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Description
A group of civilians go about their business as they walk down a busy street. On the left side of the image, three soldiers look out from a Cadillac Gage Commando armored military vehicle of U.S. origin. There is a machine gun mounted to the top of the vehicle. The vehicle is parked on the side of the road as they patrol a small town. Behind armored vehicle and civilians there is a large church. Just above the tank there is a sign advertising ice cream. The vehicle was manufactured by Cadillac Gage, which was acquired by Textron, Inc., an American industrial conglomerate, in 1986. 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 civiles siguen su vida cotidiana mientras caminan por una calle ocupada. Sobre la izquierda de la imagen se observan tres soldados asomandose hacia la calle desde un vehículo militar blindado Cadillac Gage Commando de origen estadounidense. Sobre el vehículo se observa una ametralladora montada no identificada. El vehículo yace estacionado al costado de la calle mientras los soldados patrullan el pueblo. Detrás del vehículo y civiles se observa una gran iglesia. Detrás del vehículo tambien se observa un letrero que anuncia helados. El vehículo fué fabricado por Cadillac Gage, compañia que a su vez fué comprada por Textron Inc., un conglomerado de empresas industriales estadounidense en 1986. 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.
Documentary photographs Mayas Indians of Central America--Guatemala--Social conditions Guatemala. Ejército Children Military vehicles Soldiers Armored vehicles, Military
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