Complete Thesis_double spaced abstract.pdf

ural areas, and the implementation of the Civilian Defense Patrols (PACs), Interinstitutional
Coordinating System (IIC) and Development Poles. The IIC was created to receive and approve
of proposed development projects throughout the state. In the first two years of the IIC the
number of proposed projects received compared to the number of projects approved was 1,070 to
200 (Central America Report, 1985). The development poles were to be created in the areas
where the guerrillas enjoyed the greatest support. The official purpose of a development pole was
stated as:
“An organized population center with an infrastructure permitting
substantial elements of rural social welfare to be mobilized in the poorest areas,
in order to give a new dynamic to the surrounding region and to the whole
country. These will also be a means to correct the socioeconomic
underdevelopment and better the living standards of the Guatemalans, forming
part of the developmentalist strategy. This will be carried out with the full
participation of the government and the army, by means of the National
Departmental Coordinators” (Central America Report, 1986).
Over time it became apparent that the development poles were not voluntarily settled, nor
were the basic needs of their inhabitants being met (Central America Report, 1986). The
development poles were structured very differently from traditional village life. The new villages
were constructed on a grid pattern with the houses built in rows along a road to provide access for
military vehicles. This was quite different from the traditional layout of villages where people
were more dispersed throughout the village with a leader or village chief at the center of life in
the village. In the new villages the individual in charge was not a cultural or religious leader, but
rather an individual the army had entrusted to be in charge of the village. Model villages were
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