Kaibiles Unit Marches In Armed Forces Day Parade In Guatemala City
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Description:
Guatemalan Armed Forces soldiers from the Kaibiles unit, designated with maroon berets, march during a military parade for the annual Armed Forces Day in Guatemala City, Guatemala, June 30, 1981. The Kaibiles were formed in December of 1974 as a special operations wing of the Guatemalan Armed Forces. The commando unit was implicated in numerous human rights violations during the armed conflict, most notably the massacre of over 200 civilians in the village of Dos Erres in 1982, for which several Kaibiles soldiers were later tried and convicted in both United States and Guatemalan courts between 2011 and 2020. Since the UN-brokered peace accords in 1996, the army has refused to disband the Kaibiles despite objections from human rights and religious organizations. The current unit has now transitioned from an anti-guerrilla counterinsurgency focus towards anti-terrorism and anti-narcotics efforts.
