ABSTRACT
Guatemala's orthodox Communist Party was virtually eradicated following its attempt to capitalize on social reform in the early 1950s. A Guatemalan Communist Party was first established in 1922. It was persecuted and eliminated by General Jorge Ubico's regime in 1933 when many of its leaders fled abroad. To upgrade coordination between the four main insurgent groups a "unified military directorate," the General Revolutionary Command, was established in January 1982 together with a joint political front, the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity. According to Communist ideologists, Guatemala was a "small, semi-feudal, and dependent country" with uneven capitalist development and under the control of US imperialism. About three quarters of Guatemala's seven million people derive most of their livelihood from the land. Government counter-insurgency operations have been designed not only to eliminate the Communist insurgents but also to prevent any future resurgence and to thwart anti-government activites in general.
