This blog was posted on my personal site Y Voz.

El Suizo, Jacobo Arbenz, the democratically elected president of Guatemala in the 1950’s is where this begins. He took over the country with social reform on his heart and progressive views. Entirely opposite of his predecessor, Jorge Ubico, who was a tyrant plain and simple.

Arbenz wanted to give back to his people what they had been deprived of for so long, opportunity. He distributed land to farmers and started to restore balance in the country. Similar to many other third world countries, Guatemala was rich in natural resources and produce causing it to be exploited. The forbidden fruit. The American company, the United Fruit Company was in Guatemala exporting produce. When Arbenz denied land to this company, in order for citizens to have a chance to make a living, the country was declared a communist threat. The U.S. helped plan a military coup. They trained Guatemalan soldiers and helped put Carlos Castillo Armas in power with the help of the CIA. He essentially undid all of the work of Arbenz, making way for a series of authoritarian leaders. This is no conspiracy theory or attack on my country, it’s what happened, and here’s a little video to explain more.

Anyone in opposition with Armas or anyone in power following him was considered a communist or a guerilla. Some ended up becoming just that. Throwing Guatemala into a 36-year long civil war from 1960 to 1996 between government and guerillas. Until a peace accord was finally signed.

I lived in Guate in 2013, studying the history of the Guatemalan Civil War like CRAZY. One of the things I learned, there are many opposing views. People debate on how it began, if it even was a civil war, if the country actually was going communist, everything. Regardless of what the capital T truth is of its history, I know that there were atrocities committed against its people at the hands of its government. Which caused irreversible damage, that still affects Guatemalans today. Villages were massacred, young girls raped by soldiers, mercenaries burning people alive, torture of innocent people.

How do I know this? My grandparents are immigrants from Guatemala and they were alive during all of this. My grandmother’s father was tortured for three days just for publicly showing support toward Arbenz after he was overthrown. This history is my history. This country has inspired me to create this website and its Instagram page. I want people to know how rich in resources and produce Latin America is, but also how it has been abused by larger powers. I want this to serve as a voice that unites Latinos. I want Latinos to feel proud of their heritage, especially during a time when there is such strong opposition toward us.