Complete Thesis_double spaced abstract.pdf

groups. Domestic groups formed in response to the earthquake in 1976. The state had been
unable or unwilling to respond to the massive destruction; reconstruction groups were given more
leeway to organize. The FDCR established in 1978, comprised of over 170 domestic groups and
organizations, was one of the umbrella organizations that sprung up after the earthquake. Many
of the established or existing groups from the earlier period went through a rebuilding or
reexamining phase between 1972 and1985. The PGT had suffered the loss of the majority of its
leaders and its members during 1960-1973; it was not until the 1980s that the PGT officially
joined with other existing labor groups.
Guerrilla Movements: In the early 1960s, the military began experiencing internal
division under the presidency of General Ydígoras. General Ydígoras had allowed the United
States government to use Guatemala as a training center, and allowed the construction of
temporary bases for the invasion of Cuba. In doing so he ostracized many of the junior officers
who felt the United States presence was an affront to national dignity. Furthermore, many
military members were concerned with the growing social unrest, the declining popularity of the
government, and the blatant corruption and nepotism throughout the Ydígoras regime. In
November of 1960 a revolt against General Ydígoras was staged at a military base in Puerto
BarRíos; following their success the army rebels continued on to Zacapa. Ultimately a week later
the army rebels were thwarted by a combination of bribery to the other branches of the military,
force by the Guatemalan government, cooperation and assistance from Cuban exiles and the
United States government. The number of military personnel taking part in the revolt was much
smaller than the number that sympathized with the rebels motivations; nonetheless.
Approximately forty-five of the seventy of the exiled officers maintained contact with political
parties in Guatemala (PR, MND, DC) and continued to plot (REMHI, 1999, 191). Eventually the
rebels, exiled officers and the Guatemalan Labor Party (PGT) formed an alliance. The PGT had
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