Guatemalan civil war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Guatemalan civil war - Essay Example Guatemalan civil war It is important to undertake a critical investigation into the cause-effect of this civil war and the input of cultural structure of Latin America in this war (Natella 176). Many scholars have explored the cultural factors within the context of Latin America region and how this contributed to the long standing economic oppression and political instability that was the order of the day in Guatemala from early 1960s. Political structure is always derived from the traditions of any community in their ancient socio-political organization and the way of governance and culture of loyalty defines success of any leadership. It would equally be important to consider the foreign influence into the civil war and what they sought to gain. It is also worth to take a look at the community that suffered the full brunt of this civil war and the consequences this had on its relationship with the governing authority to date. Maya community and Indians were particularly tortured, displaced and killed. Further inquiry would also be important in regard to the civil war’s contribution towards present day modernization and democratization and its cost in Guatemala. Critical analysis of the civil war in Guatemala indicates that there were real social problems that compelled some people to revolt against the government. . Research findings establish that there was massive oppression, widespread racism and mass violence which left many people displaced, maimed and killed. The question that many people would ask is the relationship that existed between the government of the day and its citizens in regard to the violent clashes between Neoliberal and Leftist (Coerver, et al.259). To answer this question, it would be important to find the other factors that contributed to this historic civil war almost likened to genocide. United States had a hand in the clashes through their push for capitalism in Latin America. It is therefore evident that there involvement fuelled the problem and explains its length of existence I terms of years. They supplied the government military wing with resources that were used against the leftists. This was a tactical approach towards forcing the citizens to adhere to the government oppressive economic ideologies and promote their interest in the country. This explains the US installation of Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas by Central intelligence agency against the democratically-elected president, Jacobo Arbenz. The later was considered communist threat and acted in the interest of the citizens. At the height of confrontation between the leftist and the government forces, the citizens suffered more in many ways and this soured their relationship with the government between 1960’s and the 1990s (Davies and Fredric 211). Government sought to favor foreigners by taking local people’s land and allocating to the foreigners, dividing to political cronies and completely ignored the plight of common citizens through autocratic leadership. The leftist represented the people as they fought to regain lost property to the dictatorial governments. The neoliberal forces were for the idea of capitalism that promoted extremes in form of wealth and poverty and therefore got much hatred from the citizens. Despite several negotiations and international community’s intervention in Guatemala crisis, citizens still had no confidence in the government and its socio-economic and political pursuits. It is important to note that