The Guatemalan Civil War has been recorded as one of the bloodiest wars in Latin America. The war lasted for thirty-six years, where more than two hundred thousand people lost their lives, and one million people were displaced. McGill argues that the United States played a role in violating human rights by offering military aid, giving weapons, and training counterinsurgency methods to Guatemalan soldiers (McGill & William, 1989). The United States has also been accused of being indirectly involved in 1945 overthrowing Jacob Arbenz, a democratically elected president of Guatemala, which is regarded as paving the way for military rule.
Following the involvement of the United States Green Berets in the training of the Guatemala police unto the known “death squad,” a parallel portion group of the military repelled and formed militia groups who initiated guerrilla movements. In the initial stages, most of the victims of the violence were professionals, workers, students, and figures of opposition. However, most of the victims changed to non-combats and Mayan villagers, which was an average of eighty-three percent of the total victims (McGill & William, 1989). The thirty-six-year-old war ended in 1996 by signing a peace treaty between the government and guerrillas negotiated by the United Nations and other nations like Spain and Norway. The Guerilla fighters were disarmed and were given land by the government to work on.
Hernandez Ponce’s account of Guatemala indicates that the nation faced the danger of communist rebellion. There was an assimilation of Cuba by Fidel Castro in conjunction with the communist planned structure for the world domination and economic, political, and social problems, and the crises in Guatemala made Guatemala to be identified as the next target for the communists. However, the rebellion did not succeed (Ponce, 1991). The revolt created various actions in military and political operations for more than thirty years. Every time, the communist came to realize necessary tactical changes since every effort employed was defeated and frustrated by the state of Guatemalan.
Ponce argues that at the same time. Guatemala was accustomed to great flexibility in various occurrences presented by the insurgent movements and learned to capture the initiative. On the same occasion, Guatemala adjusted to different circumstances during the rebellion, where the movement knew to undertake the industry. To some extent, both Hernandez and McGill agree that the United States played an indirect role in the assassination of Jacob Arbenz, who was a democratically elected president. Both scholars agree that The United States was involved in training and arming rebel groups fighting against the government in Guatemala. While McGill argues that the government responded to the revolt by increasing the number of the police force and better training. The United States reacted by providing the human resources and funds necessary for training the police.
The events during the cold war had a more significant impact as they created possibilities for peaceful resolutions. The occurrences are also recorded to have resulted in the rise of new problems and other manifest predicaments. Therefore, the varying perceptions of the war resulted in different interpretations of conflicts between scholars. I am not worried that their interpretations of the conflict vary from the different perspectives.
References
McGill, I. I., & William, D. (1989). The Guatemalan Counterinsurgency Strategy.
Ponce, M. M. (1991). Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Guatemala. ARMY WAR COLL CARLISLE BARRACKS PA.
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