Guatemalan Civil War

An armed conflict between Guatemala’s government and leftist insurgent groups from 1960 to 1996, marked by state violence against Indigenous Maya communities.

Dos Erres massacre: A 1982 massacre in which Guatemalan soldiers killed hundreds of residents of the village of Dos Erres. It exemplifies the army’s counterinsurgency violence against rural civilians.
Scorched-earth policy: A military strategy that destroys food, shelter, and infrastructure to deny resources to an enemy. Guatemalan forces used village destruction and killings to isolate insurgents from civilian support.
Efraín Ríos Montt: Guatemalan general and head of state from 1982 to 1983, during an especially violent phase of the conflict. His government directed campaigns later examined in genocide proceedings.
Guatemalan genocide: The mass killing and other acts against Maya groups during Guatemala’s armed conflict, recognized as genocide by the historical clarification commission. The commission attributed acts of genocide against Maya groups to state forces.
1954 Guatemalan coup d'état: A CIA-backed operation that overthrew Guatemala’s elected president Jacobo Árbenz in 1954. The coup reversed reforms and deepened political polarization before the war.
Río Negro massacres: A series of massacres of Maya Achi people in Guatemala’s Río Negro region during the early 1980s. These killings accompanied forced displacement around the Chixoy Dam project.
Civilian self-defense patrols: Armed civilian organizations organized by Guatemala’s military during the internal conflict. Their forced participation extended military control into rural communities.
Romeo Lucas García: Guatemalan military officer and president from 1978 to 1982 during escalating counterinsurgency violence. His presidency preceded the army’s most intense campaigns in the highlands.
Ríos Montt trial: The 2013 Guatemalan trial in which former head of state Efraín Ríos Montt was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity before the verdict was annulled. The trial tested criminal accountability for atrocities during the war.
Guatemalan Revolution: A period of democratic reform in Guatemala from 1944 to 1954, ended by the overthrow of Jacobo Árbenz. Its reforms and abrupt reversal formed the political backdrop to later insurgency.

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