History of Guatemala

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The history of Guatemala traces back to the Maya civilization (2600 BC – 1697 AD), with the country's modern history beginning with the Spanish conquest of Guatemala in 1524. By 1000 AD, most of the major Classic-era (250–900 AD) Maya cities in the Petén Basin, located in the northern lowlands, had been abandoned. The Maya states in the Belize central highlands continued to thrive until the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado—called "The Invader" by the Maya—arrived in 1525 and began to subdue the indigenous populations.

For nearly 330 years, Guatemala was part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala, which included Chiapas (now in Mexico) and the present-day countries of El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. The colony declared its independence on 15 September 1821 and briefly joined the First Mexican Empire in 1822. By 1824, Guatemala became a member of the Federal Republic of Central America, and upon the Republic's dissolution in 1841, it gained full independence.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, foreign agricultural companies, particularly the United Fruit Company (UFC), were drawn to Guatemala. These companies were bolstered by the country's authoritarian rulers and support from the U.S. government, which enforced harsh labor regulations and granted vast concessions to wealthy landowners. The oppressive policies of Jorge Ubico led to a popular uprising in 1944, sparking the ten-year Guatemalan Revolution. During the presidencies of Juan José Arévalo and Jacobo Árbenz, the country experienced wide-ranging social and economic reforms, including a successful agrarian reform program and increased literacy.

The progressive reforms of Arévalo and Árbenz alarmed the UFC, which lobbied the U.S. government to intervene. This led to a U.S.-backed coup that ousted Árbenz and installed a military regime. This regime's rise initiated a period of military governments, culminating in a civil war from 1960 to 1996. The conflict was marked by severe human rights violations, including the Guatemalan genocide of the indigenous Maya by the military. After the war ended, Guatemala re-established a representative democracy but has since struggled with high crime rates and ongoing extrajudicial killings, often carried out by security forces.