Genocide, War, and Desaparecido in 1982 Guatemala

Name: Professor's name: Course: Date: Genocide, War, and Desaparecido in 1982 Guatemala The end of World War II ushered in a period of reconstruction worldwide, with both the affected and non-affected countries taking part in the global effort to avert the recurrence of the horrors and atrocities witnessed in the historic event. The mid-20^th century was characteristic of intense global negotiations and deliberations towards promoting lasting peace and coexistence amidst the existing social, political, and economic differences among nations. However, the ideological differences across the social, political, and economic domains between the East and the Western allies led by the U.S. would precipitate a new era of protracted conflict in different countries and regions around the world. The social, political, and economic differences between the East and the West culminated in the Cold War, polarizing supporters of the two global influences into communism and imperialism. The Latin American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Guatemala constituted a level ground upon which the parallel ideologies exercised their influence and dominance throughout the mid-20^th century to the early 21^st century (Grandin 1). Proponents of the West's democratic and imperialist ideologists clashed with the supporters of communist ideologies across Latin America in what appeared to be the catastrophic effects of the Cold War. In essence, the 20^th century makes for an era of untold suffering across the Latin Americas through widespread massacres, civil wars, violent protests, revolutions, and insurgencies witnessed across the South American region. The clamor for power by the perceived social, political, and economic elites across the region, coupled with the influence of the international political contest between the East and the West, spurred the region into protracted conflicts (Grandin 2). Dictatorship and repressive regimes sprouted across the region, with the ruling regimes justifying their reigns of terror and oppression by their equally diverse quests to protect their perceived political, social, and economic standpoints. The Guatemalan Civil War spanning over three decades, 1960-1996, makes for an excellent depiction of the protracted conflicts encompassing the Latin Americas in the mid-20^th century. Throughout the entire period of the Guatemalan Civil War, the outlined factors herein played out in the country that witnessed a surge of dictatorial regimes that climbed to power through military coups. The civil war was characterized by various massacres targeting members of the indigenous Mayan community under the guise of the community's support for anti-reformist tendencies and widespread insurgencies by the leftist guerilla factions resisting the existing repressive regimes. According to the Commission for Historical Clarification, the UN-backed Guatemalan Truth Commission, the Guatemalan civil war caused the death of approximately 200,000 people and the disappearance of tens of thousands of people. The Commission further estimates the internal displacement of over 1.5 million people and approximately 150,000 people becoming refugees in neighboring Mexico. ...