1974 - Kjell Laugerud García
The most important force on the right remained the MLN, headed by Vice President Sandoval. Attempting to free himself from control by the right and to devise policies more acceptable to the population at large, President Laugerud moved cautiously to the center of the political spectrum. forming an understanding with the PR. The PR, now more or less in the center right, cooperated in Congress with the president's PID. Laugerud showed a more tolerant attitude to labor unions, which had been persecuted by Arana, and labor union membership rose from 27,500 in 1974 to about 80,000 in 1976. The president also tried to develop some support among the peasants, encouraging the formation of pro-government cooperatives among them. Colonization was encouraged in the Petén and in the region known as the Northern Trans versal Strip (Franja Transversal del Norte). which was earmarked for development.
The process of political moderation was interrupted by a severe earthquake that struck Guatemala on February 4, 1976. The quake covered a vast area: 16 of Guatemala's 22 departments were affected. It was devastating in some areas : in the Highland department of Chimaltenango, almost 42,000 out of a total of some 43,000 homes were reportedly destroyed. Estimates put the number of dead at 30,000, injured at 77,000, and the homeless at over 1 million persons.
The poor, who lived in ramshackle huts in the countryside and in hastily constructed urban dwellings (which in Guatemala City were often constructed in geologically unstable ravines), were hit the hardest. Established residential areas. which had been constructed to withstand earth tremors, were relatively unscathed, as were commercial and industrial centers in and out of the capital. The major exception to this rule was found at the nation's major port, Puerto Barrios, which was almost completely destroyed and cut off from the capital for several months by heavy damage incurred by the highway and railroad that connected them.
Earthquake reconstruction was facilitated by heroic efforts on the part of many Guatemalan and foreign rescue personnel and by large scale foreign aid, including a US $ 25 million emergency grant from the United States government. Guatemalan government efforts were coordinated by the Committee for National Reconstruction (Comité de Reconstrucción Nacional— CRN ). Perhaps remembering the political favoritism and corruption that diverted foreign aid from real needs after the 1974 earthquake in Nicaragua, President Laugerud defeated a concerted attempt by Arana Osorio to be named to head the CRN and named instead Colonel Ricardo Peralta Méndez, the respected nephew of the former chief of state. That decision proved beneficial to the reconstruction process, which observers agreed was quite efficient and honest, but it also created bitter enemies for the president on his right, whose power would surge during the final two years of his presidency.
Despite concerted relief efforts, the inevitable social dislocations caused by the earthquake engendered acute social tensions. Resurgent labor unions failed to display the discipline that the government felt was demanded by the situation. In April Guatemala's two largest trade federations united to form the National Commitee for Trade Union Unity (Comité Nacional de Unidad Sindical-CNUS). which immediately stepped to the political forefront of voicing demands of the urban poor, such as adequate housing for those left homeless by the quake and fixing prices on basic commodities that had increased dramatically as a result of speculation and hoarding following the calamity.
Numerous employers cut back on their work forces after the earthquake; it was noted that union leaders were most likely to lose their jobs. Strike activity picked up markedly, and so did the activities of death squads that had been dormant for the previous two years. In 1977 a new organization appeared. Called the Secret Anticommunist Army (Ejército Secreto Anticomunista—ESA). it specialized in the assassination and kidnapping of union leaders, students. politicians, and professionals who may have displayed the slightest interest in altering the status quo. During the subsequent five years. political violence became endemic.
The year 1977 also proved to be fateful with respect to Guatemala's relations with the United States. The Department of State's first human rights report, which was highly critical of Guatemala, was rejected by the Laugerud regime as unwarranted interference in its internal affairs. If this was the price of military aid, reasoned Guatemala's increasingly xenophobic leaders, then the United States could keep it. United States military aid remained closed to Guatemala until 1983, when a modest program of military training was resumed. A small program of development assistance for the poorest of the poor continued throughout the 1977-83 period.
An active guerrilla insurgency also reappeared during the Laugerud presidency. In 1975, after several years of organization, the Guerrilla Army of the Poor (Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres—EGP) began insurgent activities in the department of Quiché. Though initially seen as a nuisance rather than a serious threat to internal security, the EGP was distinguished from its predecessor guerrilla organizations through its successful recruitment within the Indian population. By the end of Laugerud's term in office, little encouragement was being shown to those who believed that the protection of the Indians' rights by peaceful means was possible. In May 1978, one month before the inauguration of his successor, a demonstration by Indians in the town of Panzós. Alta Verapaz, to protest that their legal land titles were not being recognized resulted in a massacre — the machine-gunning of more than 100 men, women, and children.
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