The Tragedy of the Armed Confrontation

Abstract

With the outbreak of the internal armed confrontation in 1962, Guatemala entered a tragic and devastating stage of its history, with enormous human, material, and moral cost. In documenting human rights violations and acts of violence connected with the armed confrontation, the CEH registered a total of 42,275 victims, including men, women, and children. Of these, 23,671 were victims of arbitrary execution and 6,159 were victims of forced disappearance. Eighty-three percent of fully identified victims were Mayan and 17 percent were Ladino.