Guatemalan Rebel
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“MORE THAN THE SILENCE OF RIFLES:” GUATEMALAN REBEL COMBATANTS’ PERSPECTIVES ON THE EVE OF PEACE by Stephen Robin Peter Stewart B.A., Simon Fraser University, 1989 PDP, Simon Fraser University, 1992 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Interdisciplinary Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) December 2019 © Stephen Robin Peter Stewart, 2019 The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, a thesis/dissertation entitled: MORE THAN THE SILENCE OF RIFLES: GUATEMALAN REBEL COMBATANTS’ PERSPECTIVES ON THE EVE OF PEACE submitted by Stephen Robin Peter Stewart in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies Examining Committee: Pilar Riano Co-supervisor Juanita Sundberg Co-supervisor ii Abstract This thesis analyses interviews with 13 guerrilla combatants originally conducted in early 1997, while I was a journalist with the CERIGUA news agency covering the Guatemalan armed conflict, the Peace Accords and the demobilization and reintegration into civil society of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) fighters. The work gathers the testimonies of the guerrillas, including their motivations for joining the insurgency, experiences in the guerrilla, and feelings regarding the end of the armed conflict and their pending reintegration into Guatemalan society. I compare what the URNG combatants expressed in these interviews with other research regarding the 36-year conflict and especially studies documenting the experience of demobilized URNG members a decade after their reintegration into Guatemalan civil society. Based on this research, the thesis argues that, contrary to what is promoted in some Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) literature, in the Guatemalan experience collective reintegration proved more successful than individualized reintegration, and should have been provided to a much large number of former combatants. In this research, successful reintegration is interpreted as economic and social well-being, as well as the political and social engagement of the former combatants in broader Guatemalan society, particularly engagement aimed at addressing the factors that originally gave rise to the armed conflict. Special attention is paid to these criteria in the reintegration of female former combatants. iii Lay Summary In this thesis I argue that in the Guatemalan experience, collective reinsertion of guerrilla fighters was more effective than breaking up rebel units and demobilizing them on an individual basis. I analyze interviews I conducted with guerrilla fighters from the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) as they prepared for demobilization at the end of Guatemala’s 36- year long armed conflict in early 1997. I find that a majority of the combatants wished to participate in some form of collective reinsertion into civilian society, something that was actively discouraged by many of the international organizations providing support for the demobilization process. In revisiting the experiences of the former combatants 10-15 years after the end of the conflict, I find that the small number of URNG fighters who did demobilize collectively tended to fare better and be more engaged socially and politically than those who reinserted individually into civilian society. The thesis also includes extensive testimony from URNG fighters about their motives for joining and their experiences during their long years in the guerrilla movement. iv Preface This thesis uses archival material from the Guatemalan news agency CERIGUA. It is based on thirteen interviews I conducted between 1994 and 1997 with guerrilla combatants of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) while working as a journalist for the Guatemalan news agency CERIGUA. Excerpts from five of the interviews – with the combatants Yali, Timoteo Navarijo, Silvio, Pancho and Walter – appeared in CERIGUA’s 1998 special report Transición en Guatemala: De Las Armas a la Lucha Política. The thesis also includes thirteen photos taken while visiting rebel camps in Guatemala to carry out the interviews. There is one additional photo taken in July 2019 while visiting Nuevo Horizonte, a cooperative community of demobilized URNG combatants in northern Guatemala. All photos but one, were taken by the author. v Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... iii Lay Summary ............................................................................................................................... iv Preface .............................................................................................................................................v Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. viii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... ix List of Images .................................................................................................................................x List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... xi Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... xii Dedication ................................................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................1 1.1 Covering the Conflict ...................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Literature Review.......................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 2: The Insurgency .........................................................................................................18 2.1.1 The Rebel Armed Forces (FAR) ............................................................................... 21 2.1.2 The Guerrilla Army of the Poor (EGP)..................................................................... 25 2.1.3 The Revolutionary Army of the People in Arms (ORPA) ........................................ 27 2.1.4 Guatemalan Labour Party – PGT .............................................................................. 29 2.1.5 Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity – URNG ............................................... 31 2.2 The Peace Process ......................................................................................................... 34 2.3 Demobilization ............................................................................................................. 39 vi Chapter 3: Rebels on the Eve of Peace: The Interviews...........................................................47 3.1.1 Profiles of URNG Combatants Interviewed ............................................................. 54 3.1.1.1 Sacol ................................................................................................................. 55 3.1.1.2 Lo de Blanco/Claudia II (or Camp Compañera Elvira) .................................... 60 3.1.1.3 Camp Claudia.................................................................................................... 69 3.1.1.4 Tuluché I and II ................................................................................................. 73 3.1.1.5 Outside the Camps ............................................................................................ 80 3.2 A grounded theory analysis on the interviews .............................................................. 85 3.2.1 Incorporation into the Guerrilla ................................................................................ 85 3.2.2 Motives for Joining the Armed Struggle .................................................................. 89 3.2.3 Life as an insurgent ................................................................................................... 91 Chapter 4: Female combatants in the URNG ...........................................................................96 4.1.1 Factors that Lead to Mobilization of Women Guerrillas ........................................ 101 4.1.2 The Guatemala Context .......................................................................................... 104 4.1.3 Interviews with Women URNG Combatants ......................................................... 106 4.1.4 Additional data on female Guerrillas in the URNG ................................................ 112 Chapter 5: Perspectives on Peace and Demobilization ..........................................................123 Chapter 6: Conclusion ...............................................................................................................132 Bibliography ...............................................................................................................................141