The Mayan Culture

One of the most important and formulated problems in Guatemala today is the issue of race. The Ladinos make up 40% while the Mayans Make up 60% of the Guatemalan population.

In the colonial times, Spaniards and Ladinos have targeted Mayans to Lawful, political, social and economic discrimination. Since the Maya cultures did not speak Spanish, the ladino landowners often vigorously forced them out from their plots of land and took it over.

Mayans have such a big commitment to maintain their own traditions that they were not easily influenced by the ladinos culture . If a Ladino wanted to embrace the Mayan culture they would have to have associated themselves with life-long suffering, destitution, death, hunger, and illness like they Mayans

The group that fought back saw themselves as representatives for the Mayan people and believed in Marxist socialism. They felt that the Latin regime in Guatemala had exploit the country’s human and material resources to the American capitalist. There were four groups that planned out activities to attack the government security forces. These groups were the: the Revolutionary and the Organization of Armed People, Guerrilla Army of the Poor , the Rebel Armed Forces, and Guatemalan Labor Party . In 1999 the CEH specified that the reason for the outbreak and continuation of conflict throughout the years were structural inequality, racism, and strengthening of the establishment 's divisive, reduction of the political arena, also reluctance to advance actual reforms that could lessen the structural tensions.

This rebellion caused 200,000 people to die. Most of which were of Mayan decent . This number also includes the Mayan people that disappeared. In 1994 the government and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unit were in talks about peace. In March 1994 an agreement was made concerning the Mayan rights and their land. This was initiated in