ABSTRACT
A superficial reading of the Guatemalan economic ledger since World War II would seem to suggest that substantial economic development has occurred. Guatemalan society reflects some of the dynamism apparent in the macroeconomic changes. In addition, more than 90 percent of Guatemalan exports in the manufacturing sector go to Third World buyers. The typical member of the Guatemalan poor consumes only 56 percent of the minimum protein requirement for human life. The sharp reduction in US Guatemalan military cooperation after 1977 brought no human rights improvements. Sanctions were inadequate in pressuring the Guatemalan military to cease repression and begin national reconciliation. Although major weapons systems were withheld, American-manufactured helicopter parts continued to be sold to the regime, and US active-duty military helicopter trainers prepared its pilots for combat. In the early 1970s, state terrorism was fairly random and appears to have been designed to induce a general depoliticization, similar to that which occurred in 1954-1956.
