This dyad belongs to the conflict Guatemala: Government
Summary of conflict Guatemala: Government
Starting with an attempted coup in 1949, the Guatemalan conflict was, for a long period, mostly a conflict of left and right oriented ideals. Almost defeated in the late 1960s, the leftist FAR I was replaced by EPG and ORPA in the 1970s. In 1982, the rebels joined forces forming URNG. Using indiscriminate violence, the government, once again, drew rebels close to defeat in the early 1980s. A decade later, the conflict was ended through a series of peace agreements
Background and early resistance (1944-70)
The rise of rebel movements in Guatemala started in the 1960s with the PGT (Partido Guatemalteca del Trabajado, Guatemalan Labor Party) embracing the path of armed struggle. The PGT had formerly been known as the Communist Party but was forced to change its name after the latter had been outlawed. However, the start of the conflict pre-dated the formation of rebel movements. Though the initial divergence was on a political level where the leftists tried to regain the power they had lost, it turned to be more concerned with the rights of the indigenous Maya population in the 1970s and onwards.
1944 had seen the start of what has been called the "Guatemalan Revolution." A center-left oriented government, led by Arévalo, came to power through elections and started a massive welfare program to construct schools, hospitals, and housing. In 1947 a “Labor Code” was created, emphasizing the rights of the workers and leading to workers organizing. In 1949 a coup attempt resulted in a short-lived conflict in the country as workers united to beat down the rightist insurgents. In 1950 elections replaced the Arévalo government with one led by Arbenz, which set out to continue the “revolution” by nationalizing the resource areas where US companies were presently holding a monopoly in the country. The relationship between the US and Guatemala soon started to deteriorate at an increasing rate, and in 1954 CIA supported an insurgency. Arbenz was forced to resign and turned the power over to military officers. The following years saw right-wing presidents being sent to power through fraudulent elections. In 1957 the elections were even so openly fraudulent that they were annulled. In 1958 General Ydígoras came to power after his opponent was bribed by the CIA to accept defeat.
A failed coup attempt, on 13 November 1960, paved the way for the formation of MR-13 (Movimiento Revolucionario 13 de Noviembre, Revolutionary Movement November 13). The MR-13 was founded by a group of officers who had participated in the 1960 coup, naming the group after the event. The officers claimed that they, unlike the government, fought for what the people of Guatemala wanted. In the early 1960s, MR-13 and PGT were cooperating quite closely, with MR-13 contributing with military action to the political directions offered by PGT. In 1962 the cooperation took on a new dimension when PGT suggested that MR-13 and some other rebel groups should unite, fighting as the military wing of PGT. The groups accepted the offer and FAR I (Fuerzas Armadas Rebeldes, Rebel Armed Forces; the I is merely a way of separating the FAR I from the FAR II which emerges in the late 1960s) was created. The division of labor was similar to that of before, where PGT provided political direction but also some of the recruitment while MR-13 was still in charge of the implementation of the military campaigns.
Facing a more united rebel organization, the Guatemalan government, assisted by US advisers, started taking the rebellion more seriously. Repression of the guerrilla movements proved to be easily done by the military, but the campaign left thousands of civilians dead. Not only was the FAR I suffering from the army’s attacks, in 1964 a rift had developed between MR-13 and FAR I with MR-13 leaving the group as a consequence.
In 1966 it was time for national elections in Guatemala, which was something the PGT was supporting. During the election campaign, however, there was violence targeting the radical left. The violence left more than 30 left-wing candidates vanished, never again to be seen alive. Another 20 candidates were arrested but later released. PGT leaders were among those who disappeared during the campaign.
Though MR-13, PGT, and FGEI (Frente Guerrillero Edgar Ibarra, the Edgar Ibarra Guerrilla Front) had reunited into FAR I in 1967 they were broken up again in 1968. The military campaign against the rebels had, for the time being, been able to defeat the movement, splitting it up in a number of small factions. The large scale army offensive leading up to the defeat started just days after the death of FAR leader Turcios Lima in a car accident. The offensive was characterized by the army attacking the civilian population to break the support for the rebels, leaving up to 8000 peasants dead.
The second wave of violence (1970-1988)
The first half of the 1970s saw the Arena government (1970-74) combating the guerrillas almost to a total defeat. The government’s claims of victory were, however, incorrect and by mid-1970, rebels started to grow again. Following the breakup between FAR I (Fuerzas Armadas Rebeldes, Rebel Armed Forces) and PGT (Partido Guatemalteca del Trabajado, Guatemalan Labor Party) in the late 1960s, some guerrillas had gone into hiding in Mexico. In 1972 a group of former rebels re-entered Guatemala through the jungle in the north, in the hope of recruiting members to their new organization EGP (Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres, Guerrilla Army of the Poor). As the EGP entered the rural areas of the north of Guatemala, most of their recruitment was focused on the indigenous Maya population. The EGP was, however, more focused on a battle between classes than the promotion of the indigenous peoples’ rights per se.
Another Maya-based group was ORPA (Organizacíon del Pueblo en Armas, Organization of People in Arms) formed in the late 1970s. EGP and ORPA had very close connections from the start, but ORPA was acting as its own organization all the way up until 1982. While FAR I still existed, though at a low level of activity, it was still parted from PGT. However, PGT had already decided in 1969 that it needed a group of its own. The result was the creation of FAR II (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias, Revolutionary Armed Forces). In the 1970s, these four groups, EGP, ORPA, FAR I, and FAR II, were the main resistance to the government.
Shortly after the turn of the decade, in February 1982 to be precise, the rebel organizations went through a radical change. The ORPA and EGP, which were already cooperating to some degree, joined forces with the two FARs and formed the URNG (Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca, Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity). The union occurred at the peak of the guerrillas’ strength, and it has been estimated that URNG may have had as many as 7500 members. There have also been claims that, all in all, the guerrillas had more than a quarter of a million supporters organized in one way or another. As support for the insurgents grew, the army resorted to a strategy of repression, which was focused on indigenous communities in the rural highlands believed to be supporters, or potential supporters, of the rebel movement.
On the government side, the early 1980s was also a turbulent time. The US had withdrawn its aid to the country in 1977, and discontent was spreading amongst the ruling elites. Following fraudulent elections in March 1982, i.e., the month after the founding of URNG, General José Efraín Ríos Montt staged a coup and came to power. Though the offensive against the guerrillas was already on the move, Montt’s reign saw escalation of the level of violence. The army started an offensive known as ‘scorched earth,’ indiscriminately attacking villages thought to be supporting guerrillas. The campaign left some 440 villages destroyed.
The extreme violence left the government claiming victory by 1983, which was something that the URNG had continuously denied. The period following the ‘scorched earth’ campaign was more focused on consolidating the military’s undisputed role in rural areas. To assist the army, there were also paramilitary groups, known as PACs (Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil, Civilian Self-Defense Patrols). Members of the PACs were often recruited by force, and they were involved in a number of extrajudicial killings and other human rights offenses. By the late 1980s, it was still estimated that close to 800 000 people were members of PACs.
The late 1980s, however, meant a change in the Guatemalan conflict as a process towards a peaceful settlement between the government and the URNG. Important for this process, just as in many other peace processes in the region that ended in the 1980s and 1990s, was the 1987 signing of the Esquipulas II accord by the presidents of Central American countries. This agreement meant that the leaders of the countries in the region pledged to resolve their conflicts but also meant that the UN could enter into the process where the US had previously been a strong power.
Finding a negotiated solution
Following the stalemate that came in 1983, the progress towards peace negotiations in the late 1980s was slow. On 7 August 1987, Guatemala was a signatory of the peace plan for Central America (Esquipulas II). Other signatories to the Esquipulas II accord were the Presidents of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Although the principal aim of the accord was to resolve the internal conflicts in Nicaragua and El Salvador, the plan also applied to Guatemala's long-standing guerrilla war. Under the terms of the 1987 Esquipulas II accord, the Commission of National Reconciliation (CNR) was established by the government with one official delegate, one representative of existing political parties, one prominent citizen, and a delegate from the Guatemalan Bishops Conference (CEG). In the same year, the commission facilitated the first-ever meeting between the URNG (Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca, Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity) and state representatives and then engaged in further talks with the rebels in 1988.
During 1989, however, there was increased guerrilla activity, from both the left and the right. President Cerezo refused to negotiate with URNG as long as its members remained armed. Preliminary talks, between the commission and URNG began in Oslo in March 1990. One of the most notable features of the peace process in Guatemala was the role played by the popular and indigenous organizations, which formed a Civil Society Assembly through which they made proposals. The greatest achievement of the Assembly was the Indigenous Rights Accord, which was adopted in 1995 and was drawn up by the Co-ordination of Organisations of the Mayan People of Guatemala (COP-MAGUA). The accord recognized indigenous rights for the first time in the country's history and acknowledged that Guatemala was a multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-ethnic country. In March 1996, a temporary, open-ended ceasefire was announced by the rebels. In May, an agreement on social and agrarian form was reached, and on 19 September 1996 in Mexico, the Government and URNG came to an agreement signaling a resolution to the 36-year-old civil war. The agreement provided for constitutional changes and legislation that would democratize the role of the military and intelligence services by making them subordinate to elected bodies. On 29 December 1996, the Agreement for a Firm and Lasting Peace, consisting of eleven peace accords, was signed by the Government and the URNG.
The demobilization of URNG successfully took place under UN observation in March-May 1997. In 1998 the rebel movement was recognized as a political party. However, due to internal power struggles, it has been difficult for URNG to influence topics on the national political agenda in the post-peace era. In accordance with the Oslo Agreement in 1994, a Commission for Historical Clarification (Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico - CEH) was established. In February 1999, CEH published a report which found that 200 000 people had been killed or had "disappeared" between 1962 and 1996. The vast majority of them were indigenous Mayans.
