Guatemala Gets 2,000 US Rifles Decades After Arms Embargo

Guatemala received more than 2,000 US assault rifles on Monday, marking a significant shift decades after Washington halted military arms sales over human rights abuses committed during the country's armed conflict.

President Bernardo Arévalo said the conditions that led to the 1978 embargo had been resolved. "The reasons for the embargo on military sales to Guatemala at that time were due to human rights violations," he said.

The United States blocked arms sales to Guatemala in 1978 amid massacres of civilians during the country's 1960-1996 conflict. Truth commission reports attributed 97% of deaths during the conflict to the military and paramilitary groups.

Arévalo said Guatemala had since rebuilt its democracy, and its armed forces had undergone a process of redefinition and transformation. He defended the record of the current military, saying: "This is an army that does not violate human rights, but rather works with the population and supports peacekeeping missions."

The delivery consisted of M4 rifles. Defense Minister Henry Sáenz said Guatemala was also seeking other equipment to modernize its armed forces. "We are also making progress in acquiring aircraft, vessels, and special equipment to modernize the land, air, and sea forces of the Guatemalan Army," he said.

Sáenz said the rifles would be used to combat drug trafficking, particularly in Petén, the northern department bordering Mexico where authorities say organized crime operates.

The delivery came a month after the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances called on Guatemala's government to provide greater access to military archives concerning the armed conflict. The UN group also urged authorities to prevent construction at military facilities where victims have reported possible clandestine graves.