the guatemalan genocide

1. The Guatemalan Genocide

3. Who? The Guatemalan Genocide was committed by the Guatemalan Army & its subordinate �counterinsurgency� groups.

4. Who? Cont. Throughout the course of the genocide, the United States was known to be aiding the Guatemalan Army with weapons and training, including the School of the Americas.

5. How? Most of the killing was done by execution, extreme torture, and �disappearance�.

6. How? Cont. �Disappearance� was a technique in which suspected communists would be snatched during the night or while traveling to work or other such places by members of the Guatemalan Army under President Efrain Rios Montt.

7. Why? The genocide took place under the order of Rios Montt, who was a right-wing radicalist. He believed that the Mayans were communists/communist sympathizers, and viewed them as a threat to democracy.

8. Why? Cont. In addition, the genocide was also fueled by a long standing racial prejudice against the native Mayans.

9. The Victims The victims were largely Mayan Indians. Men, women, and children were destroyed; as were their possessions and land due to the Guatemalan Government�s �scorched earth� policy.

10. Scorched Earth This was a policy of total war � in which buildings, crops, and water supplies were destroyed in order to completely cripple the �enemy�.

11. The Victims Cont. The �Death Squads� that swept through Mayan villages were known to rape and torture women, force children to watch executions, amputate limbs, impale, and immolate innocent villagers.

12. Victims Cont. It is estimated that over 600 villages were destroyed, 20,000 Mayans killed, and 100,000 were displaced as a result of the genocide.

13. Guilty Parties Rios Montt�s administrations was wholly responsible for the genocide, as he was well aware of the racial targeting and communist witch hunt that he had called for.

15. Guilty Parties Cont. The strongly anti-communist American government at the time was guilty of supplying the Guatemalan Army with weapons and training � regardless of the extreme human rights violations that were taking place.

16. Guilty Parties Cont. Israel was also known to have sold weapons to the Guatemalan Army during the genocide.

17. The Impact The Guatemalan Genocide resulted in the deaths of over 20,000 indigenous Mayans and the displacement of thousands. 3 years after the genocide, Montt lost power and a civilan rule was established.

18. The Impact Cont. Although many died in the genocide, it was largely ignored by the United States government and the rest of the world. Many years later, trials have been conducted to deliver justice to those who contributed to the genocide.

21. Bibliography Levy, Karen. "Placing Blame for Genocide." SF Gate. Th Nov. 2000. 22 Jan. 2007 <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/11/16/MN94314.DTL> �Guatemala 1982." Peace Pledge Union. 22 Jan. 2007 <http://www.ppu.org.uk/genocide/g_guatemala.html> "World: Americas Guatemala 'Genocide' Probe Blames State." BBC News. Th Feb. 1999. 22 Jan. 2007 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/286402.stm>. http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SCA1207-0-1662&artno=0000175016&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SCA1207-0-2364&artno=0000244960&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=guatemalan%20genocide&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N

22. <http://www.sweetmarias.com/guatemala.gif> http://www.faoa.org/images/usarsa.gif http://www.aaanativearts.com/pyramids_of_Tikal.jpg http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39919000/jpg/_39919733_rc10.jpg http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/guatemala/rios-montt.jpg