Panzós massacre
In the Panzós massacre on May 29, 1978, a total of 54 people were killed by soldiers of the Guatemalan armed forces and at least 40 others were injured. The massacre occurred during Guatemala's civil war , which lasted from 1960 to 1996 and probably claimed 250,000 lives. Panzós has around 5,000 inhabitants and is the administrative seat of the municipality of the same name in the southeast of the Alta Verapaz department in Guatemala .
prehistory
Panzós is located in the valley of the Río Polochic , which flows into Lake Izabal around forty kilometers to the east . The Polochic Valley has been inhabited by Kekchí and Pocomchi for a long time and has served as an important transport route between the Caribbean and the highlands since the Spanish Conquista .
From 1865, an increasing number of German immigrants settled in Alta Verapaz. With Decreto 170 ( Desamortisation, Redención de Censos ), the Guatemalan government facilitated the expropriation of land owned by the indigenous people in favor of German farmers by auctioning off ejido land . Since then, economic activities have been concentrated on agricultural export products, especially coffee , bananas and cardamom . A large part of subsistence farming was practiced on the ejido land , while industrialized agriculture took place on the privatized land, which on the one hand led to a concentration of property, on the other hand to the enslavement of the long-established population ( Mozos Colonos ).
With the start of the land reform of 1952, the residents of Panzós began their struggle for land ownership. The Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán government had local Agrarian Comités set up, which assigned 2,300 hectares to the indigenous communities.
Due to the counter-reform of 1954, the majority of these properties were returned to their previous owners. During this time Flavio Monzón, from the Movimiento de Liberación Nacional (MLN), became mayor of the municipality. He ruled Panzós until the 1970s and used his power to become the largest land owner in the region.
In the early 1960s, Panzós was an area of influence of the first guerrilla groups.
In 1964, several municipalities, which had been settling on the banks of the Río Polochic for decades, organized themselves and applied for title to the Instituto Nacional de Transformación Agraria (INTA), which was founded in October 1962. However, the title was issued to Flavio Monzón. A Mayan farmer from Panzós confirmed that Flavio Monzón collected signatures from older people and applied for property titles from INTA. He returned and reported at a meeting that because of an error by INTA and its lawyers, the land had been registered in its name. A witness who belonged to the landowners reported that Flavio Monzón had sold this land property to other landowners.
In the 1970s, the farmers from Panzós continued to demand the regulation of their land ownership from INTA and received legal assistance from the Federación Autónoma Sindical de Guatemala (FASGUA), an organization that helped with the legal enforcement of land ownership claims by farmers. However, none of the farmers received a title of ownership. Some were given promises, others were given provisional titles, and others were only given permission to sow.
In 1973 there were 25,261 people in the municipality, 93 percent of whom were Kekchí .
In 1978, a few kilometers from Panzós, a military base was set up in Quinich.
At this time the level of organization of the farmers improved through committees which demanded the registration of land titles, which worried the finqueros ( latifundists ). Some latifundists claimed that penniless farmers from the villages and hamlets of the municipality wanted to occupy private land and put Panzós into unrest. With this justification and because of the lack of presence of the Policía Nacional , the latifundists applied to the governor of Alta Vera Paz in May 1978 for military protection. The governor ordered immediate action against any disturbance by campesinos. On May 24, 1978 a contingent of about 30 soldiers from Quinich was stationed in the Salón Municipal of Panzós. When the press asked the mayor of Panzós about the reason for the presence of the army in the city, the official response was:
"It's because many people personally asked that the army come to keep the place quiet, because they said that three hundred, four hundred farmers were armed here ..."
Some members of the Comuneros de Panzós drove to the center of Panzós and told the press that they had been threatened by the Finqueros and that they would be thrown out by the troops stationed in Zacapa if they continued to claim their land titles in the Verapaces.
The government troops viewed the peasant organizations as an active part of the guerrilla. Colonel Valerio Cienfuegos, commander of the troops transferred to Panzós, told the press after the massacre: "It is known that farmers meet regularly in training camps".
On May 27, 1978, the farmers of the settlement of San Vicente (Panzós) were sowing maize on a milpa on the banks of the Río Polochic when some soldiers, accompanied by the sons of one of the finqueros of the area, appeared and threatened them; they should withdraw their land claims.
On May 27, two farmers from the La Soledad (Panzós) settlement were arrested and mistreated by government forces. On the same day, one person died in the settlement, apparently of severe abuse.
Farmers from the La Soledad settlement and the village of Cahaboncito presented a document drawn up by FASGUA to the mayor so that he could present it to the public. In its letter, FASGUA asked Mayor Walter Overdick García to intervene on behalf of the farmers and try to solve the problems they presented.
The massacre
On May 29, 1978, farmers from the villages of Cahaboncito , Semococh , Rubetzul , Canguachá , Sepacay , Finca Moyagua and the La Soledad settlement decided to reaffirm their claims to land and in protest against the arbitrary actions of the Finqueros, the local authorities and government troops to demonstrate.
Hundreds of indigenous men, women, boys and girls ran into the center of Panzós that day. They carried work tools, machetes, and sticks. One participant explained: “The idea was not to argue with anyone, but to clarify the property titles. People came from different places and had no firearms. "
From 8:00 a.m., kekchí filled the central square. The mayor and his staff were in the town hall and discussed behind closed doors. Some armed soldiers of the government troops were at the door, other soldiers were on the roof of the town hall, on the roof of the church and on the town hall.
At around 9:00 a.m., the farmers requested to speak to the mayor about their problems with property titles. The mayor agreed to a discussion, but only with four representatives of the group, which could not be realized due to the tumult of the assembly. According to an eyewitness, a government soldier declared: "If you want land, you will get it, but in the cemetery". He also accused the farmers of having been briefed by the guerrillas.
There are different versions of the start of the shootout. Some claim that it began when "Mama Maquín" pushed a soldier who blocked her way; others claim it started because demonstrators attempted to break into the town hall by force in what was considered an attack by the soldiers. One of the witnesses claimed that a protester stole a gun from a soldier but did not use it because he could not handle it. Some witnesses claimed that one soldier said, "one, two, three, fire".
A non-commissioned officer gave the order to shoot into the crowd.
The gunshots could be heard for about five minutes. They were given up from the soldiers' service weapons and from three machine guns located on the edge of the square.
For their part, the farmers injured some soldiers with their machetes. No soldier was injured by a firearm. The place was covered with blood afterwards. The army immediately closed the main access roads. Nevertheless, according to testimony, the indigenous people fled in a panic. A military helicopter landed not far from the scene to evacuate injured soldiers. Local medical staff took care of the injured campesinos for hours. Rescue vehicles from the surrounding area did not arrive on time, which is why numerous injured people were transported away in private vehicles.
After the massacre , the soldiers forbade entry to the plaza. In the afternoon the authorities of the municipality ordered the removal of the bodies. Soldiers threw them onto the back of a blue Municipio administration truck that took them to a nearby public cemetery. A hole was dug with a tractor , into which 34 bodies were placed.
Many people fled the scene and took refuge in the La Soledad settlement , not without being chased and mistreated by soldiers on their way. Some seriously injured people died while fleeing, their bodies were later found in the ditch and in the Polochic River. The then mayor of El Estor said that 25 bodies were recovered from the Río Polochic that day. Based on information received by the Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico (CEH), it was found that a total of 53 people died and 47 others were injured in the Panzós square and during the attempt to escape. Among the victims was Adelina Caal, known as "Mamá Maquín".
After the massacre
Panzós remained occupied by the army after the massacre and the army presence was further increased. For several weeks, much of the local population did not return home and hid in the wilderness from the army.
The massacre caused a sensation in Guatemala and around the world. On June 1, 1978, numerous people demonstrated in Guatemala City . The demonstration was led by the Asociación de Estudiantes Universitarios (AEU). The procession became known as the Marcha de los Paraguas (Umbrella Demonstration). Access to Panzós was requested for a student commission, the Red Cross and the press. The press in Guatemala ran reports of what had happened on the first pages for several days, and the international press reported on the massacre at the same time. It has been the subject of numerous media coverage and scientific research.
After the massacre, government forces began targeted repression of activists demanding land, as well as against Mayan priests.
The CEH registered a total of 310 further victims for the period from 1978 to 1982. These were Desaparecidos , so-called Comisionados Militares and Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil who were executed out of court by government troops ( Ejecucion Extrajudicial , offense under Guatemalan military criminal law) .
Even after the massacre, bodies were seen daily in the Polochic River. An employee of a development aid project who was active in the Polochic Valley between 1978 and 1982 later reported that corpses kept drifting in the Polochic. Government repression frightened and crippled the people of Panzós. The number of requests for land allocation fell. There was no public demonstration from 1978 to 1996.
On May 29, 1997, 19 years after the massacre, the Comité de Viudas (local widows' association) filed a lawsuit in the Panzós court. The Panzós victims were exhumed in September 1997 and in June 1998 an expert report was submitted by the Fundación de Antropología Forense de Guatemala (FAFG). In the forensic report, two graves with a total of 35 bodies are reported. Of these, two could be identified. The Ministry of Defense made no comments.
Fatalities
- Abelardo Ac Caal
- Adelina Caal Caal
- Alfredo Choca
- Andrés Chub
- Andrés Rax
- Antonio Sub
- Apolonio Tux
- Bartolome Chub Chun
- Bartolome Chun Chub
- Bartolomeo Sacul Chun
- Domingo Cac
- Domingo Coc Pérez
- Domingo Cuc
- Felix Caal Seb
- Felix Caal Xo
- Francisco Choc
- Francisco Coc
- Francisco Seb, Che
- Francisco Tzalam
- Hilario Choc Pop
- José Chen Ac
- José Coc Pop
- José Maquin
- José Xol Coc
- José Yat Chun
- Juan Che
- Juan Cuz
- Juan Meza
- Lorenzo Choc Cuz
- Manuel Cabral Tzi
- Marcelino Cuz Choc
- María Luisa Cabnal
- Marcos Choc
- Mena Chun
- Miguel Cahuec
- Miguel Quib
- Norberto Chub Choc
- Pablo Caal Chun
- Pablo Cuz Mon.
- Pablo Rax
- Paulino Cuz Mon.
- Pedro Caal
- Pedro Maqui
- Ricardo Bac Chub
- Roberto Ical Choc
- Sabina Tuc Xo
- Sabino Cuz Coc
- Santiago Choc
- Santiago Che
- Santiago Seb Caal
- Santiago Seb Ché
- Tomás Chen Quib
- Tomás Coc
State recognition of the land problem
In June 1978, the government acknowledged that the lack of effective controls over property movements had created problems. President Kjell Eugenio Laugerud García promised an investigation.
Even after the end of the Guatemalan civil war , the impression remained that in the Valle del Polochic, as before the war, the predominance of property transactions lies with a power group that is immobile and not very tolerant, traditionally has an anti-reform attitude and aggressively defends the status quo in agriculture .
Public perception of the massacre
Legitimate defense of government forces, guerrillas are responsible for the massacre
Official version of the government as well as the government troops. President Laugerud pointed out that it was a plan to overthrow the government sponsored by Fidel Castro . Those who were really responsible for what happened in Panzós should pay, his government was persecuting those who indoctrinated the campesinos, inciting them to occupy nearby properties and turning against the authorities and the army, including with machetes.
Government Forces Responsibility
Version of the unions and the population.
Responsibility of the Finqueros
Version of the landless.
INTA's responsibility
Version of the mayor, landless and trade union organizations. The then mayor of Panzós, Walter Overdick, pointed out in public statements that INTA was irresponsible and that 15 years of waiting time for the application to be processed for a land allocation was the rule and that no notices would be delivered in the end.
consequences
After analyzing the information received, the CEH came to the conclusion that the members of the government troops had arbitrarily executed 53 people and tried executions in 47 other cases, with the result that the massacre constitutes a violation of the right to life.
The unresolved history, the fact that the civilian victims were Kekchí, who were not organized in a guerrilla movement, but instead pursued the goal of enforcing property claims as an interest group, increases the political responsibility of the state of Guatemala. The disproportionate use of force by the army, whose behavior did not correspond to legitimate self-defense, but to the interests of the large landowners, was particularly serious. This finding is based on several consistent pieces of evidence about the actions of the landowners in the area, who not only had demanded the presence of the army but also created a hostile environment for the farmers.
The events show the extent to which the persistence of land ownership conflicts and the inability or unwillingness to find a solution on the part of the state have led to a climate of social instability, in this case two decades of terror against the population.
The CEH regretted the lack of a statement by the Ministry of Defense, which contradicts Article 10 of the Ley de Reconciliación Nacional .
literature
- Greg Grandin: Panzós: La última masacre colonial. Latin America en la Guerra Fría. Ciudad de Guatemala: Asociación para El Avance de las Ciencias Sociales en Guatemala AVANCSO, 2007.