Very Brief History of Guatemala

Before I talk about my experiences, i want to give very brief history/info so you have some understanding of the social and political climate of the country. Especially since i know many of you reading this have no Guatemalan history. I apologize for the simplicity of this telling. The country is about 60% Mayan with 22 differ languages. After the Spanish invasion of 1521 about 2/3 of the Mayan population was killed and wiped out. September 15, 1821 Guatemala gained independance from Spain. There was a huge U.S. influence in the 1800s. By 1920 the United Fruit Company owned 75% of the usuable land, owned railroads, ports, & electric companies. So clearly the ownership of Guatemala was not held by the people. In Oct 1944 there was a massive uprising to overthrow the dictator. Teachers played a huge role in organizing, protesting, and winning this movement. Over the next decade, which was also during time of cold war, propoganda spread and anyone with differ views from government were considered a communist. This fear of communism led U.S. to beleive Guatemala was a "threat" to U.S. and in 1954 the CIA funded a coup d´etat to overthrow the government. This began 36 years of civil war. November 1960 was the first guerilla uprising, but the government was able to put an end to this. In 1980 several guerilla groups came together to form one united group called Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca or URNG. The 1970s-1980s were the worst years. Union leaders, activits, professors, school teachers, student leaders, Catholics, were assasinated or kidnapped to get rid of any people even suspected of organizing or speaking against the government. From 1978-1982 a military tactic called "tierra arrasada" or scorched earth was implemented. Over 500 masacres occured killing mostly Mayan men, women, and children. The U.S. government funded and trained Guatemalan officials during this time period. The U.S. military training school in Georgia then known as "The School of the Americas" and today known as "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation" was a school to equip and train leaders of Latin America. During the 1960´s it changed its focus to train "counterinsurgency in order to prevent communism from spreading." It is beleived that military tactics taught violated human rights laws and that the leaders that carried out the massacres attended the school. In 1996 A Peace Agreement was signed to end the civil war. Although a peace accord is on paper, not much has changed for the people of Guatemala. Poverty, illitercy, and violence are still prevelant. With all that said, this November are the presidential elections. The two candidates left are right wing conservative and one is a military official that attended "The school of the Americas" and took part in the "tierra arrasad" in the 70s and 80s.