CHAPTER

VI
EXACERBATION OF
VIOLENCE AND
MILITARIZATION OF
THE STATE.
(1979-1985)
 < Chapter VI
 Exacerbation of violence and militarization of the state.

 The Government of Lucas García

 The destruction of the social movement

 The guerrilla offensive

 The Government of Ríos Montt: scorched earth and second defeat of the guerrilla

 The de facto Government of Mejía Víctores

 Resurgence of the social movement

 The new Constitution

 Exacerbation of
Leonardo

violence and
militarization of
During the period between 1979 and 1985 the spiral of

the state.
violence continued to increase to unimaginable levels.
The governments of Generals Romeo Lucas García and
Efraín Ríos Montt concentrated their efforts on
annihilating the internal enemy, limiting themselves not
only to fighting the guerrillas but also systematically
attacking the social movement and the population in
areas with a strong guerrilla presence. Mainly Mayan
population.
In the government of Lucas García (1978-82), the counter-incriminating strategy focused on
eliminating both the urban and rural social movement, which had grown significantly during the
previous years, as well as fighting the guerrillas. Later, Efraín Ríos Montt (1982-83) gave
continuity to the scorched earth strategy, destroying hundreds of villages, mainly in the Altiplano,
and causing a massive displacement of the civilian population living in the conflict areas. At the
same time, the Army implanted militarized structures, such as the Civil Self-Defense Patrols
(PAC), to consolidate its control over the population, seeking to counteract the influence of the
insurgency and reduce the causes that generated unrest among the population, organizing the so-
called development poles.
The Government of General Humberto Mejía Víctores (1983-85) continued with this strategy,
strengthening militarization with the expansion and institutionalization of the Civil Self-Defense
Patrols, and giving a strong push to the development poles and model villages.
The
Government of
Lucas Garcia.
In 1978 the military continued with the
electoral model of previous years. The third
military election was that of the former
Defense Minister, General Romeo Lucas
García as president and that of the civilian
Francisco Villagrán Kramer as vice
president. The election came in the midst of
a political crisis.
The terror that was unleashed during this government destroyed all existing social, political and
professional organizations. The administration of justice was also strongly affected by this.
Judges and lawyers were assassinated in order to completely paralyze justice and any action to
protect human rights. In no other period have so many judges and lawyers been executed, 281
The Government
especially those whoofhadGeneral Humberto
processed personalMejía Víctores
exhibition (1983-85)
appeals or who continued
had issued with this
resolutions
strategy,tostrengthening
contrary the interestsmilitarization with the expansion
of the Government. Faced withandthis
institutionalization
repression, otherof judges
the Civil
and
Self-Defense Patrols, and giving a strong push to the development poles and model
lawyers chose to comply with the Executive's impositions for the application of justice. The villages.
constant violations of human rights led the Vice President of the Republic to resign him in
1981, being replaced by Colonel Oscar Mendoza Azurdia.
The Lucas García government, although it also promoted
infrastructure and development projects and continued the
military strategy of modernizing the economy, was less
successful in relation to economic changes than the
previous two.
Among the economic policies undertaken by this Government are the development plan of the
Northern Transversal Strip, the construction of the new Pacific port and several public
buildings, the creation of the Ministry of Mining, Hydrocarbons and Nuclear Energy, a
dependency of the Presidency of the Republic and destined to the exploration, exploitation and
The Government ofofmineral
commercialization General Humberto Mejía
hydrocarbons and theVíctores (1983-85)
use of nuclear continued
energy. with years,
In subsequent this
strategy,
the strengthening
awarding of licenses militarization with the
for the exploration andexpansion andofinstitutionalization
exploitation of the Civil
these resources depended on the
Self-Defense Patrols, and giving a strong push to the development
Executive and the economic forces linked to the Government. poles and model villages.
During 1978 there was an immoderate rise in the prices of basic necessities, which throughout
the year caused strong pressure from the labor sector, which demanded from employers an
increase in wages. Although a readjustment to the salary table was achieved, the increase was
The surpassed
soon Government of rise
by the General Humberto
in prices Mejía Víctores
for electricity (1983-85)
and telephones. continued
These with
increases this
increased
strategy,
popular strengthening
discontent militarization
and were rejected bywith the expansion
all sectors and institutionalization
of the population, who spoke outof publicly.
the Civil
Self-Defense Patrols, and giving a strong push to the development poles and model villages.
The restrictions on US military aid, begun in 1977, were maintained in the face of this
deteriorating human rights situation.

Neither commercial sales nor Foreign Military Sales (FMS), which continued to grant loans for
arms purchases, did not stop.
Since 1974 Guatemala had signed an agreement with the State of Israel to receive military aid.
Between 1975 and 1982 the Army purchased 11 aircraft and 10 tanks provided by Israel and
was fully equipped with Galil rifles at a cost of US $ 6 million. In 1980 the Israeli Government
The Government
helped establish theof Guatemalan
General Humberto
militaryMejía Víctores
industry (1983-85)
factory in Altacontinued
Verapaz with this
to produce
strategy, strengthening
ammunition militarization
for Galil assault withUzi
rifles and the expansion and institutionalization
machine guns. of thefrom
In 1979, technicians Civilthe
Self-Defense
Tadiran Israel Patrols, and Industries
Electronics giving a strong pushatocomputer
installed the development
center inpoles and model
the capital villages.
of the country,
which began to work in 1980. The following year, the Army inaugurated the School of
Transmissions and Electronics, built and equipped with the support of Israeli technicians for
intelligence activities.

The Government of Lucas García was quickly wearing thin. The situation worsened with the oil
shock and other factors originating in the international economy.
Celina The Destruction of the
Social Movement.

The social movement that had reached a great

development in the first two years of Laugerud García's
government had suffered significant blows for repressive
actions that hardened after the earthquake of 1976. This
led to a politicization and radicalization of the social
organizations, both urban and rural, to the rhythm of their
gradual mobilization.
Mario Mujía Córdova…
on July 20, 1978

In October 1978, a public protest was a

test about Lucas García’s government and
also it was a measurement of forces
between the opposition and the
government.

The clashes caused 40 dead, 300 injured

and more than 1500 arrested.

Oliverio Castañeda de León…

On October 20,1978
The social movement CNUS:
created links with the social the national committee for
unity unity
movements as:
CUC: CDP:
Peasant Unity the settlers
Committee Coordinator

FERG: NOR:
the Robín García the Nucleus of FDCR:
revolutionary Revolutionary Democratic Front Against
student front Workers Repression

EGP:
CR: the Guerrilla Army of
the Christians the Poor
Revolutionaries
 On January 22, 1979 Manuel Colom Argueta…
In March 22, 1979
Alberto Fuentes The United Front of the Revolution
(FUR),
Mohr…

FUR:
United Front of the
PSD: Revolution
Democratic Socialist
Party
 The Lucas regime launched a repressive
campaign.

At the Spanish Embassy on January 31,

1980
they set it on fire

in February 1980 the CUC analyze the

situation in the country
THE NATIONAL COORDINATOR
INDIGENOUS, THE FEDERATION OF
GUATEMALAN WORKERS, THE
Between 1978 and 1981, 19 leaders ROBIN FRONT GARCIA, AND THE
COMMITTEE FOR JUSTICE AND
of the FUR and 15 of the PSD were PEACE
assassinated from that meeting came the document: THE
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF
GUATEMALA BEFORE WORLD,
In 1981 some social organizations
were influenced by the guerrilla and
founded the party political the
POPULAR FRONT 31 OF JUANARY,
but this movement didn’t have a space
in the political during the government of
General Humberto Mejía Víctores
when the repression persisted, but it
was declined during the governments
of Lucas Garcia and Ríos Montt.
 The Guerrilla
Offensive.

Although, with differences

To this they added a perception
in the perception of the
of eminent danger by supposing
In 1980, a new stage that possibility of achieving
that the Chimaltenango
was promoted to avoid military triumph and
department had become the
major coups, mutual distrust
center of gravity strategic
Thanya

The Government of Ríos

Montt: scorched earth and
second defeat of the
guerrilla.

The electoral fraud that had been

practiced since 1974 was repeated
again in 1982.
On March 23, 1982, a group of young Army
officers put an end to the political model
through a coup.

and promulgated the Fundamental Statute of

Government (Decree-Law 24-82). On June
9, Ríos Montt dissolved the triumvirate and
proclaimed himself President of the
Republic, committing to fulfill a series of
contradictory objectives.
• The Law Of The Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
• The Law Of The Citizen Registry.
• The Law Of Political Organizations.
• The Complementary Law Of The General Population
Registry.
The Army perceived indigenous participation in either the
social or insurgent movement as a product of their lack of
integration into the State and of a weak sense of nationalism.
The Government of On August 8, 1983,
members of the high
Mejía Víctores. command of the Army,
commanders of corps and
military zones separated
General Efraín Ríos Montt
from the Head of State.
The Ríos Montt government had created a high degree of
confusion in the political process by favoring an interest
group and weakening the unity of command. In addition,
the interference of the El Verbo church in government
affairs and the measure of postponing the election process
were criticized, which increased pressure from the political
sectors.
Considering that its operational plans
had achieved the reduction of the
guerrilla presence and its defensive
situation, as of 1983 the Army sought
to expand control of the displaced
population, trying to relocate them to
areas under its control.
Adriana

Resurgence of the
social movement.

● The social movement started on 1984

in the Government of Victor Mejilla.
Based on these factors, they began to
notice expressions of protests based on
salary increases and some invasions by
residents of private land in the capital.
Several companies went bankrupt,
in special the agency of Coca-Cola.

However, the main problem for the

government did not come from the
political field it was from the
economic one, due to
unemployment l, low production,
and the main problems for the
government.
The international Monetary Fund tried to
mitigate income diffisuch as the
reduction os state expenditures and the
self-inflow of foreign currencies, and the
value added tax.
The following year (1985) things got worse with the
approval of a consumer support law so that law affected
coffee production and exchange houses, regulated tax crime,
and added other taxes then there was a fuel crisis.
The economic crisis caused more protests, such as companies, teachers and secondary
education, on August, 1985 the passage in urban buses increased, and there were several
deaths, injuries and captured people.
 The new
Constitution.
During the government of Victor Mejilla, they
tried to establish a new political institutionality,
but these decrees rectified the political debate
against Rios Mont.
There was proliferation of those commitments, which had manifested since the time of Rios
Mont, reaching a total of 15 candidates with more than 30 people who wanted to participate.
But unfortunately there wew a large number of invalid votes.

On May 30st, 1985, the And a little later presidential elections

Constitution was approved. were called to take place in November of
the same year.
 However, the new The Constitution
political Constitution represents the most
of Guatemala came important legal
into force on January instrument for the
14th, 1986 due to the consolidation of the
condition of military democratic process
government. in Guatemala.
The most profound impact of the changes
that the current constitution represents is
expressed by the philosophy of protection
and respect for human rights and others
guarantees that we promotes.

The Human Rights Ombudsman is in charge

of investigating all those complaints about
human rights violations that are presented.
 The changes introduced by the 1985 And without a doubt the new
Constitution recognized the right of the state constitution represents one of the most
workers to organize and they have been able important achievements contained in the
to join trade unions in several agencies. Magna Letter in Force.

The guarantee provided by the new

Constitution provides and protect the
citizen's Right to demonstrate publicity and
also associate freely and without further
limitation.
Thank
you…