Between 1982 and 1983, in the name of anti-communism the military government of Guatemala prosecuted a scorched-earth campaign of terror against largely Mayan rural communities. Under the leadership of General Efrain Rios Montt, tens of thousands of people perished in what is now known as la violencia, or 'the Mayan holocaust.' Rios Montt, Guatemala's president-by-coup was, and is, an outspokenly born-again Pentecostal Christian - a fact that would seem to be at odds with the atrocities that took place on his watch. Virginia Garrard-Burnett's book is the first in English to view the Rios Montt era through the lens of history. Drawing on newly-available primary sources such as guerrilla documents, evangelical pamphlets, speech transcripts, and declassified US government records, she is able to provide a fine-grained picture of what happened during Rios Montt's rule. Looking back over Guatemalan history between 1954 and the late 1970s, she finds that three decades of war engendered an ideology of violence that cut across class, cultures, communities, religions, and even families. Many Guatemalans converted to Pentecostalism during this period, she says, because of the affinity between these churches' apocalyptic message and the violence of their everyday reality. Examining the role of outside players and observers: The US government, evangelical groups, and the media, she contends that self-interest, willful ignorance, and distraction permitted the human rights tragedies within Guatemala to take place without challenge from the outside world.
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"In a country still torn over the war by polarizing accusations amplified by righteous self-exculpation, Garrard-Burnett listens carefully to as many sides as her sources allow-the Left, the Right, Catholic activists, evangelicals, the US embassy-to conclude that states turn genocidal, not just because they can, but because both perpetrators and public come to see their self-preservation, if not salvation, at stake. In helping us understand better that self-preservation, this book also speaks with respect-and hope-to the survivors. We should all be listening carefully."
--John Watanabe, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Dartmouth College
"This is a careful narrative and sober analysis of Mott's seventeenth-month regime in Guatemala."--Religious Studies Review
Virginia Garrard-Burnett's examination of General Efra n R os Montt is one of the best available historicalpolitical analyses of Guatemala's brutal armed conflict...Garrard-Burnett is arguably one of the most important contemporary historians of Protestantism in Latin
America. In this slim volume, she not only demonstrates her deep and nuanced understanding of the evangelical movement in Guatemala but also explains
the dynamics and contours of the political crisis that brought R os Montt to power in 1982."--American Historical Review
This work secures a solid place among some of the dominant works in modern Latin American historiography, particularly in its positioning within the field of subaltern studies. While remaining sensitive to the voice and agency of the victims of the genocide, Garrard- Burnett relies heavily on truth commission reports to provide a clear analysis of the influences of evangelical rhetoric that saturated Guatemala's violent struggles of the late Cold War. This useful, insightful work deserves a wide reading among students and specialists alike."--Hispanic American Historical Review
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Professor of History and Religious Studies, UT-Austin
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
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Essential Primer on Ríos Montt Years in Guatemala
3 Feb 2010
By J. Simon
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Professor Garrard-Burnett's book on Guatemalan dictator Brig. Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt, who ruled Guatemala from 1982-1983, is an essential read for anyone who wishes to understand the chronology and complexities of Guatemala's internal war, which claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Guatemalans. Professor Garrard's account of Ríos Montt's reign of terror explains the synergy between the Protestant church and the military both clearly and thoroughly.
Refreshingly, Professor Garrard does not yield to ideological screed or agit-prop; instead she draws on hundreds of examples, both anecdotal and scholarly, to make her point.
This one is worth the money.
Refreshingly, Professor Garrard does not yield to ideological screed or agit-prop; instead she draws on hundreds of examples, both anecdotal and scholarly, to make her point.
This one is worth the money.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
new ground
30 Sep 2012
By publichero
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
The author writes with a keen grasp of the facts of Guatemala's civil war, but more than that she shows great insight into the social, psychological and political aspects of the conflict. She has covered ground which no other writer on this subject has covered or tried to cover. For these reasons the book is perhaps better suited to scholars of the conflict than lay persons.
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