1966 - Julio César Méndez Montenegro
Mario Méndez Montenegro, the leader of the center-left Partido Revolucionario (PR), the PR, was found shot dead in October 1965. His supporters, as well as other Guatemalans. refused to believe the official story that he had committed suicide.
The 1966 election. generally regarded as a fair one, was won by Julio César Méndez Montenegro. who had been picked by the PR to replace his brother as its candidate. Méndez Montenegro had a plurality in the popular vote but not an absolute majority, so his election had to be ratified by Congress. in which the PR held 30 of the 55 seats. Before Méndez Montenegro was allowed to take office, however, he was forced to sign a pact with the military that in effect made him their prisoner for four years. The pact gave the military control of their own internal affairs — including determining who would serve as minister of national defense — and a free hand in counterinsurgency operations. Méndez was able to secure agreement that he could first offer amnesty to the guerrillas and that a counterinsurgency campaign would only go into operation if the amnesty offer was refused. He was inaugurated on July 1. 1966, and the amnesty law was passed in August. It was rejected by the guerrilla leaders, however, and the counterinsurgency campaign went into operation in October.
The campaign was particularly successful in the department of Zacapa. Under the command of Colonel Carlos Arana Osorio, who benefited from advice from personnel of the United States Army Special Forces, or Green Berets, the military crushed the guerrilla forces in the area. Urban right-wing terrorism. operated by the military and the police in coordination with Mano Blanca and the New Anticommunist Organization (Nueva Organización Anticomunista - NOA), claimed many victims, especially among labor leaders, intellectuals. and students.
Victims generally showed signs of having been tortured and mutilated ; especially notorious cases included the rape and mutilation murder of a former Miss Guatemala and the assassination of a paralyzed law professor. Students and faculty at the University of San Carlos, especially those in the social sciences, were particularly victimized.
Left-wing terrorism. while of much smaller magnitude, also found prominent targets, including Federal Republic of Germany (West Ger many) Ambassador Karl von Spreti and United States Ambassador John Gordon Mein. The leader of the Rebel Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Rebeldes — FAR), Turcios Lima, was killed in an automobile accident in 1967 and replaced by César Montes. Under Montes, the FAR broke with the PGT, alleging that it was trying to take over the FAR and guide it in too moderate a direction. Early in 1968 the rival guerrilla armies — the FAR and the November 13 Revolutionary Movement (MR 13)merged into a single FAR. Yon Sosa, leader of the MR-13, was killed in 1970 in a clash with Mexican troops on the Mexico-Guatemala border.
The Catholic church, which initially had endorsed Castillo Armas' counterrevolution. subsequently attempted to stay clear of the coun try's political problems, but this proved impossible. At one point a right-wing group kidnapped the archbishop. and in 1967 several American Maryknoll priests were expelled from Guatemala for, among other things, attempting to organize agricultural workers.
In social and economic matters. the Méndez Montenegro government styled itself the “ Third Government of the Revolution. ” implying that it stood in line of succession to the governments of Arévalo and Arbenz. Méndez received extensive support from the United States government, receiving over US $ 100 million in loans, more than twice the total received by his two immediate predecessors. The loans were spent principally for infrastructure projects, such as hydroelectric dams and port improvements.
It was during this period that the traditionally dominant American corporations in Guatemala decided to reduce or close down their operations. United Fruit had begun to reorganize its operations in the late 1950s, organizing mergers and converting itself into the United Brands conglomerate. In the process of rationalizing operations. it decided to minimize the risks inherent in growing bananas and instead to concentrate its activity in marketing them. It thus sold or leased lands to small growers in Guatemala, buying, shipping, and marketing the stems, thus maintaining profits while reducing risk. It finally sold its remaining banana lands to Del Monte in 1972.
The railroad company declared bankruptcy in 1968 and was taken over by the Méndez Montenegro government. The electric company, EEG, was a subsidiary of American and Foreign Power, which was itself owned by the Electric Bond and Share Company. In 1969 Electric Bond and Share was bought by the Boise Cascade Corporation, which continued the policy of phasing out electric power operations in Latin America and diversifying into other activities. The Méndez government had bought some of EEG's generating installations in 1967 for the government-owned Na tional Institute of Electrification (Instituto Nacional de Electrificación ). The remainder of EEG's installations in Guatemala were bought by the government in 1972.
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