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Image / Soldiers resting on a vehicle at a checkpoint, Guatemala, 1982

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Title
Soldiers resting on a vehicle at a checkpoint, Guatemala, 1982
Creator
Cross, Richard, 1950-1983
Date Created and/or Issued
1982-03
Publication Information
California State University, Northridge
Contributing Institution
California State University, Northridge
Collection
Richard Cross Photographs (Bradley Center)
Rights Information
Use of images from the collections of the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center is strictly prohibited by law without prior written consent from the copyright holders. The responsibility for the use of these materials rests exclusively with the user.
The Bradley Center may assist in obtaining copyright/licensing permission to use images from the Richard Cross collection. http://www.csun.edu/bradley-center/contact
Description
A group of five soldiers rest on a jeep at an army checkpoint. The soldiers are all wearing a military uniform and a hat. The soldiers are also holding IMI Galil rifles of Israeli origin. Mounted on the jeep is an M1919 Browning machine gun of U.S. origin. Behind the soldiers next to a small structure is a soldier in uniform walking in the opposite direction. Most soldiers forced to patrol as part of the "Patrol of Self-Defense" program in the 1980s were Mayan men. Patrols were used by the military to destroy civil organizing and to control any political networks of rural Mayans. The UN-administered Truth Commission, known as the Commission of Historical Clarification documented more tan 600 massacres committed by government forces against civilians in predominately Mayan areas between 1981 and 1983.
Un grupo de cinco soldados descansa sobre un vehículo Jeep militar en un retén militar. Todos los soldados portan uniforme militar y gorro. Los soldados también portan fusiles IMI Galil de origen israelí. Montada sobre el jeep yace una ametralladora M1919 Browning de origen estadounidense. Detrás de los soldados y caminando en sentido contrario yace un soldado en uniforme junto a una estructura pequeña. La mayoría de los soldados obligados a patrullar como parte del programa "Patrulla de Autodefensa" en la década de los ochenta eran hombres mayas. Las patrullas fueron utilizadas por los militares para destruir la organización civil y controlar a cualquier red política de los mayas rurales. La comisión de la verdad administrada por la ONU, conocida como la Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico, documentó más de 600 masacres cometidas por fuerzas gubernamentales contra civiles en áreas predominantemente mayas entre 1981 y 1983.
Type
image
Format
Photographs
image/jpeg
black-and-white negatives
Extent
35 mm
Identifier
99.01.RCr.N35.B12.03.09.31
http://digital-collections.csun.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p17169coll1/id/2751
Subject
Documentary photographs
Guatemala--Social conditions
Guatemala. Ejército
Firearms
Automobiles
Soldiers
Place
Guatemala
Relation
99.01.RCr.N35.B12.03.09.31.tif
Richard Cross Photographs
California State University Northridge. University Library. Special Collections & Archives. Tom & Ethel Bradley Center

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