Guatemalan Genocide - 2526 Words

Carlos G. â€Å"Genicidio Silencioso† â€Å"Whenever the power that is put in any hands for the government of the people, and the protection of our properties, is applied to other ends, and made use of to impoverish, harass or subdue them to the arbitrary and irregular commands of those that have it; there it presently becomes tyranny, whether those that thus use it are one or many† From the majestic words of the brilliant Philoshope John Locke, a governmental system has the obligation to provide and work for the people, in either a direct or indirect matter. The system should satisfy and benefit the citizen in every possible aspect, rather than preventing the forward advancement of a nation’s people. Locke believed that the†¦show more content†¦Since then, the tensions between the national government and the native people have not been cleared. During the 1970’s more and more protests and uprisings in the capital and the southwest part of the nation became very frequent, and overtime, very violent. The Peace Pledge Union expressed a dramatic and detailed example of the violent acts that the military of Guatemala practiced on Indian natives in search of subversives, Children were often beaten against walls, or thrown alive into pits where the bodies of adults were later thrown; they were also tortured and raped. Victims of all ages often had their limbs amputated, or were impaled and left to die slowly. Others were doused in petrol and set alight, or disemboweled while still alive. Yet others were shot repeatedly or tortured and shut up alone to die in pain the wombs of pregnant women were cut open. However, it took the Guatemalan military some time to actually suppress the violent uprisings and protests because of the intimidation they had received from the URNG (Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union), a group of socialistic radicals who thought that it was needed to take matters into their own hands by running, claming that theShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of The Guatemalan Genocide Of A Minority Group1449 Words   |  6 Pagesabout the effects of the Guatemalan genocide of a minority group called the mayans that resulted in the death and displacement of thousands, and how mining companies took advantage of this violence. I will also analyze civil wars in general and how even without war there is no peace in Guatemala. The extracurricular activity I attended for this report on peace studies was Dr. Catherine Nolin’s public lecture called â€Å"Transnational Ruptures in a Time of Impunity: Genocide, Mining and Migration†. DrRead MoreThe Genocide Of The Holocaust1823 Words   |  8 Pages Genocide Genocide a word that brings forth the morbid image of barbed wire fences, trenches overflowing with bodies, malnourished men, women, and children, a depressing black sky. Genocides definition is â€Å"the deliberate killing of people who belong to a particular racial, political, or cultural group† (Merriam-Webster.com) True to its name genocide is a word that has the ability to cause war and leaves a hellish vision in its victims. Despite all of this the seeminglyRead MoreThe Holocaust : A Racist Leader Making Everyone Hate The Jews?1154 Words   |  5 PagesA genocide is a event where a large amount of people get killed for being different, they can have a different belief, or just by being part of a different race. The holocaust was one of the worst genocides ever in human history but it wasn t the only genocide in this world full of unequal people. The holocaust was done because of a racist leader making everyone hate the Jews for really inhuman reasons. Making peopl e join his way of thought.They felt that the most powerful and best race was theRead MoreGenocide Today : Are We Destined For Repeat This Dark Pattern?1881 Words   |  8 PagesGenocide Today: Are We Destined to Repeat This Dark Pattern? Genocide is an intentional action to destroy a people (usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group) in whole or in part. The hybrid word genocide is a combination of the Greek word gà ©nos (race, people) and the Latin suffix -cide (act of killing). (Wikimedia Foundation ) Rwanda is an example of a true genocide, one which was documented in Philip Gourevitch’s book, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We WillRead MoreGenocide from the Jews in the Holocaust to the Mayans in Guatemala848 Words   |  4 Pages Today, the Holocaust is considered â€Å"genocide,† a word that was first coined in 1944 by a lawyer by the name of Raphael Lemkin. Genocide is â€Å"the deliberate killing of people who belong to a particular racial, political, or cultural group† (â€Å"Genocide†). Genocide is brought out through the ideas of fascism and power hunger and is caused by pure hatred toward a specific group. After the millions of lives lost in the Holocaust, the world claimed that genocide would â€Å"never again† occur. However, theRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book I, Rigoberta Menchu By Menchu1432 Words   |  6 PagesRigoberta Menchu† by Menchu is an autobiography that details the genocide of the Mayan people in Guatemala. The book has earned her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for publishing the truth about the trials and tribulations that the indigenous people of Guatemala faced. The problem is that the autobiography has been found to be untrue. The details of the bo ok were fabricated by Menchu, in an attempt to send her message about the indigenous Guatemalan people s struggles. This has created a controversy amongstRead MoreThe Central American country of Guatemala fought a bloody civil war for over 36 years. The1900 Words   |  8 Pages1996. The key players that fought where the Guatemalan government and the ethnic Mayan indigenous people that where extremely leftist compared to the Guatemalan government. The indigenous persons where joined by other non-government forces known as the Ladino peasantry and other rural poor. This civil conflict would escalate to a bloody series of events that inevitably would see the Guatemalan government regime held responsible for acts of genocide and other human rights violations. GuatemalaRead MoreThe Culture Of The Peoples From The Highlands Of Guatemala1259 Words   |  6 PagesInternally displaced peoples from the highlands of Guatemala, as in much of Latin America, often seek refuge in the outskirts of their nations capitals. In Guatemala City and in other populous Guatemalan cities throughout the country, families have made their lives anew after years of violence and tragedy. The history of mass migration towards city centers and their outskirts can be traced to the overthrow of the democratically elected president Jacobo Arbenz, in the year 1954, which was the catalystRead MoreTruth And Justice : A Lexicon Of Terror And The Banality Of Evil, Victoria Sanford s Buried Secrets1612 Words   |  7 PagesSanford’s Buried Secrets: Truth and Human Rights in Guatemala is about La Violencia, a time in Guatemalan history where â€Å"the Guatemalan army† was blamed â€Å"for 93 percent of the human rights violations, violations that were so seve re and systematically enacted against the whole Maya communities† (Sanford 14). It has been concluded that La Violencia, the acts that the Guatemalan army had committed were â€Å"acts of genocide against the Maya† (Sanford 14). After all was said and done, and these horrific actionsRead MoreChilean Human Rights Violations Had An Undoubted International Significance800 Words   |  4 PagesThe case of Guatemala began as the others in 1999, that is, by the boost of the Guatemalan victims, and this probably happened due to the favourable sentence of the Spanish Supreme Court in 1998 and the ‘Pinochet effect’. A group of victims headed by Rigoberta Menchà º joined an organisation of the Spanish civil society to bring charges in Spain against eight senior officers, including Rà ­os Montt, accused of genocide and other international crimes. Following the standard pattern, the Prosecutor appealed