Guatemalan Army Soldiers Travel Through Guerrilla Ambush Territory
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Description:
Guatemalan army soldiers armed with Israeli Galil assault rifles travel in a U.S.-manufactured troop transport through possible guerrilla ambush territory outside of Santa Cruz del Quiché, Guatemala, February 1, 1982. In 1954, U.S. economic interests and the United Fruit Company's influence in Guatemala were threatened by nationalist reforms proposed by President Jacobo Árbenz. Invoking Cold War fears of the spread of communism in the Western Hemisphere, the CIA orchestrated a coup d'état to install a succession of military regimes. Before and during the 36-year civil war that began in 1960, the United States government financed and trained Guatemalan military and security forces responsible for state-sanctioned violence against political opponents, guerrilla insurgents, and civilians.
