History of Guatemala

Though we all learned about recent Guatemalan history in our readings, this morning Fidel fleshes out a couple thousand years of history in a short lecture that clarifies a lot. Here is a short synopsis of what he said:

• up to 250 Pre-Classic Period. First Mayans appear in Guatemala and Mexico.
• 250 to 900 Classic Period. Mayan civilization and spirituality develop. The world is seen as one with many dualities, symbolized by cross in a circle. In Mayan teachings, land=life; to take away a Mayan's land is to take his/her life.
• 900-1500 Post-Classic Period. Major urban sites are abandoned
• 1524-1821 Colonial Period. Pedro Alvarado conquers Guatemala in 1524. Spaniards suppress mayan religion, preach Catholicism. Spanish divide indigenous people into small groups (repartemientos and encomiendas), which furthers linguistic fragmentation.
• 1821 Independence from Spain.
• 1839-1944 National Period.
• 1870 Justo Rufino Barrios becomes President. Liberal government which builds much Guatemalan infrastructure. Holding of communal lands make illegal, so peasants get very small plots to work individually. Beginning of the need to work on fincas (large plantations) seasonally.
• 1882 Evangelical church. Barrios invites Evangelical Church to break with Catholic Church, in attempt to dilute the influence of Catholic Church.
• 1906 Further land privatization. President Estrada Cabrera privatizes land, allowing United Fruit Company and others to obtain good land in the lowlands, Mayans move farther into the mountains. Those without paper title to their land are forced to work to pay off debt for "vagrancy".
• 1930-1944 Jorge Ubico. Dictatorship of Jorge Ubico, continued marginalization of indigenous people.
• 1944-1954 Revolutionary Period. Land reform under Juan Jose Arevalo and then Jacobo Arbenz Guzman. Attempt to turn Guatemala from "capitalist" to "industrialist" nation (focus on added value to agricultural goods).
• 1954-1960 Counter-Revolutionary Period. Arbenz labeled communist. Coup overthrows Arbenz government with aid from CIA under pressure from United Fruit Company.
• 1960s Beginning of War. First guerilla group founded in 1962. Defeated by army and forced into Mexico.
• 1970s Return of guerillas. Guerillas return, form four major groups.
• 1976 Earthquake. Earthquake kills 22,000 people, over 1 million homeless. Causes lasting reassessment of social position by many in the Church.
• 1980s The Violence. Guerillas unite into URNG. Rios Montt takes power in 1982 and enacts "scorched earth policy". "To kill a fish, take away its water". War moves out of Guatemala City and is kept to rural villages. Estimates that over 400 villages are destroyed by the army. Extreme physical and psychological pain inflicted upon indigenous people. 1983 Rios Montt is forced from power, but The Violence continues.
• 1991 Beginning of peace talks.
• 1992 Rigoberta Menchu wins Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1993 2,500 refugees return to Guatemala.
• 1996 Peace Accords. Arzu of PAN becomes first civilian president, signs peace accords. War has left about 150,000 killed, 1 million displaced, 500,000 refugees, 50,000 in resistance.
• 1998 Assasination of Bishop Gerardi. Assasination was concurrent with Gerardi's publication of the Church's investigation documenting human rights abuses by the government.
• 1999 FRG wins power.