Introduction

This chapter explores how the thirty-year struggle in Guatemala to prosecute high-ranking military officers came about and what it means for Guatemala and beyond. The Guatemalan genocide trial was made possible because of incredible persistence within Guatemala, as well as a global circulation of human rights discourses and the reverberations of transnational justice movements. Military documents from the era show how the army viewed Guatemala's indigenous populations in general, and the Ixil population in particular, as real or potential 'internal enemies' with a proclivity towards supporting the insurgents. Historically based racism contributed to conflating Mayas into the category of internal enemy. Key here is to understand how racism and counterinsurgency were intertwined in specific places and moments. The army's doctrine of annihilation led to entire communities being labelled 'bad Mayas' in a scorched earth assault and militarized reconstruction. The chapter also presents an overview of key concepts discussed this book.