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Guatemala Genocide
Causes of the Genocide After independace, a dictator named Manuel Estrada Cabrera came into power. He was a capitalist. The Spaniards were rich and powerful under his dictatorship. The indigenous people were kept poor and powerless. In 1944, a military coup overthrew the dictatorship. The new Socialist democracy empowered Indians as equals to Spaniards. In 1954, the CIA staged another military coup that overthrew the Socialist democracy. The dictatorship returned. The U.S. also supplied the dictatorship with weapons, officer training, and military intelligence intended to be used to suppress the 'communists'. A civil war broke out, and it lasted for 35 years. However, the Indians preferred non-violent protest. In 1981, a few Mayan village leaders and clergy tried to carry out a peaceful sit-in in the Spanish Embassy. The Ambassador was had sympathy for them, but President General Lucas Garcia did not. The Embassy staff was ordered out of the Embassy, and it was burned to the ground with the protesters. In summary, there was a deep divide between the indigenous Guatemalans and the Spanish Guatemalans.
What Happened
