Final - Guatemalan Genocide

Question 1

what was FAR, ORPA & EGP?

Answer 1

guerrilla groups aimed to topple the government

Question 2

what does FAR stand for?

Answer 2

Fuerzas Armadas Rebeldes (Rebel Armed Forces)

Question 3

what does ORPA stand for?

Answer 3

Organización del Pueblo en Armas (Organization of
the Armed People)

Question 4

what does EGP stand for?

Answer 4

Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres (Guerrilla Army of the
Poor)

Question 5

what inspired the formation of FAR?

Answer 5

the Cuban Revolution where Fidel Castro and his followers enter in Havana and take political power in Cuba

Question 6

what kind of people did FAR consist of?

Answer 6

Very small (Ladino) group capable of limited-scale operations such as car bombings and kidnappings aimed towards political, military, and government figures

Question 7

where did FAR operate?

Answer 7

Operates in all Ladino-majority areas

Question 8

what did FAR allow the government to do?

Answer 8

The existence of this small guerrilla group gives the Guatemalan Army /
state the perfect opportunity to increase repression against ladinos

Question 9

where did ORPA operate?

Answer 9

operates in Indigenous majority areas

Question 10

what was their goal for ORPA?

Answer 10

Hidden organizing, aims to form a broad coalition of
Ladino workers and Indigenous peasants

Question 11

who did EGP consist of

Answer 11

Although the “comandancia” (high command of the
guerrilla) is mainly formed by Ladinos, there is a
strong Indigenous presence within the rank-and-file

Question 12

where did EGP operate

Answer 12

Center of guerrilla operations established in the Ixcán
recently “colonized”

Question 13

what served as EGP’s inspiration?

Answer 13

Viet Cong’s model of a prolonged war where there is a snowball effect of more people joining and a bigger impact

Question 14

what are kaibiles

Answer 14

a special operations wing of armed forces of Guatemala (elite troops)
Specialized and highly trained commandoes

Question 15

what was kaibilization

Answer 15

the process in which training soldiers became worse in brutality (1979)
Underwent extreme forms of training in the jungle of Petén
(Kaibil Inferno

Question 16

when were kaibiles created

Answer 16

1974

Question 17

how did the emergence of ORPA and EGP affect kaibiles

Answer 17

caused a Need to develop new forms of “irregular warfare” and
“counterinsurgency tactics” to adapt to the new scenario as well as warfare in more adverse areas

Question 18

what were some of the extreme forms of training that kaibiles experienced?

Answer 18

getting ambushed, getting beaten routinely, competitions/games amongst each other where winner would torture loser, and practiced torture on civilians, and deprived of food, water, and sleep

Question 19

original size of kaibiles

Answer 19

600-800

Question 20

how were kaibiles used during the genocide?

Answer 20

Kaibiles were deployed
together with regular Army patrols in Indigenous-
majority areas designated for scorched earth
campaigns

Question 21

what happened to kaibiles after the genocide

Answer 21

Most Kaibiles demobilized after Peace Accords (1996)
Many go to Mexico → hired by drug cartels willing
to incorporate “counterinsurgency” tactics to their
repertoire of violent acts

Question 22

what was the term “indians” used to refer to

Answer 22

referred to all native groups under spanish domination essentially disregarding all differences between the indigenous groups

Question 23

what indigenous populations were held under this umbrella term “indians”

Answer 23

mayas, xincas, garifunas

Question 24

what was the reason for the hatred of indians

Answer 24

uncontrolled regions become areas of refuge for displaced Maya communities fleeing the rule of the spaniards and led to the idea of bloodthirsty indians wanting to kill whites/ladinos (come down the mountain armed with machetes)

Question 25

what is the indian problem?

Answer 25

Mayas are perceived since the late 1700s as a “problem” that needs
to be “solved” if Guatemala wants to “progress” in the same manner as the
European countries and North America

Question 26

when was this indian problem brought up

Answer 26

appears in public debates regarding processes of nation and
state formation

Question 27

how did this vocalization of the indian problem affect the indigenous population

Answer 27

local intellectual and political elites will increasingly
endorse aggressive campaigns of cultural assimilation
(“Ladinoization”) for Indigenous peoples

Question 28

what were the methods used to cuturally assimialte indigenous people

Answer 28

Public education as a way to impose Spanish and progressively eradicate Indigenous languages
Other projects included the abduction of Indigenous babies from their families to be brought up by Ladino families

Question 29

what were some new policies implemented to “solve” the “Indian problem”

Answer 29

Facilitate immigration of white European immigrants (Germans)
eugenics → authorities foment a national imaginary of
Guatemala as a white(ned) nation
Mestizaje understood as the progressive (biological) elimination of
Indigenous peoples

Question 30

what is ladinoization

Answer 30

aggressive cultural assimilation for indigenous peoples

Question 31

when was ladinoization prominent before the genocide?

Answer 31

Period of renewed efforts to “Ladinoaize” Guatemala during the 1870s to 1930s

Question 32

the two factors of the ladinoization from 1870s to 1930s

Answer 32

The impact of European and North American
theories about the “inequality of races” and about
the “superiority of the white race” on local
intellectuals and politicians
The implementation of a new model of
economic development based on the cultivation
and export of lucrative crops → coffee

Question 33

what was the Guatemalan Spring

Answer 33

Popular movement (coalition) topples Ubico regime on October 20,
1944 → mass street protests and demonstrations since July and highlights the peak representative democratic years of guatemala (10 years)

Question 34

what did this coup against Ubico cause

Answer 34

immediate call for free elections and formation of a Constitutional
Assembly and President Juan José Arévalo (democratic socialist) is elected in late 1944

Question 35

what laws does president juan jose arevalo implement

Answer 35

Expands political rights to formerly disenfranchised groups (poor
Ladinos, Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, and women)
Guarantees ample social rights to the population
Abolishes all forms of forced labor
establishes minimum wage

Question 36

what was president arevalo’s main goal

Answer 36

create a stable democracy in Guatemala and
modernize the country by widening political and social rights

Question 37

what negative feedback does president arevalo get

Answer 37

Immediate backlash of local landowners and, more
importantly, the UFCo (united fruit company) against president arevalo for adjustment of land rights

Question 38

how does the negative backlash affect president arevalo

Answer 38

Immediate backlash of local landowners and, more
importantly, the UFCo

Question 39

what causes end of guatemalan spring

Answer 39

Operation PBSuccess (June 1954)
Covert CIA operation that Topples Árbenz presidency → Colonel Carlos
Castillo Armas
Castillo Armas’s presidency who causes a Reversion of almost all Arévalo + Árbenz reforms

Question 40

who was efrain rios montt

Answer 40

President of political party FRG, MP, and
president of the Guatemalan Congress (House of Reps.)
until 2013

Question 41

who was otto perez molina

Answer 41

elected President of Guatemala (2012-2015)

Question 42

what were efrain rios montt and otto perez molina tried for

Answer 42

Ríos Montt → tried for war crimes, crimes against
humanity and genocide (2013 & 2018)
Otto Pérez Molina → tried for corruption rackets
(currently in jail)

Question 43

when did general efrain rios montt come into power

Answer 43

Coup d’état orchestrated by General Efraín Ríos Montt
(March of 1982)

Question 44

why did efrain rios montt form a coup

Answer 44

Predecessor (Gen. Romeo Lucas García) increased violence since
1978 → from selective to indiscriminate massacres
Ríos Montt believes he is not tough enough in his fight against
“subversion”