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Rios Montt Influence

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After winning the first World War, the US was established as a regional hegemony, and that was very powerful. Because of this, the US wanted to demonstrate the new power for the rest of the world, and began to intervene in many Latin American countries. A very serious example comes from Guatemala, where the military dictator Efraim Rios Montt, who was influenced by the US, the human rights of many people was violated. While the US does not speak much of the atrocities that occurred in Guatemala and accepts no responsibility for the violation of human rights that many military dictators did, it is clear that the US had influence on most negative practices in Latin America. An analysis of the country under Rios Montt and the influence of the United States in relation to recent policies of Guatemala will serve as evidence that interventions were not justified or necessary, and very serious consequences for Guatemala cause. …show more content…

dictatorship was established, and "began a fierce struggle against militants and leftist guerrillas," in which the poorest victims were indigenous, who count for 70% the country (Gac-Artigas, 157). During his reign, 250,000 people died, disappeared or were displaced. The death toll alone is about 70,000 (Alexandrov). Specifically, Rios Montt had a problem with people of the Maya, because "Operation Sofia" in which destroyed 600 villages of the Maya people was established. Today, the violations committed Rios Montt so are justified, because he is still free, and not have to pay for crimes against humanity. The reason we do not have to pay is that the US had much negative influence in the country, and also has a lot of responsibility for the civil war in Guatemala, because Rios Montt was trained at the School of the Americas to be the dictatorship of the

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