The Guatemalan Civil War, Kalia Hobbs

Kalia Hobbs
AP World History

My topic within the greater Cold War is the Guatemalan Civil War. To see what the interviews are about and get a little background information about the people I interviewed, please see introductions below : )

-INTRODUCTIONS-

Mario Flores and Aurelio Hernandez are both men I met in Antigua, Guatemala. They are the Guatemalan program directors for Global Visionaries, a social justice and global leadership program that connects high school students in Seattle to high school students in Guatemala. The Seattle youth go to Guatemala and participate in work groups with the Chapin youth to better the situations of people in their country. I went on this trip last spring, volunteered in a hospital there, and met Mario and Aurelio who coordinate everything on the Guatemalan side of the program. They are both in their thirties. I know Oscar Garcia and Sandra Ordonez from the same program trip to Guatemala. They both are in their twenties and work for the program as youth leaders that helped us through our experiences in Antigua and the outskirts. Sandra Ordonez is actually one of my best friends and she is here in Seattle for a year, being a part of Earth Corps. I’m interviewing all of them about their personal and their family’s experiences and perspectives through the Guatemalan Civil War. They were all in Guatemala during the duration of the time they were alive and the war was still going on.



-INTERVIEWS-


-MARIO FLORES-

My first memory about this time were one night, my father was a professor and was teaching at night, that particular day I was like 7 year old when a bomb near a electric tower shouted the power for like an hour, I was really scared, wondering about my father, not knowing really what was going on, and not sure if he was going to come back home, at that time, teachers, professors, open minded people were at risk to be eliminated by the government. I was lucky because my entire family is from Easter Guatemala, were the war didn’t hit to much, the most affected area was western Guatemala (the high lands were the majority of the Mayan communities are).
My memory isn’t that good, because the were the worse of the war was happened, I was 4 or 5 years, I do remember once when I was in 3er grade there was a pacific demonstration in front of my school, that ended up with the police using tear gas and killing some people, we got in the basement of the school waiting for our families to pick us up.
The hardest part was that my father was a well know human right supporter, among our group of family friends, there were a few that decided to support the civil movement that at that time were call guerrilleros, (communist) a lot of friends ended up leaving the country because their lives were in danger, by the government.
Personally I think that the conditions that started the war In the first time, hasn’t changed, and even though that for my family and I we are able to walk around easily. I know that for a lot of Guatemalans in the rural areas the struggle continues. Not much difference in lifestyle from now, a few rich people and a lot of poverty , and now is pretty much the same, without the difference that now, you have a feeling of not being in war.
My experience of the war was since I was born up to when I was 15 year olds with the worse part when I was 4 to 5 years old. To be hones I thought that was going to be a normal person, again I was in a private school in Guatemala city , and wasn’t exposed to it as much as someone kid of my same age from the highlands.
I know that my father hosted guerilla fighters in his home in the city, before he get married, and also organizing school teacher to get in “Sindicatos” ( unions) Yea of cures I was worried that my father and family were going to be killed.
Can’t answer whether I think anything good came out of the war, because I think that there were a lot of lives that ended and no change was made; because in my opinion as a different of what happened in el Salvador the groups of power in this country didn’t share the power at all, and the conditions are pretty much the same.
The worst part was the not knowing when my father or family were going to be killed just because they were educated and opponents of the dictator’s governments.



-SANDRA ORDONEZ-

Well they told me that when the guerrillas arrived in San Antonio Aguas Calientes was very difficult for my parents because all the villagers had to travel to Antigua to go buy the market because there is no market in San Antonio. But it was very difficult to leave the village and one day my parents had to go to old to take my brother to the hospital because he was very sick and were out the guerrillas and the bus fell. They said they had to return to the park because they wanted to talk to all the people and my parents said they had to go to hospital, but can not leave the people returned to the park and listened to the guerrillas. They said they were in favor of the poor and only wanted food and did not say anything to the military when they reached the village after the talks that were forcing everyone to go home and could not talk to anyone and in each block two guerrillas were seeing that all people would live to their homes. They had like 5 minutes after arrived at my parents house when they heard shots in the mountains. They were scared and then when they knocked on the door but was so afraid to open the door and they were the soldiers who were coming from house to house because they thought that guerrillas were hiding in the houses and the soldiers entered the house and moved all things and asked who had said the guerrillas, but my dad told them that they had not gone to hear the talk of the guerrillas because they had a sick child, then to see that there was nothing in the house were my parents were wondering where the guerrillas were gone because the military came very fast, and my dad that the military has killed many children in the mountains because they were all farmers and had their crops and had to work but the military thought that the peasants were in that place to see all the people and tell the guerrillas that the military was getting into town and for that reason they were killed. Some children will die because Lifeguard Mountain dropped because they were killed like animals or with large sticks were beaten on the head to see that the child was dying or just cut their heads with machetes.
And they say that was very difficult life in that time because they knew who were good and that really helped the poor and also all the people could not leave their homes after 6 pm was a government order and if the military found someone on the street after 6 killed. Many people died because they had the need to go to buy something to eat in small shops and this not only happened in my town was all over the country and if they wanted go somewhere else had to carry their documents where there is no military documents and take them became part of the army, and many young people were part of the army but did not want to kill them otherwise.



-OSCAR GARCIA-

What little I remember because at that time I was about 6, 7, 8, or 9 years was very young and older people listened fearful that at some point the gerrilla or military showed up at the mountain since most of Abitante in that time were farmers and had their crops on the slopes of the volcano of water so they feared that some of these the aserles threatened to harm without giving them no food or water.
My family in this time of Gerra and lived in this town called San Pedro Las Huertas. Thank God in this part of the country not suffered much as in the departments of Quiche Totonicapan Chichicastemango and others but always my parents and other community members were very fearful.
My family not affected horribly but was left as in many Guatemalan families fear to see an armed soldier or a person because it doesn’t matter if it is good or bad person you’re going to protect, you will get hurt.
You've got a big fear and I think the time been blurred a little this fear.
One of the hard part now that I think my family is that at that time the army of Guatemala took to the streets of the town in specific areas at 7 pm or so and if they found a man who had an average age of 17 and 40 years they caught him and put it in trucks that transported them to where they were all soldiers and then trained to use arms when necessary to serves the country supposedly against guerrillas.
All this without the consent of parents or wives to people who had families, because the army does not care about this then I remember that all had to carry their identification that here in Guatemala are called identity card.
The concern in my family because my brother was bigger now 36 years, worked at the time of bread (to pan) then working at night and worked in Antigua so every night my mom was worried because people every morning the people said that a son or a father that came to the army.
Of the events I can remember one is that we were always hoping that my father returned from work because it is a farmer and was also afraid that my brother who at the time I was about 17 or 18 years it could lead the army. The lifestyle of the economic point of view I think it has changed a lot because it is having your shortage for most of the country and all the money that was spent for this war could better serve to feed many people and a very good idea. Hahaha food, but I think many people remain poor because the war he killed the parent or parents and destroyed their home or their harvest and troubled to start from scratch.



-AURELIO HERNANDEZ-

My family during the war was living in the same please where we leave now. The hard parts for my family and me was when I wanted to be free and the army said NO everything than my parents said. I remember when the army and the guerrilla was together nearby my village, was available to hear and see how they killed within them. The end of the war was important because we had a little development after that. During the war was a affair life, no free to talk about, after the war we can see and feel the development and more democracy
A normal day was to go to study and be care for the army, because the was under the streets watching youth to take and be part of the army. The war was from when I was 0 to 24 years old. At those ages I felt that my life was going to be terrible, watching many war events, people kill and people die. Everybody was trying to get the paz
Off course I did worry, and the most worry for me was the education specially for my education because on this time I was in the middle of my education process
There are many good things from the war but one of many is that now I really know why the wars happen and who is the author, or who are the people involved, because in the majorities of the wars same peoples are the responsible.
For me the worst part of the war was when I knew that one of my classmate was in the army and he was killed.
I remember many things, especially when the army caught me to be part of the army. My experience when the army caught me was a fear experience. I remember that day was Friday, I went to study like a normal day, when I leaved from the school I usually walked around 20 blocks from the school to take the bus to go back to my house at 7:00 p.m. I went with one of my best friend from the school, when we crossed the street because on the other side was the bus waiting for us, we saw the soldiers walking in our direction behind us and we started to run and tried to come in to the bus but just my friend get to be in the bus one of the soldiers caught me from my feet, my friend said to me “do not worry I am going to go to your house and let you parents know that the army caught you” because we did not have phone in our houses, then the army put me in a truck to go to the government office in Antigua Guatemala when I had to say all my personal description like name, age, occupation, etc. my house is located 5 kilometers away from Antigua and at 6:30 p.m. is the last bus from my village to Antigua you can imagine what my parents do to com to Antigua to see me because around 11:00 pm. My parents was outside of the government office just to say “son, we will do the impossible because you do not have to be in the army” then the army put me again in another big truck to go another place (military base) 20 kilometer away from Antigua Guatemala, I do not know how my parents came back home at this time 11:30 p.m. from Antigua (5 kilometers) they really love me because they did a lot things for me. So when I arrived to the military base the soldiers called us (a group of 50 youth) welcome to your house this is the man house, we did sleep that day because we was fear, at 5:00 a.m. one soldier said “wake up, is time to shower” cold water, everybody together, etc. then we went to take breakfast we make a big line because in this military base there was more youth from everywhere. During the day (Saturday) I saw many soldiers around without arms, feet, eye, etc. and some soldier said this is happened for your country, because they love their country (Guatemala) I was more fear with this….. during the night same thing, big line to take food. Next day around 2:00 p.m. the principal from the army called me and asked me “do you love your country? I said YES, do you want to serve to your country? I said YES, do you want to be part of the Army? I said NO, he asked why, I said because I am studding and I want to finished my school, and he said, you should study here and finished your school with us……. Etc. etc. but I said the type of education that I want is different and I would like to go back to my village, my school, my house, my family etc. then around 5:00 p.m. he said OK go outside but no walking, you have to go like a frog (for 5 blocks) at the entrance was my parents waiting for me without eat breakfast and lunch it was very sad, they (my parents) was making a lot things like contact the principal from my school on weekend, without phone numbers, without address of him…. Etc. I cannot believe what others things they did, because they wanted me back….
-REFLECTIONS-


1) What surprised you in these interviews?

Something that Mario told me before was that his father almost joined the guerilla which is really surprising. He remembers his father mulling over the decision and ultimately choosing to focus on his own family and taking care of his wife and children rather than trying to take care of the whole country of Guatemala. Something that he told me a long time ago was that, even ten years ago, you could still be killed for talking about the civil war. It was, and is, a very, very sensitive topic. Talking with him about it last year, when my group was in Guatemala, made him feel very uncomfortable and nervous because it was still such a fresh topic. I don’t feel like there’s anything in the United States that I fear having a conversation about and so this was an entirely new thought process for me. And it really hit home that he worries about talking about the Guatemalan Civil War due to his safety. It made the war feel so much closer. Which it is – it ended in 1996. Another incredibly surprising thing, from Aurelio’s interview, is that he was caught by the army but ended up getting away. This is such a rare occurrence that I was completely caught off guard and asked him follow up questions about his experience with that. I think the overall regular experiences and sights of the war were surprising, although somewhat expected from what I know of the Guatemalan Civil War.

2) How does what they experienced match – or differ from – what you read in the historical context?

My interviews and what I researched for the historical context definitely seems to match up. Everyone’s personal experience makes the war so much more “real” to me though. I read about all the disappearances, atrocities, killings, etc. but hearing stories from people who I know well and their experiences makes me even more sympathetic and interested in the topic. It seems like a not very well known topic but I truly enjoy learning as much as I can about it because it helps me gain a better idea of why Guatemala is the way it is.

3) If you were to expand this project, who else would be valuable to talk with? What other perspectives would you want to include?

If I was able to expand this project and had more time, I would want to talk with this Guatemalan man that I know in Seattle. He is a little bit older and was living in a Mayan village so I feel like his experience might be more intense. The issue was communication, because his English and my Spanish are both not skilled enough. He also works a lot and didn’t have time. I would also want to find someone that had a distinct role in the civil war. I think that the people I interviewed were very much so affected by the war, but they didn’t have a role in making it better or worse necessarily. I think that talking to someone in the Guerilla or talking to a CIA from the United States would be interesting. But I think the biggest problem is that the CIA tries to deny a lot of their involvement by whiting out certain government documents and such that have to do with Guatemala. So, I really doubt that someone from the CIA would talk to me.

4) What would you have wanted to do differently? Questions you should have asked, different people to interview, etc.

I don’t have any regrets that I could have controlled. I would have liked to interview in person but that just was not an option in any of the cases of the people who I interviewed.

5) In what ways do these interviews shed light on the giant worldwide topic of the Cold War?

These interviews are a personal perspective window and look into the effects of the Civil War and the giant worldwide topic of the Cold War because all these stories are a direct outcome of the communism vs. non-communism movements and rivalries going on around the world. The killings, pain, fear, and atrocities are all things that happened in Guatemala, but really, it was the rest of the world who was so concerned about communism. Mario touches briefly on the differences between the Guerilla and the government (Communist vs. non-communist), and the stories overall reflect the bigger, worldwide issue.


















-HISTORICAL CONTEXT-

The United States got involved with the Guatemalan Civil war, which began in 1960 and ended in 1996, with the main goal of stopping the growth of communism in the world. It was the United States government who originally came up with a plan to stop the guerilla through the CIA and with the financial help from the United Fruit Company (Wikipedia, “Guatemalan Civil War”). The United Fruit Company was a constant support throughout the war for the Guatemalan government, siding against the Mayans and guerilla. In the 1950’s, the U.S. helped with the overthrow of the democratically elected president in response to Nicaragua’s request for assistance (Doyle, Kornbluh, “CIA and Assassinations: The Guatemala 1954 Documents”, par. 9). The Guatemalan leader had communist tendencies which caused worry in nearby countries. The United States was more than delighted to help changing Guatemala’s political direction by assisting them in taking the president out of power. The United States was committed to countering the spread of communism and sent military support. Declassified CIA documents prove that the United States was a fundamental component in organizing, funding, and equipping the 1954 coup which toppled Guatemala's democratically elected government (Doyle, “The Guatemalan Military: What the U.S. Files Reveal”, par. 6). Professor of History, Stephen G. Rabe, writes in his book The Americas, "In destroying the popularly elected government of Jacobo Arbenz Guzman (1950-1954), the United States initiated a nearly four-decade-long cycle of terror and repression.”
The Guatemalan Civil War was part of the greater Cold War. There were tensions throughout the world with communist versus non-communist; the United States was trying to stop the spread (Doyle and Osorio, “U.S. Policy in Guatemala, 1966-1996”, par. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9). The civil war in Guatemala was 36 years long ("Geography and Map of Guatemala."). Guatemala was filled with enormous injustice, torture, killings, disappearances, and more that ruined the lives of young and old alike, much of which was at the United States fault (Doyle, “The Guatemalan Military: What the U.S. Files Reveal”, par. 6).
The first phase of this war, in the 1950’s and 60’s, was the government against “middle class intellectuals and students”. This group was considered meek in comparison to the Guatemalan army who had been trained by the U.S. Army Trainers and the CIA. The second phase was in the 1960’s and was when “young officers and students of Guatemala’s Military School” started the official guerilla organization. Previous to the third phase, most of the violence stayed in the countryside, however when the third phase came in the 1970’s – there was fighting all throughout Guatemala, in cities and countryside. The fourth phase, in the 1980’s and on, is what changed Guatemala forever. This was a “phase of total war” where the Mayan population was especially targeted by the Guatemalan military (Wikipedia, “Guatemalan Civil War”). There were “countless massacres of Mayans, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings.” (Blanton, “The CIA in Latin America”, par. 9). Tactics and strategy were almost exclusively led by the U.S., based in the Panama Canal Zone. United States supported the government while Cuba and other communist states supported the guerilla (Wikipedia, “Guatemalan Civil War”).
Four main left wing guerilla groups (The Guerilla Army of the Poor, The Revolutionary Organization of Armed People, the Rebel Armed Forces, and the Guatemalan Labor Party) came together to form the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity in 1982, during the fourth phase of the war (Wikipedia, “Guatemalan Civil War”). During the same period as the union of the main left wing groups, extreme right wing groups tortured and murdered students, professionals, and peasants suspected of involvement with the guerilla. There were brutal assaults on civilian population. Tactics and strategy were almost exclusively led by the U.S., based in the Panama Canal Zone. United States supported the government while Cuba and other communist states supported the guerilla. The definition of a proxy war is a war that results when opposing powers use third parties as substitutes for fighting each other directly. With the United States on the government side and Cuba and others supporting the rebels, it seems reasonable to say this was a cold war proxy war with Cuba and the U.S. working through other areas and means to get at each other.
The war went on and on, with leaders coming in and out of power, and most Guatemalans needing to make the choice between the guerilla and the government.
By the end of the war, 200,000 people had been killed. The Guatemalan Civil War is described in the report of the Archbishop’s Office for Human Rights. “The office attributed almost 90% of the atrocities and over 400 massacres to the Guatemalan army (and paramilitary), and less than 5% of the atrocities to the guerillas (including 16 massacres).”
In a different report in 1999, it was stated that the government was responsible for 93% of the humans rights violations committed during the war and the guerillas were responsible for 3%. 83% of the victims were Mayan.
“Victims were not only deprived of their liberty arbitrarily, but they were almost always subjected to interrogation, accompanied by torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. In the majority of cases, the detainees were disappeared or executed.”
The civilians were victims of the acts of the government more often than the guerilla itself. The guerillas goal throughout the war was to fight back against the injustices, discrimination, and lack of opportunity that the Mayan people were faced with. The government wanted complete control and to make sure that the country didn’t turn communist.
The Humans Rights Watch has described the actions by the armed forces, mostly against unarmed civilians. For example, there was the massacre of over 160 civilians by military soldiers in the village of Las Dos Erres in 1982. The abuses included “burying some alive in the village well, killing infants by slamming their heads against walls, keeping young women alive to be raped over the course of three days. This was not an isolated incident. Rather it was one of over 400 massacres documented by the truth commission – some of which, according to the commission, constituted "acts of genocide."” (Wikipedia, “Guatemalan Civil War”). By the end of the war, 200,000 people had been killed, 40,000 disappeared, and around 1,000,000 refugees ("Geography and Map of Guatemala."; Doyle, Ball, Byrne, Manuel, “Guatemalan Death Squad Dossier: Internal Military Log Reveals Fate of 183 “Disappeared””, Par. 4). The Guatemalan Civil War lasted from 1960-1996, but the effects live on in noticeable ways today. Starting in the 1980’s, Guatemala started working towards more democratic politics. Democratic elections occurred in 1995. The peace process started in 1994 and the government and the guerilla signed agreements about human rights, the resettlement of people who had been displaced, the rights of the indigenous, and more (Doyle, “The Guatemalan Military: What the U.S. Files Reveal”, par. 1, 7; Short, “The International Politics of Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Guatemala”, Page 77, 78). Both the rebel organizations and the government signed documents declaring peace and ending the 36-year war in 1996 ("Geography and Map of Guatemala."; Short, “The International Politics of Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Guatemala”, Page 86). It seems that after over 30 years, it was decided by all that there had to be a stop. This terrible war has changed Guatemala forever. People still live in fear of violence and there are people who will be traumatized throughout the rest of their lives from the atrocities they experienced during the war (Short, “The International Politics of Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Guatemala”, Page 87). The Guatemalan Civil War is something never forgotten by the people of Guatemala because of the impact it still has today.



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