Guatemalan genocide

A campaign of mass killings and other atrocities by Guatemalan state forces against Maya communities during Guatemala’s civil war, especially in the early 1980s.

Scorched-earth policy: A military strategy that destroys resources and settlements to deny them to an enemy. Guatemalan forces used village destruction and crop burning to isolate communities from insurgents.
Guatemalan Civil War: An armed conflict between the Guatemalan state and leftist insurgent groups from 1960 to 1996. The genocide unfolded within this longer conflict between the state and insurgent organizations.
Efraín Ríos Montt: Guatemala’s de facto head of state from 1982 to 1983 and a former army general. His rule coincided with the most intense phase of massacres against Maya communities.
Guatemala: Never Again!: A 1998 report by Guatemala’s Catholic Church documenting human rights abuses during the civil war. Its testimony and findings helped establish a public record of state violence.
Genocide Convention: The 1948 United Nations treaty defining genocide and obligating states to prevent and punish it. Its legal definition framed arguments over whether attacks on Maya groups constituted genocide.
Massacre of Dos Erres: A 1982 massacre in which Guatemalan special forces killed hundreds of residents of Dos Erres. It shows how a counterinsurgency operation turned a village into a site of mass killing.
Guatemalan Revolution: A reform period from 1944 to 1954 that ended military rule and introduced social and political change in Guatemala. Its overthrow reshaped land politics and helped set conditions for later conflict.
Lucas García: Romeo Lucas García, Guatemala’s president from 1978 to 1982 during escalating state violence. His administration preceded Ríos Montt’s and oversaw major military campaigns against Indigenous communities.
Commission for Historical Clarification: A United Nations-sponsored commission that investigated human rights abuses during Guatemala’s civil war. Its 1999 report concluded that state forces committed acts of genocide against Maya groups.
Genocidal intent: The specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Prosecutors had to connect military actions to the intent required for a genocide conviction.

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