2 GUATEMALA REPORTS OF ATROCITIES MARK ARMY GAINS The Guatemalan military is making slow progress against insurgent forces amid widespread allegations of atrocities by the troops Much of the government's progress can be credited to President Rios Montt s arming of the highland Indians which could boomerang should they turn against the government in the future The insurgents faced with growing opposition from traditionally supportive or at least neutral Indian villv ages have begun killing those perceived as not supporting their cause i suondwaxa Vd suoudulexa VlOd The rifles and beans' policy initiated in July by Rios Montt is characterized by alternating the use of carrots-such as the offer of amnesty for guerrillas-and sticks- the State o Siege a heavy military o fensive and the organization or the Indians into Civil Defense Forces Hoping to befriend the Indians Rios has ordered the-Army toi distribute food to the friendly populace following operations- Similarly a new-code of conduct admonishes the largely illiter- ate soldiers not to steal 'even a pin from the civilian popula- tion The CD5 patrols-reportedly have acquitted themselves well against insurgent forces considering the fact that members are a minority have firearms In response the guerrillas have massacred CDF'members their fami- lies and others in villages believed to support the government Cl 89 ANBGI lava NI The government has improved its control over rural areas through a strategic village program in which the-rural populace is ordered to move to villages where the army has outposts A scorched earth policy is then applied in the surrounding area These tactics have been accompanied by wideSpread allegations that government troops are regularly guilty or massacres rape and mayhem us Embassy investigations have found that some oi these reports cannot be verified that some-of the atrocities reported are attributable to the guerrillasp and that still 'others cannot be attributed with accuracy to either side The Embassy does not as yet believe that there is sufficient evidence to link government troops to any of the-reported massacres 10 01 SJ aovaeNMO Josh o AuJouzne 81 Recent governmentgsuccesseS'have hurt two of the four insur- gent-groups Nonetheless the-Cuban-trained Gnarrilla Army of -the-Poor the largest guerrilla organization continues to harass the army regularly in much oi the highland Departments provinces of Huehuetenango and El Quiche This heavy fighting along the Mexican border in Euehuetenango Department has caused-several thousand Guatemalans to seek The fighting has generated a number or reports of cross-bdrder fire by Guatemalan troops and at least one report o an incursion into Mexican territorysmxat suave Isa 52 3 03 Asmsv1030 d This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu