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Image / Soldiers patrol a village, Guatemala, 1982

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Title
Soldiers patrol a village, Guatemala, 1982
Creator
Cross, Richard, 1950-1983
Date Created and/or Issued
1982-03-03
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
Two armed soldiers patrol a village. They are both in uniform and holding IMI Galil rifles of Israeli origin. They are patrolling mountainous terrain near the municipality of Zaragoza, Department of Chimaltenango. Behind the soldiers there are several women and children standing. They crossed streams and climbed mountainous terrain to check on guerilla movements in isolated hamlets by questioning campesinos. 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.
Dos soldados armados patrullan una aldea. Los dos portan uniforme y fusiles IMI Galil de origen israelí. Ellos están patrullando el terreno montañoso cerca del municipio de Zaragoza, departamento de Chimaltenango. Detrás de ellos se observan a varias mujeres y niños parados. Ellos cruzaron arroyos y escalaron terrenos montañosos para controlar los movimientos de guerrilleros en aldeas aisladas interrogando a los campesinos. 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.B12.03.12.12
http://digital-collections.csun.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p17169coll1/id/2631
Subject
Documentary photographs
Guatemala. Ejército
Firearms
Combat patrols
Villages
Mayas
Maya women
Mayas--social conditions
Mayas--Government relations
Place
Zaragoza (Guatemala)
Relation
99.01.RCr.N35.B12.03.12.12.tif
Richard Cross Photographs
California State University Northridge. University Library. Special Collections & Archives. Tom & Ethel Bradley Center

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