Lianne Milton

Guatemala: Song of the Quetzal

During the height of the civil war, around 1981-82, the Guatemalan military enforced tactics such as "scorched earth campaigns." Soldiers recruited men into civil patrols, raped women and burned villages and churches. This was common throughout the indigenous highlands of the country. There were over 600 massacres. Thousands fled into the mountains to live for over a decade.  

Guatemala is the only country in the western hemisphere that experienced genocide in the 20th century. During the country’s 36-year civil war, (1960-1996), about 200,000 people were killed and another 50,000 “disappeared” and buried in mass graves throughout the country. It left a brutal legacy of violence on the social fabric of this highly indigenous country.  

  • During the height of the civil war, a military tactics such as {quote}scorched earth{quote} campaigns were enforced. Soldiers recruited men into civil patrols, raped women and burnt their villages and churches. This was common. There were over 600 massacres in the highlands. Thousands fled into the mountains to live for over a decade. Laq Chimel, near Uspantan, Guatemala. March 30, 2012.
  • A woman with her grandson in the window of her wooden home, in a remote village outside of Uspantan, Guatemala, on March 28, 2012. Many indigenous Guatemalans were accused by the government of harboring leftist guerrillas. Villagers here fled to the mountains where they lived for 12 years when the military came and burned their homes, raped the women and forced men into civic patrols.
  • A wooden cross marks the grave of a victim who was killed by the military during the civil war, in a village outside of Uspantan, deep in the highlands of Guatemala, March 28, 2012.
  • guatemala011
  • Residents in a Semana Santa procession in the highlands of Uspantan, Guatemala, on March 30, 2012. This area suffered heavy violence against the residents during the civil war, where the military publicly executed possible guerrillas in the plaza.
  • Guatemalans swing incense during a Semana Santa procession in Antigua, Guatemala, April 6, 2012.
  • The colony of La Verbena merges with the cemetery, in Zone 7, Guatemala City, on Thursday, April 12, 2012. The cemetery has three of the largest mass graves from the Civil War where bodies were exhumed and documented. Forensic anthropologists are researching causes of death and with the help family members, they can identify the bodies, and then releasing the victims for proper burial.
  • guatemala014
  • Two-thousand campesinos, or farmers, from the northern Guatemalan state of Alta Verapaz, walk an 8-day journey to the capital to protest land grabbing by corporations for mining and palm oil trees, in Sanarate, Guatemala, on Sunday, March 25, 2012. In December 2010, Guatemala's government declared a three-month state of siege in Alta Verapaz. The state, an area just north of capital city, has been overrun with large criminal gangs and violence, especially the Zetas.
  • Traffic on the highway outside of Guatemala City, in Sanarate, Guatemala, on Sunday, March 25, 2012. As Guatemalans continue to recover from decades of political violence, the growth of cartel, gang and street violence increase. Mexican drug cartels are new players in a complex mix of paramilitary and vigilante groups in the shadowlands between state and organized crime in Guatemala. While today there is no official war, Guatemalans live with 98% impunity, and a homicide rate of 40 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, some critics say Guatemala is on the verge of becoming a failed state.
  • guatemala012
  • The remains of a church that was burned by the Guatemalan military in their hunt for leftist guerrillas, in a remote village outside of Uspantan, Guatemala, on March 28, 2012. Many indigenous Guatemalans were accused by the government of harboring leftist guerrillas. Villagers here fled to the mountains where they lived for 12 years when the military came and burned their homes, raped the women and forced men into civic patrols.
  • guatemala013
  • Campesinos, or farmers, from the northern Guatemalan state of Alta Verapaz, take a break from a eight-day journey to the capital to protest land grabbing by corporations for mining and palm oil trees, in Sanarate, Guatemala, on Sunday, March 25, 2012. In December 2010, Guatemala's government declared a three-month state of siege in Alta Verapaz. The state, an area just north of capital city, has been overrun with large criminal gangs and violence, especially the Zetas.
  • intro
  • Brazil
    • Venezualan Refugees - coming soon
    • Baby Duda: a year in the life of a Zika baby
    • Rising Nostalgia for Dictatorship Return
    • Right Side of the Wrong Life
    • We The Favela
    • Brazil's Awakening
  • Cambodia
    • Good Morning Family
    • Bridge of Ghosts; A Country in Mourning
    • From the Murky Waters the Lotus Grows
  • Guatemala
    • La Vida No Vale Nada
    • Song of the Quetzal
    • Hunger in a Lush Land
  • More Photo Essays
    • Hungary's Refugee Crisis - coming soon
    • Sacred Valley of the Incas - coming soon
    • Medellin: Fragile Future for the Miracle City
    • Land of Canaan
    • Waiting for the Sky to Fall
    • A Future, Divided
  • Portraits
    • People
    • Guerreiras
    • I Dream Too / Mwen Reve
  • Travel
  • Blog: Published Work
  • News + Info
    • About Me
    • Current Location
    • Licensing
    • Shutter To Think
  • Contact Me

All Images by Lianne Milton © 2013. Site design © 2010-2023 Neon Sky Creative Media