Complete Thesis_double spaced abstract.pdf

Development and Violence
The framework predicts that economic modernization or diversification in agriculture and
the economic development policies implemented by the state result in violence perpetrated by the
state. The Guatemalan case study seemed to provide ample evidence of this same pattern.
Colonel Armas’s economic development policies included the reversal of land reform and the
diversification of export crops to include cotton and sugar, both of which led to the concentration
of land. Political violence was high during the first year of the implementation of the program.
Approximately 15 years later, in 1971, General Arana instituted a new economic development
policy. His strategies included developing the northern transverse strip, introducing the
cultivation of cattle and the promotion of non-traditional exports while subsidizing coffee
production and export. There was a corresponding rise in state sponsored violence between 1971
and 1972 during the introduction of this development policy. In 1978 General Lucas also pursued
aggressive development in the Franja along with substantial state subsidies for private-military
ventures; this economic policy resulted in a substantial movement toward the concentration of
land ownership. General Lucas’s administration frequently used state sanctioned political
violence to accomplish economic goals. However, it should be noted that violence was high
before General Lucas took office and implemented his development strategy; it is less clear in
this instance that General Lucas’s policies contributed to or were a causal factor for the increased
violence. In 1982 General Montt introduced the notion of security over development and the
extensive use of the development poles in rural areas. Similar to General Lucas in 1978, the level
of political violence was already high when General Montt implemented his economic policies.
Although in General Montt’s case it was clearer that the rise in state sponsored violence was
related to efforts to increase security and not to development policies. President Cerezo’s 1986
austerity measures and President Serrano’s 1989 neoliberal structural adjustment policies also
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