Editing History of Guatemala (section)

===== Civil war in Guatemala city =====
{{Main|Guatemala City}}

{{quote box|width=20%|title=Beheaded corpses hanging from their legs in between what is left from blown up cars, shapeless bodies among glass shards and tree branches all over the place is what a terrorist attack caused yesterday at 9:35 am. El Gráfico reporters were able to get to exact place where the bomb went off, only seconds after the horrific explosion, and found a truly infernal scene in the corner of the 6th avenue and 6th street -where the Presidential Office is located- which had turned into a huge oven -but the solid building where the president worked was safe-. The reporters witnessed the dramatic rescue of the wounded, some of them critical, like the man that completely lost a leg and had only stripes of skin instead.|''El Gráfico'', 6 September 1980{{sfn|Figueroa|2011}}}}

On 31 January 1980, Guatemala gained worldwide attention when the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala City was burned down, resulting in 37 deaths, including embassy personnel and high-ranking Guatemalan former government officials.{{sfn|El Periódico|2012}} A group of indigenous people from [[El Quiché]] occupied the embassy in a desperate attempt to draw attention to their issues with the Army in that region, which was rich in oil and had been recently populated as part of the "Franja Transversal del Norte" agricultural program.{{sfn|La Hora|2013}} The fire, which started when the police attempted to retake the building, resulted in the deaths of 37 people. Following this incident, Spain severed its diplomatic relations with Guatemala.{{sfn|El Periódico|2012}}

[[File:Panoramica 001.JPG|left|thumb|Finance Center in 2011. In 1981, a powerful bomb exploded in the building's basement, leaving it without windows for several years. The owners, Industrial Bank, decided to keep the building open to the public as a defiant stance against the leftist guerrilla.]]

On 5 September 1980, a terrorist attack by the [[Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres]] (EGP) occurred in front of the Guatemalan National Palace, which was then the headquarters of the Guatemalan government. The attack aimed to disrupt a major demonstration planned by General Lucas García's government for 7 September 1980. The incident resulted in the deaths of six adults and one child when two bombs exploded inside a vehicle.{{sfn|La otra memoria histórica|2011}}

The attack caused an undetermined number of injuries and significant material damage, affecting not only the art pieces in the National Palace but also surrounding buildings, particularly the Lucky Building, located directly across from the Presidential Office.{{sfn|Prensa Libre|1980}} Among the deceased were Domingo Sánchez, the Secretary of Agriculture's driver; Joaquín Díaz y Díaz, a car washer; and Amílcar de Paz, a security guard.

Attacks on private financial, commercial, and agricultural targets increased during Lucas García's presidency, as leftist Marxist groups perceived these institutions as "[[reactionary]]" and "millionaire exploiters" collaborating with the repressive government.{{sfn|Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico: Vol. IV|1999|p=Sección 256}} The following is a non-exhaustive list of terrorist attacks that occurred in Guatemala City and are detailed in the UN Commission report:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto; width:70%; font-size:90%;"
|- style="color:white;"
! style="background:#659ec7; width:25%;"| Date
! style="background:#659ec7; width:25%;"| Perpetrator
!style="background:#659ec7;" | Target
!style="background:#659ec7;" | Result
|-
!style="background:lemonchiffon;"|15 September 1981
|Rebel Army Forces||Corporación Financiera Nacional (CORFINA)||A car bomb damaged the building along with neighboring Guatemalan and international financial institutions, causing more than Q300,000 in losses.{{sfn|Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico: Vol. IV|1999|p=Sección 253}}
|-
!style="background:lemonchiffon;"|19 October 1981
|EGP Urban guerrilla||Industrial Bank Financial Center||Sabotage of the building.{{sfn|Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico: Vol. IV|1999|p=Sección 252}}
|-
!style="background:lemonchiffon;"|21 December 1981
|EGP "[[Otto René Castillo]]" commando||Chamber of Industry, Torre Panamericana (Bank of Coffee headquarters) and Industrial Bank Financial Center||The car bombs completely shattered the building's windows.{{sfn|Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico: Vol. IV|1999|p=Sección 252}}
|-
!style="background:lemonchiffon;"|28 December de 1981
|EGP "Otto René Castillo" commando||Industrial Bank Financial Center||A car bomb targeted the building, virtually destroying one of the bank's towers. In a show of defiance, the bank chose not to repair the windows immediately and continued operations as normally as possible.
|}

Despite the insurgency's advances, it made several fatal strategic errors. Successes by revolutionary forces in Nicaragua against the Somoza regime, combined with the insurgency's own achievements against the Lucas government, led rebel leaders to mistakenly believe that they were reaching a military equilibrium in Guatemala. As a result, the insurgency underestimated the government's military strength.{{sfn|Aguilera Peralta|1981}} Consequently, the insurgents were overwhelmed and unable to secure their gains or protect the indigenous civilian population from reprisals by the security forces.