The Repressive Regimes in Guatemala - Essay Example

Your Full Your 19-November Reading Response In Guatemala, in the guise of eliminating “internal enemies”, the repressive regimes started to crack down on people who opposed them in any way. Starting from a list of people to be eliminated in the Arbenz regime, given to them by the CIA, the organized worker's unions were targeted next, and then the land given to peasants was taken back in order to give United Fruit Company its land back. Everyone who disagreed with the government was targeted and labeled a communist or an internal enemy.

It is noteworthy, that the Mayan people in Guatemala were also repressed, with tens of thousands of them being murdered by the armed forces. The “internal enemy” was thus, anyone who held any anti-government sentiments or could hold them (Byrne). After the coup of General Pinochet in Chile, everyone with leftist leanings was considered to be an “internal enemy” to be destroyed. With the assent and approval of the US government, the repressive Chilean regime targeted many unions and their workers, universities were targeted too, as were students, and many people thought to have leftist leanings, were kidnapped, to be tortured, and/or killed.

In Chile, an “internal enemy” was, thus, anyone who had communist leanings or was a communist sympathizer, a pretty vague term, which resulted in the death, torture, and disappearance of many Chileans (Byrne). In El Salvador, the situation was pretty identical too; here too the “internal enemy” was anyone who was against the policies of the regime. Guided under a crackdown against communists or subversive elements (“internal enemy”), the regime cracked down on dissenters, unions, students, and community leaders and massacred a lot of its population (Byrne).

A few decades after the US support for Guatemala’s military governments, which ended up killing around 200,000 Guatemalans, mostly Mayans (Carter), President Clinton felt it was important for the US to apologize so that a new era, where the US fostered democracy and democratic processes, could start. This could not be done without the US accepting its mistake and undertaking to support democracy. However, Clinton was criticized for doing that because those who were involved in US and Guatemala’s affairs feared that this would undermine all the good that the US had done to subvert communism and to win the Cold War.

The critics point out that the US did not support military regimes, but rather was working for the “people’s right of self-determination.” (Carter). Political Prisoner Retamozo (File 3721) was detained because he was suspected of being involved in the capture of the Twenty-ninth Rural Infantry Regiment, in the town he was from. He was suspected of planning out the attack on the Regiment and being active in the “Montoneros” organization. C.G.P (file 7372), was abducted and tortured in order to obtain information about anti-government movements (NCDP).