Civil War Vs Guatemala

Also, the growing presence of the Soviets and Cuba in Nicaragua escalated the cold war and in order to ‘draw the line” the Reagan administration “doubled economic aid for El Salvador to a hundred and forty four million dollars” (pg 40). According to Danner, “the priorities of American Policy in El Salvador had become unmistakable” (pg 41).Second, The American government was “opposed to dispatching American combat forces to Central America” (pg 22) and in order to prevent another Nicaragua, Congress agreed to “reform” the Salvadoran Army by financing, training and arming its troops to fight the FMLN. As Danner notes, “the Americans had stepped forward to fund the war, but were unwilling to fight it”. Third, the Monterrosa led Atlacatl led batallion through American funding descended in El Mozote with “the latest M-16’s, M-60 machines guns, 90 millimeter recoilless rifles, and 60- and 81 millimeter mortars”(pg 39) and with a list of names massacred an entire village because “communism was cancer”(pg 49). The U.S. government was clearly responsible for the Massacre at El Mozote because without the funding, supporting, and training of El Salvador troops the war would have been tilted in the guerillas favor as they had managed to hold the disorganized army in certain areas. In contrast to neighboring departments El Mozote and its inhabitants of born-again Christians did not fit in as guerilla sympathizers. In fact, the training at American hands

In 1980 El Salvador’s civil war officially began. Thousands of people were kidnapped and killed. Church workers were abducted, raped and killed, yet again the peace talks did not begin until 1984 and the Peace Accords of El Salvador was not signed until 1992. Between those twelve years 75,000 people died as a result of the civil war and most of these people were completely innocent.

For twelve years (1980-1992), El Salvador suffered this brutal civil war and saw some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin American history. The government refused to attend peace talks by the FMLN and the FMLN refused to participate in elections knowing it results would be rigged. The military tried to kill all suspected rebels and the FMLN damaged anything that supported the government’s economy. Throughout the war there was so much human rights violations such as subjecting civilians to torture, forced disappearance, extrajudicial killing, mutilation, mass rape, massacres, summary executions, landmines and indiscriminate bombing. As the result, by the end of the civil war about 75,000 people were killed, sadly most of which were civilians in the wrong place at the wrong time. The intensity of military repression and constant fear provoked massive northern migration to the United States. By the mid-1980s almost one-fifth of the Salvadoran population was living in the United

In the 1980s, the Soviet Union was plagued with a stagnant economy – it had no incentive to promote communism in Central America. Ignoring the USSR’s economic weakness, Reagan asserted squashing the Salvadoran rebels would stem the spread of communism and would reestablish American preeminence in Central America. Reagan believed that enforcing anti-communist ideology would protect American national security interests by protecting the United States from its Bolshevik enemies.

Dwight D. Eisenhower said in the Mandate for Change, “The air support enjoyed by Castillo Armas, though meager; was important in relative terms; it gave the regular armed forces an excuse to take action in their own hands to throw out Arbenz” (Document I). Guatemala was clear of its communist President Arbenz due to the help of the United States. Guatemala did not only get rid of communism but Latin America was free (Document I). These marks on history were great failures for communism but great victories for the United

If we read deep into Zinn's A Peoples history of the United States, we may find details into our American DNA. Where and what we originally come from, what it took to get here, and how far we have progressed. While uncovering many chapters in the book, I found myself going back for more of Chapter 10: The Other Civil War. As for myself, I was never aware of another Civil War, only familiarizing myself with one. As I was reading these historical pages and awing at my founders and leaders before me, I found myself as engaged I have ever been in a historical novel. Zinn opened my eyes as a non-historical junky. Reading Zinn I found myself remembering one of the greatest quotes by George Santayana, "Those who do not

The American Civil War has without a doubt left a permanent divide on this great nation’s past and present. American historians still debate the causes of a war that began in 1861 between the Union states and Confederacy states. The war can be seen as caused by the principle of slavery, the growing tension between northern and southern ideology or due to a crack in the political system of the time. United States’ history classes focus on teaching students different views as to the origin of the Civil War. Three renowned American historians who explore this topic beautifully are Eric Foner, James G. Randall, and Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Foner provides the best explanation to the origin of

In the book The Last Colonial Massacre: Latin America in the Cold War, author Greg Grandin traces Guatemala’s evolutionary period from the late 19th century to the early 1980s. What he dubs as ‘the last colonial massacre,’ the Panzós Massacre of 1978 was the mass murder by the Guatamalan army of 35 Q’echi-Mayan men, women and children who had gathered in the town square demanding democractic representation, land reform and higher wages. Outrage over this massacre led many Guatemalan peasants to join the communist Guerilla Army of the Poor (EGP) which prompted violence and repression by the US backed right-wing government. Grandin’s thesis is that Cold War terror unleashed or excused by the United States, weakened the advancement of democracy

The Civil War is deemed to be one of the bloodiest wars in American history. However, the Civil War had seemingly been a long time coming. There were many events that took place within the fifteen years prior to the Civil War that surely foreshadowed the ultimate secession of the “cotton states” from the Union. Evidently, the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848 leading to the Compromise of 1850, the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852, the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, the Dred Scott Decision of 1857, John Brown’s raid in 1859, and the outcome of the Presidential Election of 1860 helped contribute to southern secession. These sectional conflicts left the United States on the brink of a Civil War. These major issues urged

Between 1973 and 1984, almost 30,000 Argentines were murdered or ‘disappeared.’ The result of a military coup d’état during which security forces and death squads acting in the form of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance, or ‘Triple A;’ hunted

The Civil War was a major event in our nation’s history that would affect the country for years to come. Both good and bad came from the political, social, and economic reforms that would fall upon the United States in this aftermath. This paper will detail how constitutional amendments, Jim Crow laws, and Scalawags and Carpetbaggers were lasting effects of the Civil War.

The Cold War was a period of time that set the entire world on edge. Throughout the mid- to late-1900s, communist and democratic forces tensely competed for a greater modicum of power. In the United States, anti-communist sentiments ran high, and suspicions naturally turned to the changing governments of the nations closest to them. Justified or not, the impact of the actions the US took in Latin American nations in light of these communist fears were varied and lasting, seen prominently in one of the first nations in which the United States intervened, Guatemala. Shifting politics in the Latin American country proved too left-leaning for comfort in the world of the Cold-War-Era-United States, leading to a coup d'état that proved disastrous

Much of Latin American historiography that discusses the Cold War Era also briefly touches on the Costa Rican exceptionalism when reviewing the topic of violence, corruption, and dictatorship in many countries in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. However, as the historians that will be discussed in this section show, that it is not entirely accurate. Like, many Latin American nations during the Cold War, Costa Rica faced its period of violence and corruption that culminated in a civil war followed by a period of the junta. It was only after the end of the junta that Costa Rica became an exception to the violence that occurred in the various nations surrounding it. The following scholars are the few that have spent considerable time reviewing the Costa Rican Civil War; Charles D. Ameringer, author of Democracy in Costa

During The 1960’s to 1996 the Guatemalan Civil War was impacting many Guatemalan lives throughout their country. The war was between The Guatemalan Government and Rebel groups ,which included indigenous people and the poor. The Guatemalan Government had many international ties and aid, which made them very favorable to win their civil war. The result was 140,000-200,000 people died or have vanished in the war. The responsibilities for the deaths/vanishings weren't thought about until Jennifer Harbury appointed the situation. Jennifer Harbury stumbled upon the act while searching for her husband Everardo, who was a Mayan resistance leader attached to the rebel groups. As Jennifer Harbury

The lectures in class this week and the article “10 of the Most Lethal CIA Interventions in Latin America” by Olivier Acuña has opened my eyes to the U.S.’s international political connections. The U.S. has proved throughout history to be self serving and has proven to intervene in nations that will lead to its own economic and political advantages. I find it unfortunate that the CIA and American government tries to pride itself on our democratic system, but will support corrupt dictators and absolute rulers