he had acquired as director of the military academy and as the presidential candidate of the democratic opposition in 1974. The events of March 1982 took the U.S. authorities by surprise. Because of repeated vote-rigging and the blatant corruption of the military establishment, the 1982 coup was initially welcomed by many Guatemalans. Ríos Montt's reputation for honesty, his leadership of

7150-559: The 11th most populous country in the Americas . Its capital and largest city, Guatemala City , is the most populous city in Central America. The name "Guatemala" comes from the Nahuatl word Cuauhtēmallān , or "place of many trees", a derivative of the K'iche' Mayan word for "many trees" or, perhaps more specifically, for the Cuate/Cuatli tree Eysenhardtia . This name was originally used by

7293-409: The 1983 coup alleged that Ríos Montt belonged to a "fanatical and aggressive religious group" that had threatened the "fundamental principle of the separation of Church and State." However, historian Virginia Garrard-Burnett considered that the main underlying reason for his removal from power was that Ríos Montt "had severely stanched the flow of graft to military officers and government officials" and

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7436-467: The 1990s and 2000s, he enjoyed firm and enduring electoral support in the departments of Quiché , Huehuetenango , and Baja Verapaz , which had seen the worst violence during the 1982–83 counter-insurgency campaign. According to David Stoll, "the most obvious reason Nebajeños like the former general is that he offered them the chance to surrender without being killed." In 1977, the United States under

7579-802: The 1999 report by the UN-sponsored Historical Clarification Commission (CEH), this resulted in the annihilation of nearly 600 villages. One instance was the Plan de Sánchez massacre in Rabinal , Baja Verapaz, in July 1982, which saw over 250 people killed. Tens of thousands of peasant farmers fled over the border into southern Mexico . In 1982, an Amnesty International report estimated that over 10,000 indigenous Guatemalans and peasant farmers were killed from March to July of that year and that 100,000 rural villagers were forced to flee their homes. According to more recent estimates presented by

7722-513: The Army Marshall rank, even though that rank did not exist and it does not exist in the Guatemalan military. The Marshall called himself President of the Republic, but in reality he was the foreman of oppressed and savaged people, cowardly enough that they had not dared to tell the dictator to leave threatening him with a revolution. The State and Church were a single unit, and the conservative régime

7865-461: The Atlantic side. In 1906 Estrada faced serious revolts against his rule; the rebels were supported by the governments of some of the other Central American nations, but Estrada succeeded in putting them down. Elections were held by the people against the will of Estrada Cabrera and thus he had the president-elect murdered in retaliation. In 1907 Estrada narrowly survived an assassination attempt when

8008-719: The CEH, tens of thousands of non-combatants were killed during Ríos Montt's tenure as head of state. At the height of the bloodshed, reports put the number of disappearances and killings at more than 3,000 per month. The 1999 book State Violence in Guatemala, 1960–1996: A Quantitative Reflection , published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science , states that Rios Montt's government presided over "the most indiscriminate period of state terror. More state killings occurred during Ríos Montt’s regime than during any other, and in

8151-489: The Conservative government of Rivera Paz. Los Altos was the region with the main production and economic activity of the former state of Guatemala. Without Los Altos, conservatives lost many of the resources that had given Guatemala hegemony in Central America. The government of Guatemala tried to reach a peaceful solution, but two years of bloody conflict followed. On 17 April 1839, Guatemala declared itself independent from

8294-587: The Empire shortly after their independence. This region was formally a part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain throughout the colonial period, but as a practical matter had been administered separately. It was not until 1825 that Guatemala created its own flag. In 1838 the liberal forces of Honduran leader Francisco Morazán and Guatemalan José Francisco Barrundia invaded Guatemala and reached San Sur, where they executed Chúa Alvarez, father-in-law of Rafael Carrera , then

8437-496: The FRG nominated Ríos Montt for the November presidential election . However, his candidacy was rejected again by the electoral registry and by two lower courts. On 14 July 2003, the Constitutional Court , which had had several judges appointed by the FRG government, approved his candidacy for president because the prohibition in the 1985 Constitution did not apply retroactively. On 20 July,

8580-774: The Federation of Central America from 9 September 1921 until 14 January 1922. Armed Forces of Guatemala Guatemala is a signatory to the Rio Pact and was a member of the Central American Defense Council (CONDECA). The President of the Republic is commander-in-chief. Prior to 1945 the Defence Ministry was titled the Secretariat of War ( Secretaría de la Guerra ). An agreement signed in September 1996, which

8723-638: The Guatemalan Mayas. In a similar vein, historian Virginia Garrard-Burnett concluded in 2010 that General Ríos Montt's military's successes "were unprecedented in Guatemala’s modern history" and that "had the Cold War remained the primary lens of historical analysis, [he] might well be remembered as a visionary statesman instead of an author of crimes against humanity." Even some of Ríos Montt's harshest critics have noted that, in his later political career during

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8866-478: The Guatemalan army in 1973. However, he was soon forced out of the position over differences with the military high command. He ran for president in the 1974 general election , losing to the official candidate, General Kjell Laugerud , in an electoral process widely regarded as fraudulent. In 1978, Ríos Montt controversially abandoned the Catholic Church and joined an Evangelical Christian group affiliated with

9009-417: The Guatemalan government in several different ways. José Francisco Barrundia established a liberal newspaper for that specific purpose. Vasconcelos supported a rebel faction named "La Montaña" in eastern Guatemala, providing and distributing money and weapons. By late 1850, Vasconcelos was getting impatient at the slow progress of the war with Guatemala and decided to plan an open attack. Under that circumstance,

9152-439: The Guatemalan government's counter-insurgency strategy was not one of "scorched earth," but rather of "scorched Communists," and pledged to work to restore the democratic process in the country. Reagan then declared: "President Ríos Montt is a man of great personal integrity and commitment... I know he wants to improve the quality of life for all Guatemalans and to promote social justice." Guatemala's poor record on human rights and

9295-511: The Guatemalan political scene as leader of a new political party, the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG). He was elected many times to the Congress of Guatemala , serving as president of the Congress in 1995–96 and 2000–04. A constitutional provision prevented him from registering as a presidential candidate due to his involvement in the military coup of 1982. However, the FRG obtained the presidency and

9438-548: The Guatemalan resources needed to solve any financial problem he had. The criollos of both parties celebrated until dawn that they finally had a criollo caudillo like Morazán, who was able to crush the peasant rebellion. Morazán used the proceeds to support Los Altos and then replaced Valenzuela with Mariano Rivera Paz , a member of the Aycinena clan, although he did not return to that clan any property confiscated in 1829. In revenge, Juan José de Aycinena y Piñol voted to dissolve

9581-557: The Guatemalan state, including the Guatemalan army . Up to 200,000 Guatemalans were estimated to have been killed during the conflict, making it one of Latin America's bloodiest wars. Both the REMHI and CEH reports found that most of the violence had been carried out by the Guatemalan state and by government-backed death squads . Since the victims of this violence had disproportionately belonged to

9724-556: The Guatemalans suffered a severe defeat , which was followed by a truce. Honduras joined with El Salvador, and Nicaragua and Costa Rica with Guatemala. The contest was finally settled in favor of Carrera, who besieged and occupied San Salvador , and dominated Honduras and Nicaragua. He continued to act in concert with the Clerical Party, and tried to maintain friendly relations with European governments. Before he died, Carrera nominated his friend and loyal soldier, Army Marshall Vicente Cerna y Cerna , as his successor. Vicente Cerna y Cerna

9867-410: The Kaqchikel capital city. The capital was moved to Ciudad Vieja on 22 November 1527, as a result of a Kaqchikel attack on Villa de Santiago de Guatemala. Owing to its strategic location on the American Pacific Coast, Guatemala became a supplementary node to the Transpacific Manila Galleon trade connecting Latin America to Asia via the Spanish owned Philippines. On 11 September 1541, the new capital

10010-422: The National Opposition Front (FNO) presidential candidate. His running mate was Alberto Fuentes Mohr , a respected economist and social democrat . At the time, Ríos Montt was generally regarded as an honest and competent military man who could combat the rampant corruption in the Guatemalan government and armed forces. In the run-up to the election, United States officials characterized the candidate Ríos Montt as

10153-407: The PACs organized by Ríos Montt's government, which grew to involve 900,000 men and which, "though only very partially armed, completely took away the guerrilla's capacity for political action," as they could no longer "reach the villages and towns, organize rallies, or recruit fighters and collaborators among the peasants." According to French sociologist Yvon Le Bot, writing in 1992, Ríos Montt won

10296-707: The Polytechnic School. In 1972, in the presidential administration of General Carlos Arana Osorio , Ríos Montt was promoted to brigadier general and in 1973 he became the Army's Chief of Staff ( Jefe del Estado Mayor General del Ejército ). However, he was removed from that post after three months and, much to his chagrin, dispatched to the Inter-American Defense College in Washington, D.C. According to anthropologist David Stoll , writing in 1990, Ríos Montt

10439-620: The Poor (EGP), one of the Marxist insurgent groups that later became part of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) and which Ríos Montt had combated during his term as president in 1982–83. The Guatemalan Civil War officially concluded in 1996 with the signing of the peace accords between the Guatemalan government and the URNG, which after that was organized as a legal political party. In March 1999, U.S. President Bill Clinton declared that "for

10582-717: The Roman Catholic Church in 1978 and join the Iglesia El Verbo ("Church of the Word"), an evangelical Protestant church affiliated with the Gospel Outreach Church based in Eureka, California . Ríos Montt became very active in his new church and taught religion in a school affiliated with it. At the time, his younger brother Mario Enrique was the Catholic prelate of Escuintla . Efraín Ríos Montt's conversion has been interpreted as

10725-566: The Salvadorean head of state started a campaign against the conservative Guatemalan regime, inviting Honduras and Nicaragua to participate in the alliance; only the Honduran government led by Juan Lindo accepted. In 1851 Guatemala defeated an Allied army from Honduras and El Salvador at the Battle of La Arada . In 1854 Carrera was declared "supreme and perpetual leader of the nation" for life, with

10868-430: The URNG guerrillas and, on April 20 1982, launched a new counter-insurgency operation known as Victoria 82 . On June 9, General Ríos Montt forced the other two junta members to resign, leaving him as sole head of state, commander of the armed forces, and minister of defense. On 17 August 1982, Ríos Montt established a new Consejo de Estado ("Council of State") as an advisory body whose members were appointed either by

11011-457: The United States, it is important I state clearly that support for military forces and intelligence units which engaged in violence and widespread repression [in Guatemala] was wrong and the United States must not repeat that mistake." Ríos Montt's FRG party was successful in the 1999 Guatemalan general election . Its candidate, Alfonso Portillo , was elected president, and the party also obtained

11154-635: The army has gone beyond its accord-mandated target, and has implemented troop reductions from an estimated 28,000 to 15,500 troops, including subordinate air force (1,000) and navy (1,000) elements. It is equipped with armaments and material from the United States , Israel , Taiwan , Argentina , Spain , and France . As part of the army downsizing, the operational structure of 19 military zones and three strategic brigades are being recast as several military zones are eliminated and their area of operations absorbed by others. The air force operates three air bases;

11297-481: The cities of the central lowlands or were killed by a drought-induced famine . The cause of the collapse is debated, but the drought theory is gaining currency, supported by evidence such as lakebeds, ancient pollen, and others. A series of prolonged droughts in what is otherwise a seasonal desert is thought to have decimated the Maya, who relied on regular rainfall to support their dense population. The Post-Classic period

11440-455: The city after Corregidor general Mariano Paredes was called to Guatemala City to take over the presidential office. They declared on 26 August 1848 that Los Altos was an independent state once again. The new state had the support of Doroteo Vasconcelos ' régime in El Salvador and the rebel guerrilla army of Vicente and Serapio Cruz, who were sworn enemies of Carrera. The interim government

11583-453: The collapse of the internal coffee trade, the railway fell 100 kilometres (60 mi) short of its goal. Estrada Cabrera decided, without consulting the legislature or judiciary, that striking a deal with the UFCO was the only way to finish the railway. Cabrera signed a contract with UFCO's Minor Cooper Keith in 1904 that gave the company tax exemptions, land grants, and control of all railroads on

11726-399: The colony eventually crumbled, Belgium continued to support Carrera in the mid-19th century, although Britain continued to be the main business and political partner to Carrera. Rafael Carrera was elected Guatemalan Governor in 1844. On 21 March 1847, Guatemala declared itself an independent republic and Carrera became its first president. During the first term as president, Carrera brought

11869-495: The country back from extreme conservatism to a traditional moderation; in 1848, the liberals were able to drive him from office, after the country had been in turmoil for several months. Carrera resigned of his own free will and left for México. The new liberal regime allied itself with the Aycinena family and swiftly passed a law ordering Carrera's execution if he returned to Guatemalan soil. The liberal criollos from Quetzaltenango were led by general Agustín Guzmán who occupied

12012-558: The country to take up an appointment as military attaché at the Guatemalan embassy in Madrid , where he remained until 1977. It was rumored that the military high command paid Ríos Montt several hundred thousand dollars in exchange for his departure from public life and that during his exile in Spain his unhappiness led him to excessive drinking. Ríos Montt retired from the army and returned to Guatemala in 1977. A spiritual crisis caused him to leave

12155-544: The country to war in an unsuccessful attempt to attain it, losing his life on the battlefield in 1885 against forces in El Salvador. Manuel Barillas was president from 16 March 1886 to 15 March 1892. Manuel Barillas was unique among liberal presidents of Guatemala between 1871 and 1944: he handed over power to his successor peacefully. When election time approached, he sent for the three Liberal candidates to ask them what their government plan would be. Happy with what he heard from general Reyna Barrios , Barillas made sure that

12298-461: The courage of victims of violence and Guatemala's attorney general, Claudia Paz y Paz . After the convictions of the Dos Erres four, based on a Guatemalan government's commitment to reorganize its special forces units, the U.S. Department of Defense resumed military aid. The Día del Ejército (Army Day or Armed Forces Day) is celebrated on 30 June, although if it occurs on a Tuesday or Wednesday it

12441-525: The crisis and his idiosyncratic vision for national redemption. In the General's view, Guatemala suffered from three fundamental problems: a national lack of responsibility and respect for authority, an absolute lack of morality, and an inchoate sense of national identity. All other issues, from the economic crisis to what Ríos Montt called the "subversion," were merely symptoms of these three fundamental ills. Ríos Montt's moralizing message continued to resonate with

12584-742: The death of Ramírez were dropped. The Inter-Diocese Project for the Recovery of the Historic Memory (REMHI), sponsored by the Catholic Church , and the Historical Clarification Commission (CEH), co-sponsored by the United Nations as part of the 1996 peace accords, produced reports documenting grave violations of human rights committed during the Guatemalan Civil War of 1960–1996. That war had pitted Marxist rebels against

12727-513: The economics of the time, and therefore land management. From 1839 to 1871, the Consulado held a consistent monopolistic position in the regime. Guatemala's "Liberal Revolution" came in 1871 under the leadership of Justo Rufino Barrios , who worked to modernize the country, improve trade, and introduce new crops and manufacturing. During this era coffee became an important crop for Guatemala. Barrios had ambitions of reuniting Central America and took

12870-585: The executive or by various civil associations. This Council of State incorporated several representatives of Guatemala's indigenous population, a first in the history of the central Guatemalan government. Under the motto, No robo, no miento, no abuso ("I don't steal, I don't lie, I don't abuse"), Ríos Montt launched a campaign ostensibly aimed at rooting out corruption in the government and reforming Guatemalan society. He also began broadcasting regular TV speeches on Sunday afternoons, known as discursos de domingo . According to historian Virginia Garrard-Burnett, It

13013-418: The first " Exposición Centroamericana " ("Central American Fair") in 1897. During his second term, Barrios printed bonds to fund his ambitious plans, fueling monetary inflation and the rise of popular opposition to his regime. His administration also worked on improving the roads, installing national and international telegraphs and introducing electricity to Guatemala City. Completing a transoceanic railway

13156-529: The first presidency, from 1844 to 1848, he brought the country back from excessive conservatism to a moderate regime, and – with the advice of Juan José de Aycinena y Piñol and Pedro de Aycinena – restored relations with the Church in Rome with a Concordat ratified in 1854. After Carrera returned from exile in 1849 the president of El Salvador, Doroteo Vasconcelos , granted asylum to the Guatemalan liberals, who harassed

13299-417: The fortifications of the Guatemalan capital, in place since the battle of Villa Nueva. Taking advantage of Salazar's good faith and Ferrera's weapons, Carrera took Guatemala City by surprise on 13 April 1839; Salazar, Mariano Gálvez and Barrundia fled before the arrival of Carrera's militiamen. Salazar, in his nightshirt, vaulted roofs of neighboring houses and sought refuge, reaching the border disguised as

13442-473: The generals fought under his command, and waited—for a long time—until Carrera's death before beginning their revolt against the tamer Cerna. During Cerna's presidency, liberal party members were prosecuted and sent into exile; among them, those who started the Liberal Revolution of 1871. In 1871, the merchants guild, Consulado de Comercio, lost their exclusive court privilege. They had major effects on

13585-504: The government provided to the Mayan villages. This was meant to create a link in the minds of the indigenous and peasant communities between better access to resources and their cooperation with the Guatemalan government in its military struggle against the insurgents. General Ríos Montt's government announced an amnesty in June 1982 for all insurgents willing to lay down their arms. That was followed

13728-454: The height of the Maya civilization . It is represented by countless sites throughout Guatemala, although the largest concentration is in Petén . This period is characterized by urbanisation, the emergence of independent city-states, and contact with other Mesoamerican cultures. This lasted until approximately 900 AD, when the Classic Maya civilization collapsed . The Maya abandoned many of

13871-484: The incumbent FRG administration under President Portillo. During tense but peaceful presidential elections on November 9, 2003, Ríos Montt received 19.3% of the vote, placing him third behind Óscar Berger , head of the conservative Grand National Alliance (GANA), and Álvaro Colom of the center-left National Unity of Hope (UNE). As he had been required to give up his seat in Congress to run for president, Ríos Montt's 14-year legislative tenure also ended. In March 2004,

14014-624: The indigenous Mayan population of the country, the CEH report characterized the counterinsurgency campaign, significantly designed and advanced during Ríos Montt's presidency, as having included deliberate "acts of genocide ." The REMHI and CEH reports formed the basis for legal actions brought against Ríos Montt and others for crimes against humanity and genocide. Ríos Montt admitted that the Guatemalan army had committed crimes during his term as president and commander-in-chief, but he denied that he had planned or ordered those actions or that there had been any deliberate policy by his government to target

14157-539: The junta launched the National Growth and Security Plan , whose stated goals were to end indiscriminate violence and teach the populace about Guatemalan nationalism. The junta also announced that it sought to integrate peasants and indigenous peoples into the Guatemalan state, declaring that because of their illiteracy and "immaturity," they were particularly vulnerable to the seductions of "international communism." The government intensified its military efforts against

14300-409: The latter half of the 19th century, Guatemala suffered instability and civil strife. From the early 20th century, it was ruled by a series of dictators backed by the United States . In 1944, authoritarian leader Jorge Ubico was overthrown by a pro-democratic military coup, initiating a decade-long revolution that led to social and economic reforms. In 1954, a US-backed military coup ended

14443-490: The latter would help Guzmán defeat his enemy and also build a port on the Pacific Ocean. Guzmán was sure of victory this time, but his plan evaporated when in his absence Carrera and his native allies occupied Quetzaltenango; Carrera appointed Ignacio Yrigoyen as Corregidor and convinced him that he should work with the K'iche', Q'anjobal and Mam leaders to keep the region under control. On his way out, Yrigoyen murmured to

14586-502: The legislature convened for the election of President Estrada Cabrera, who triumphed thanks to the large number of soldiers and policemen who went to vote in civilian clothes and to the large number of illiterate family that they brought with them to the polls. One of Estrada Cabrera's most famous and most bitter legacies was allowing the entry of the United Fruit Company (UFCO) into the Guatemalan economic and political arena. As

14729-431: The liberal general Carlos Salazar Castro defeated him in the fields of Villa Nueva and Carrera had to retreat. After unsuccessfully trying to take Quetzaltenango , Carrera found himself both surrounded and wounded. He had to capitulate to Mexican General Agustín Guzmán , who had been in Quetzaltenango since Vicente Filísola 's arrival in 1823. Morazán had the opportunity to shoot Carrera, but did not, because he needed

14872-399: The loyalty of a few generals. While the United States threatened intervention if he was removed through revolution, a bipartisan coalition came together to remove him from the presidency. He was removed from office after the national assembly charged that he was mentally incompetent, and appointed Carlos Herrera in his place on 8 April 1920. Guatemala joined with El Salvador and Honduras in

15015-421: The majority of whom are also academics. Generally, this literature has been slow to admit the defeat of the guerrillas in 1982, their subsequent lack of popular support, and contradictions in the human rights movement. According to political scientist Regina Bateson, in this new career phase, Ríos Montt embraced populism as his core political strategy. He was an FRG congressman between 1990 and 2004. In 1994, he

15158-562: The native population that could amount to genocide. Guatemala Guatemala , officially the Republic of Guatemala , is a country in Central America . It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico , to the northeast by Belize , to the east by Honduras , and to the southeast by El Salvador . It is hydrologically bordered to the south by the Pacific Ocean and to the northeast by

15301-614: The navy has two port bases. The Guatemalan army has a special forces unit (specializing in anti-insurgent jungle warfare) known as the Kaibiles . In 2011, a Guatemalan court convicted four members of the Kaibiles, of killing more than 200 civilians in the Dos Erres massacre in 1982. Each man was sentenced to 6,050 years in prison. Their convictions for their roles in the massacre nearly 30 years prior, in which soldiers killed more than 200 men, women, and children, would not have happened if not for

15444-449: The north-west region. The peace accords call for a one-third reduction in the army's authorized strength and budget — achieved in 2004 — and for a constitutional amendment to permit the appointment of a civilian minister of defense. A constitutional amendment to this end was defeated as part of a May 1999 plebiscite, but discussions between the executive and legislative branches continue on how to achieve this objective. In 2004

15587-502: The opposition in the 1974 election, and his vision of "education, nationalism, an end to want and hunger, and a sense of civic pride" were widely appealing. In April 1982, U.S. Ambassador Frederic L. Chapin declared that thanks to the coup of Ríos Montt, "the Guatemalan government has come out of the darkness and into the light." However, Chapin soon afterward reported that Ríos Montt was "naïve and not concerned with practical realities." Drawing on his Pentecostal beliefs, Ríos Montt compared

15730-442: The opposition parties' headquarters, and newspapers. Incidents of torching of buildings, shooting out of windows, and burning of cars and tires in the streets were also reported. A television journalist, Héctor Fernando Ramírez , died of a heart attack while running away from a mob. After two days, the rioters disbanded when an audio recording of Ríos Montt was played on loudspeakers calling them to return to their homes. The situation

15873-680: The people by 3500 BC. Sites dating to 6500 BC have been found in the Quiché region in the Highlands, and Sipacate and Escuintla on the central Pacific coast. Archaeologists divide the pre-Columbian history of Mesoamerica into the Preclassic period (3000 BC to 250 AD), the Classic period (250 to 900 AD), and the Postclassic period (900 to 1500 AD). Until recently, the Preclassic was regarded by researchers as

16016-581: The poor; but the fact of the matter is, it is the military who get the Israeli guns." By the end of 1982, Ríos Montt, claiming that the war against the leftist guerrillas had been won, said the government's work was one of " techo, trabajo, y tortillas " ("roofs, work, and tortillas "). Having survived three attempted coups, on June 29, 1983, Ríos Montt declared a state of emergency and announced elections for July 1984. By then, Ríos Montt had alienated many segments of Guatemalan society by his actions. Shortly before

16159-410: The popular vote by an ample majority. When early returns showed an unmistakable trend in favor of Ríos Montt, the government halted the count and manipulated the results to make it appear that Laugerud finished 71,000 votes ahead of Ríos Montt. Since Laugerud did not have an outright majority of the popular vote, the government-controlled National Congress decided the election, which chose Laugerud by

16302-429: The power to choose his successor. He held that position until he died on 14 April 1865. While he pursued some measures to set up a foundation for economic prosperity to please the conservative landowners, military challenges at home and a three-year war with Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua dominated his presidency. His rivalry with Gerardo Barrios, President of El Salvador, resulted in open war in 1863. At Coatepeque

16445-559: The presidency. There are two different descriptions of how Cabrera was able to become president. The first states that Cabrera entered the cabinet meeting "with pistol drawn" to assert his entitlement to the presidency, while the second states that he showed up unarmed to the meeting and demanded the presidency by virtue of being the designated successor. The first civilian Guatemalan head of state in over 50 years, Estrada Cabrera overcame resistance to his regime by August 1898 and called for elections in September, which he won handily. In 1898

16588-544: The presidential palace in 1982–83. His immunity ended on 14 January 2012, when his legislative term of office expired. In 2013, a court sentenced Ríos Montt to 80 years in prison for genocide and crimes against humanity, but the Constitutional Court quashed that sentence, and his retrial was never completed. Efraín Ríos Montt was born in 1926 in Huehuetenango into a large family of the rural middle class. His father

16731-943: The refusal of General Ríos Montt to call immediately for new elections prevented the Reagan administration from restoring US aid to Guatemala, which would have required the consent of the US Congress . The Reagan administration did continue the sale of helicopter parts to the Guatemalan military, even though a then-secret 1983 CIA cable noted a rise in "suspect right-wing violence" and an increasing number of bodies "appearing in ditches and gullies." Israel, which had been supplying arms to Guatemala since 1974, continued its aid provisions during Ríos Montt's government. The cooperation did not just involve hardware but also included providing intelligence and operational training, carried out both in Israel and Guatemala. In 1982, Ríos Montt told ABC News that his success

16874-539: The region. Advances such as writing, epigraphy , and the calendar did not originate with the Maya; however, their civilization fully developed them. Maya influence can be detected from Honduras , Belize , Guatemala, and Northern El Salvador to as far north as central Mexico, more than 1,000 km (620 mi) from the Maya area . Many outside influences are found in Maya art and architecture, which are thought to have resulted from trade and cultural exchange rather than direct external conquest. After they arrived in

17017-581: The revolution and installed a dictatorship. From 1960 to 1996, Guatemala endured a bloody civil war fought between the US-backed government and leftist rebels, including genocidal massacres of the Maya population perpetrated by the Guatemalan military. The United Nations negotiated a peace accord, resulting in economic growth and successive democratic elections. Guatemala's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems includes many endemic species and contributes to Mesoamerica's designation as

17160-465: The same period the monthly rate of violence was more than four times greater than for the next highest regime." On the other hand, the United Nations special rapporteur for the situation of human rights in Guatemala, Lord Colville of Culross , wrote in 1984 that the lot of the rural population of Guatemala had improved under Ríos Montt, as the previous indiscriminate violence of the Guatemalan Army

17303-645: The segregated native communities started developing a new Indian identity under Carrera's leadership. In the meantime, in the eastern part of Guatemala, the Jalapa region became increasingly dangerous; former president Mariano Rivera Paz and rebel leader Vicente Cruz were both murdered there after trying to take over the Corregidor office in 1849. When Carrera arrived to Chiantla in Huehuetenango , he received two altenses emissaries who told him that their soldiers were not going to fight his forces because that would lead to

17446-467: The streets of Guatemala City, armed with machetes, clubs, and guns. They had been bussed in from all over the country by the FRG, and it was alleged that public employees in FRG-controlled municipalities were threatened with the loss of their jobs if they did not participate in the demonstrations. The protestors blocked traffic, chanted threatening slogans, and waved machetes as they marched on the courts,

17589-615: The support of the Guatemalan peasants to counter the attacks of Francisco Ferrera in El Salvador . Instead, Morazán left Carrera in charge of a small fort in Mita, without any weapons. Knowing that Morazán was going to attack El Salvador, Francisco Ferrera gave arms and ammunition to Carrera and convinced him to attack Guatemala City. Meanwhile, despite insistent advice to definitively crush Carrera and his forces, Salazar tried to negotiate with him diplomatically; he even went as far as to show that he neither feared nor distrusted Carrera by removing

17732-501: The visit to Guatemala by Pope John Paul II in March 1983, Ríos Montt refused the Pope's appeal for clemency to six guerrillas who had been sentenced to death by the regime's special tribunals. The outspoken evangelicalism and the moralizing sermons of the general's regular Sunday television broadcasts ( discursos de domingo ) were increasingly regarded with embarrassment by many. The military brass

17875-492: Was president of Guatemala from 24 May 1865 to 29 June 1871. Liberal author Alfonso Enrique Barrientos  [ es ] , described Marshall Cerna's government in the following manner: A conservative and archaic government, badly organized and with worse intentions, was in charge of the country, centralizing all powers in Vicente Cerna, ambitious military man, who not happy with the general rank, had promoted himself to

18018-518: Was "at odds with the army's command structure since being sidelined by military president Gen. Carlos Arana Osorio in 1974." While in the US, the leaders of the Guatemalan Christian Democracy approached Ríos Montt with an invitation to run for president at the head of a coalition of parties opposed to the incumbent regime. Ríos Montt participated in the March 1974 presidential elections as

18161-458: Was a main objective of his government, with a goal to attract international investors at a time when the Panama Canal was not yet built. After the assassination of general José María Reina Barrios on 8 February 1898, the Guatemalan cabinet called an emergency meeting to appoint a new successor, but declined to invite Estrada Cabrera to the meeting, even though he was the designated successor to

18304-462: Was a shopkeeper, and his mother a seamstress, and the family also owned a small farm. His younger brother Mario Enrique Ríos Montt became a Catholic priest and would serve as prelate of Escuintla and later as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Guatemala . Intent on making a career in the army, the young Efraín applied to the Polytechnic School (the national military academy of Guatemala) but

18447-461: Was due to the fact that "our soldiers were trained by Israelis." There was not much outcry in Israel at the time about its involvement in Guatemala, though the support for Ríos Montt was no secret. According to journalist Victor Perera , in 1985, at a cemetery in Chichicastenango , relatives of a man killed by the military told him that "in church they tell us that divine justice is on the side of

18590-469: Was elected president of the unicameral legislature. He tried to run again in the 1995–96 Guatemalan general election but was barred from entering the race. The FRG chose Alfonso Portillo to replace Ríos Montt as the party's presidential candidate, and he narrowly lost to Álvaro Arzú of the conservative National Advancement Party . In his youth, Portillo had been affiliated with the Guerrilla Army of

18733-577: Was five months pregnant. After General Ríos Montt was deposed in August of that year, the FAR proceeded to kidnap the sister of the new de facto president, General Mejía Víctores. The new government flatly refused to negotiate with the kidnappers, but the family of General Ríos Montt obtained the release of his sister Marta on 25 September, after 119 days in captivity, by procuring the publication of an FAR comuniqué in several international newspapers. Ríos Montt founded

18876-577: Was flooded when the lagoon in the crater of the Agua Volcano collapsed due to heavy rains and earthquakes; the capital was then moved 6 km (4 mi) to Antigua in the Panchoy Valley, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site . This city was destroyed by several earthquakes in 1773–1774. The King of Spain authorized moving the capital to its current location in the Ermita Valley, which is named after

19019-658: Was gained, and the Captaincy General of Guatemala joined the First Mexican Empire under Agustín de Iturbide . Under the First Empire, Mexico reached its greatest territorial extent, stretching from northern California to the provinces of Central America (excluding Panama, which was then part of Colombia), which had not initially approved becoming part of the Mexican Empire but joined

19162-413: Was in his Sunday sermons that Ríos Montt explicated the moral roots of Guatemala's many problems and limned the outlines of his political and moral imaginaire . Although ridiculed both at home and abroad for their preachy and even naive tone (earning the General the derisive nickname "Dios Montt"), the discursos nonetheless bore an internally cohesive message that clearly laid out Ríos Montt's diagnosis of

19305-426: Was led by Guzmán himself and had Florencio Molina and the priest Fernando Davila as his Cabinet members. On 5 September 1848, the criollos altenses chose a formal government led by Fernando Antonio Martínez. In the meantime, Carrera decided to return to Guatemala and did so, entering at Huehuetenango , where he met with native leaders and told them that they must remain united to prevail; the leaders agreed and slowly

19448-636: Was not responsive to the powerful interest groups represented by the Army's high command. Political violence in Guatemala continued after Ríos Montt was removed from power in 1983. It has been estimated that as many as one and a half million Maya peasants were uprooted from their homes. American journalist Vincent Bevins writes that by corralling indigenous populations from suspect communities into state-established "model villages" ( aldeas modelos ) that were "little more than deadly concentration camps ," Ríos Montt waged genocide differently than his predecessors, although massacres continued apace. Bevins argues this

19591-418: Was offended by his promotion of young officers in defiance of the Army's traditional hierarchy. Many middle-class citizens were unhappy with the decision, announced on August 1, 1983, to introduce the value-added tax in the country. One week later, on August 8, 1983, his own Minister of Defense, General Óscar Mejía Victores , overthrew the regime in a coup during which seven people were killed. The leaders of

19734-412: Was part of Montt's new strategy for fighting communism : "The guerrilla is the fish. The people are the sea. If you cannot catch the fish, you have to drain the sea." Efraín Ríos Montt's sister Marta Elena Ríos de Rivas was kidnapped on 26 June 1983 in Guatemala City by members of the leftist Rebel Armed Forces (FAR) when she was leaving the primary school where she worked as a teacher. At the time, she

19877-482: Was perceived as un militar recto (an honest military man), even though those had been the populations most directly affected by the counter-insurgency that Ríos Montt had led in 1982–83. According to anthropologist David Stoll Ríos Montt's popularity was difficult to comprehend for most scholars and journalists because they have been so deeply influenced by human rights and solidarity work [...] The most influential literature on Guatemala has been written by activists,

20020-443: Was rejected because of his astigmatism . He then volunteered for the Guatemalan Army as a private, joining troops composed almost exclusively of full-blooded Mayas , until in 1946, he was able to enter the Polytechnic School. Ríos Montt graduated in 1950 at the top of his class. He taught at the Polytechnic School and received further specialized training, first at the U.S.-run officer training institute that would later be known as

20163-461: Was replaced by a rational strategy of counter-insurgency . Colville also indicated that extrajudicial "killings and kidnappings virtually ceased under the Ríos Montt regime." According to anthropologist David Stoll , "the crucial difference" between Ríos Montt and his predecessor Lucas García was that Ríos Montt replaced "chaotic terror with a more predictable set of rewards and punishments." According to analysts Georges A. Fauriol and Eva Loser of

20306-530: Was so volatile over the weekend that the UN mission and the US embassy were closed. Following the rioting, the Constitutional Court overturned the Supreme Court decision, allowing Ríos Montt to run for president. However, the jueves negro chaos undermined Ríos Montt's popularity and his credibility as a law-and-order candidate. Support for Ríos Montt also suffered because of the perceived corruption and inefficiency of

20449-497: Was strongly allied to the power of regular clergy of the Catholic Church , who were then among the largest landowners in Guatemala. The tight relationship between church and state had been ratified by the Concordat of 1852 , which was the law until Cerna was deposed in 1871. Even liberal generals like Serapio Cruz  [ es ] realized that Rafael Carrera's political and military presence made him practically invincible. Thus

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