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Image / Armed soldiers in a jeep patrol a mountainous area, Guatemala, 1982

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Title
Armed soldiers in a jeep patrol a mountainous area, 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
Five armed soldiers stand or sit in a jeep patrol an area of mountainous terrain near the municipality of Zaragoza. The two soldiers on the left are standing and wearing helmets. They are both armed with Israeli IMI Galil rifles. On the right of the image there are three soldiers. Two of them are leaning on the jeep. They are both armed with IMI Galil rifles. One is wearing a helmet and the other one a hat. Above them stands a soldier holding a mounted M1919 Browning machine gun of U.S. origin with an ammunition box attached to it. He is wearing a helmet. 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.
Cinco soldados armados yacen parados o sentados en un jeep mientras patrullan un terreno montañoso cerca del municipio de Zaragoza. Los dos soldados sobre la izquierda yacen parados y portan cascos. Ellos están armados con fusiles IMI Galil de origen israelí. Sobre la derecha de la imagen se observan tres soldados. Dos de ellos yacen recargados sobre el jeep. Los dos están armados con fusiles IMI Galil. Uno de ellos porta casco y el otro gorro. Justo arriba de ellos yace parado un soldado sosteniendo una ametralladora M1919 Browning de origen estadounidense, la cual está montada sobre el vehículo con una caja de municiones adjunta a ella. El porta casto. La mayoría de los soldados obligados a patrullar como parte del programa "Patrulla de Autodefensa" en 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
color slides
Extent
35 mm
Identifier
99.01.RCr.sl.B12.05.23.13
http://digital-collections.csun.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p17169coll1/id/2535
Subject
Documentary photographs
Combat patrols
Guatemala. Ejército
Firearms
Guatemala--History--Civil War, 1960-1996
Automobiles
Military vehicles
Ammunition
Soldiers
Place
Zaragoza (Guatemala)
Relation
99.01.RCr.sl.B12.05.23.13.tif
Richard Cross Photographs
California State University Northridge. University Library. Special Collections & Archives. Tom & Ethel Bradley Center

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