Guatemala

Guatemala was colonized by the Spanish as early as 1540. Since then, its society has been characterized by division and inequity between Indigenous Guatemalans and those of European or mixed racial heritage. The Spanish remained in control until September 15th, 1821, when the Guatemalans declared independence after watching Mexico do the same three weeks prior. Guatemala was led by various different leaders over the next 125 years. By the mid 1900s Guatemala was ruled by liberals who wanted to make reforms. One of these reforms involved redistributing unused land among Guatemalan peasants. This angered the United Fruit Company, a corporation from the United States, who owned much of that unused land and was also Guatemala’s largest employer. Fearing they would lose massive profits the United States ordered the CIA to secretly train Guatemalan exiles in Honduras. In 1954 this army of exiles invaded Guatemala and took control of the country allowing conservative Carlos Castillo Armas to rise to power. For the next 40 years, Guatemala was controlled by a series of oppressive regimes that were opposed by leftist Guatemalans. In the civil war that ensued, the Guatemalan military conducted violent campaigns to cut off the guerrillas' support among Guatemala's Indigenous communities, leading to the deaths of over 200,000 people. The fighting continued through 1982 when the United States cut all military assistance in Guatemala. This allowed for some peace but the violence did not really cease until 1996 when a peace treaty was signed between different groups fighting in Guatemala.

Works Cited

Chasteen, John Charles. Born in Blood and Fire: a Concise History of Latin America. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.

“History of Guatemala.” centralamerica.com, Accessed January 25, 2021. https://www.centralamerica.com/guatemala/history/.