Complete Thesis_double spaced abstract.pdf

consolidated the military’s power and further dismantled the remaining democratic structures and
mechanisms in Guatemala. Under Peralta’s presidency certain political parties were abolished,
the Congress was disbanded, military courts were set up to try crimes against the government,
and laws were passed that criminalize any communist propaganda, communist party membership,
and any activities deemed as terrorist activities (REMHI, 1999, 195). Peralta formed the
Democratic Institutional Party (PID), fashioned after the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)
in Mexico, in an attempt to widen his base of support. As promised, elections were held in 1966,
when a civilian, Julio Cesar Méndez Montenegro, was elected to the presidency with 43.7% of
eligible voters abstaining (Black, 1984, 21). President Méndez was the brother of a centrist
civilian candidate to the presidency, Mario Méndez Montenegro, who was either killed or
committed suicide immediately prior to the election (Schlesinger and Kinzer, 1982, 245). The
military tried twice, unsuccessfully, to oust President Méndez from office; the first attempt
occurred immediately after he won the election. However, international pressure, especially from
the United States, forced the military to reevaluate its immediate goals; a bargain was struck
between President Méndez and the military. President Méndez survived the coup and began his
term “under a state of siege,” threats to his presidency were both external and internal. The
external threats to the Guatemalan government include strikes, coups, kidnappings of government
officials and assassinations. The internal threats come almost entirely from the military
leadership who, after the unsuccessful coup, are using fear as a weapon to control President
Méndez. Military control over the presidency allows for the military to carry out operations
within the Guatemalan state without any civilian oversight (Handy, 1984, 160). The military was
the most active in the eastern regions of Guatemala, the guerrilla movement suffered defeats,
alliances between the FAR and PGT began to break down.
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