ABSTRACT
The 1970s saw the crescendo of a political crisis within the ruling coalition, while at the base, the massive incorporation of the highlands Indian population into the revolutionary movement seriously threatened the established order. Although the counterinsurgency state has evolved with increasing sophistication since the 1970s, its essential structure and goals still fit the general description offered by Mauro Marini. In the 1970s and 1980s, Guatemala has been run "from the top" by a ruling coalition, primarily between the bourgeoisie and the army. This coalition has maintained an iron grip on state power since the 1960s— all the more so after the institutionalization of the army's direct rule, with Arana's accession to power in 1970. No less important was the revival and development of autonomous social/popular movements "at the base", beginning during the later Arana years but developing much more fully under Kjell Laugerud.
