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Take Action!
99% of the crimes committed during Guatemala's war have not been brought to justice. Of over 45,000 forced disappearances, only one case has gone to trial. Send an email to support war survivors' right to truth and justice today. | |||||||||
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Did You Know?
> Attacks against human rights defenders in Guatemala have doubled over the last five years. NISGUA's teams of on-the-ground international human rights monitors work to deter violence in communities, courtrooms and at public events. > Former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, who ruled during the bloodiest period of the war, currently holds a seat in the Guatemalan Congress. He is wanted for genocide and crimes against humanity. > The Xalalá hydro-electric dam is rejected by 90% of the local population because it would displace thousands of indigenous people and damage farmlands and forests. > Almost 400 mining concessions have been granted to transnational gold, silver, nickel, and zinc companies in Guatemala, posing severe threats to rural communities' social and environmental well-being. | |||||||||
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Militarization
It is estimated that the Guatemala military was responsible for approximately 90 percent of the 200,000 deaths during the civil war. The army performed thousands of operations of murder, rape and intimidation over the course of the last 60 years. Throughout this history of violence, the United States military has witnessed or aided many of these campaigns of coercion. Recently however, the U.S. has scaled back its military involvement with Guatemala.
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Introduction
In response to the 1990 murder of U.S. citizen Michael DeVine by members of the Guatemalan military, the U.S. Congress almost immediately cut off most military assistance to Guatemala. Since that time, Guatemala has been prohibited from receiving assistance through the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program, which provides grants and loans to help countries purchase U.S.-produced weapons, defense equipment, defense services and military training.
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Links
More information from governmental and independent sources
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U.S. Military Assistance
As elsewhere in Latin America, U.S. security forces have had a long and sordid history of involvement in Guatemala. From the CIA's sponsored coup in 1954 and throughout the civil war, Guatemala's notorious security forces have been given U.S. training and support to commit grave human rights abuses, including genocide. However, since 1990 the U.S. Congress has tried to limit U.S. military support.
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Related Topics
ILEA and other regional threats of militarization
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Guatemalan Security and Intelligence Issues
Guatemalan security forces have one of the worst human rights records in the hemisphere, and continually are implicated in forced land evictions, criminalizing social protest, and other attacks against the Guatemalan population.
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