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Guatemala got its independence from Spain and the Captaincy General of Guatemala joined the First Mexican Empire under Agustin de Itubide.
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Guatemala declared itself an independent republic and Carrera became its first president
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Liberal party members who were prosecuted and sent into exile were those who started the Liberal Revolution. Was under the leadership of Justo Rufino Barrios. -
Guatemala City was badly damaged in the Guatemala earthquake.
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Badly damaged the Guatemalan economy, causing a rise in unemployment.
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Jorge Ubico won the election and enforced vagrancy law, requiring all men of working age who did not own land to work a minimum of 100 days of hard labor. The government became highly militarized; under his rule, every provincial governor was a general in the army. -
Ubico was forced to resign from the presidency in response to a wave of protests and a general strike inspired by brutal labor conditions among plantation workers. -
The war was between the government of Guatemala and various leftist rebel groups. Guatemala Revolution was disliked by the United States government which was predisposed by the Cold War to see it as a communist.
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Rigoberta Menchú was awarded it for her efforts to bring international attention to the government-sponsored genocide against the indigenous population.
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The war ended with peace between the guerrillas and the government. More than 45,000 Guatemalans fled across the border to Mexico.