- The Mayan genocide was also known as the "Silent Holocaust." This genocide occurred in Guatemala, mostly in the province of Chimaltenango.
- This genocide lasted from 1981 to 1983, during which the Guatemalan civil war was raging. The civil war had been happening since the 1960's.
- The Mayan people were the main victims. They believed in Marxists socialism. This lead the Guatemalan government to believe they were part of a communists group.
- The Guatemalan government believed the Mayans were primitive, inferior, lazy, and barbaric.
- The Mayans protested against the government, demanding equality and inclusion of the Mayan culture.
- The government implemented acts of savagery: beating and killing defenseless children, amputation of limbs, burning victims alive, the extraction of organs in victims still alive, rape of women, and the confinement of tortured people. By standers were forced to watch or take place.
- The most severe period of the massacre was from 1981-1983. During this time 5 Mayan tribes located in the mountainous area were exterminated. The most inferior people were considered the “mountain dwellers.”
- The government implemented a scorched earth policy in which all the Mayans homes, communities, and crops were burned.
- Soldiers were forced to obey all orders.
- The governments mentality was that there were no innocent Mayans. They believed that they needed to "drain the sea the fish lived in."
- The conflict ended when the government signed a peace treaty with the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity.
- General Héctor Mario López Fuentes was captured and charged with genocide and crimes against humanity. Four soldiers were captured and charged with each murder and crimes against humanity totaling 6,060 years in prison.
- The total number of deaths was 200,000.
- Due to the scorched earth policy, the survivors had very little to return to after the genocide.
- After the genocide, many different countries funded the Historical Clarification Commission. This organization began investigating what really happened during the genocide.
- The Guatemalan government "did not have" any records from the time of the genocide, so the Historical Clarification Commission went out and took over 9,000 witness statements. However, the commissions findings were not able to lead to any prosecutions. This was due to their limited power.
- Released 'Guatemala: Memory of Silence' in 1999.
- Today, Guatemala is still ruled by a dictator.