Guatemalan Civil War
The war that tore Guatemala apart
Before the War
The violence stared over 500 years ago. The Spanish conquest rocked the peaceful Mayan civilization. The Spanish conquest took 13 years. But when they succeeded they forced Mayans in t working for them, burned Mayan books, and then burned alive any one who could read or write the Mayan language. The Mayan were smart and recreated the books in the Spanish alphabet. Some Mayan kept "leadership" but had very little say. The Mayan suffered, they were murdered and mistreated. They were forced to convert to Christianity. Many Mayans died from disease brought from the Spanish.
The Begining
Between 1960 and 1978 Guatemalan military rulers kept beating there other opponents, Guatemalans could not get them out of office no matter how hard they tried. A group called the LEFT launched a full blown civil war, they received support from many indigenous people. The government saw the Mayan as an enemy due to the relationship between them and the LEFT group. The government started targeting the Mayan because of this. The government started to use dirty war tactics. In 1966 a death squad captured, tortured, and killed 30 leftist and dropped them in the Pacific Ocean. Over time this strategy would be used a lot.
Silent Holocaust
From 1960 to 1978 over 10,000 people were killed. Guatemalan armies stormed over 625 Mayan villages. They captured, tortured, and killed. After being rounded up they were brutally murdered, forced to watch the murder of family and friends, and even had to take part in the murders. Children were beaten against walls and thrown in pits of fire. Many people were left to die painfully alone. The government and there killing squads were ruthless to the innocent Mayan.
After the War
Even though the civil war is over Guatemala still suffers. It is one of the most dangerous countries. Many people still do not trust the government. Many Mayan people have emotional distress due to the war that only ended 15 years ago. Alcoholism is huge problem, due to emotions and also physical pain due to torture. Government to this day still are not trust worthy, there are many scandals. So many politicians are arrested in Guatemala. Guatemala may have made a lot of progress, but still have a lot of effort to pull them out of there deep hole.