The Guatemalan Civil War

By Emanuel Bautista Diego with editing from Mr. Canek

Originally Published: December 10, 2021

Background 

The civil war happened in Guatemala from Nov 13, 1960 – Dec 29, 1996. This war happened because the CIA backed a coup against elected president Jacobo Arbenz, who was considered a communist threat, especially after nationalizing plantations of the United Fruit Company. Ten years later, in 1970, military backed Carlos Arana was elected president and soon after he gave more power to the military to control the citizens. For the next decade, Arana oversaw multiple military attacks on the guerrilla groups & indigenous communities of Guatemala.

 Born Into Civil War

Ana Esteban was born on September 25, 1970, 10 years into the Guatemalan Civil War. In 1985, my mom was 15 and the civil war had been going on for 25 years. During our interview, she told me that “when my uncle got to a town that is near where we live, the houses had been left open. Inside them were just dogs and the cattle in the house. When they came by a church in the town, they saw that they [the military] were in the middle grouping people in a church and set the church on fire. Since my uncle was against the military [a rebel] he and his group shot the men who set the church on fire.” This anecdote represents the causes of immigration because what those military men did to that town in Guatemala almost happened to my mother’s town. This is one of the major reasons why she left our home country. This can cause people to want to leave their home town because they would be scared that at any time or day they can be killed by the military

To summarize, the Guatemalan Civil War happened from 1960-1996 and it shaped the lives of people like my mother, Ana Esteban, who was born during the time of the war. Those people who currently serve in military forces around the world should take a moment to consider whether they would have liked to live in a country in the middle of a civil war and be in constant fear that at anytime a soldier can come by and kill you and that the killer has little to no consequences? Soldiers should consider how their actions affect people’s lives and their decisions to migrate in search of safety.