By: Ellie Baker The Guerrillas in Guatemala are a group of people fighting against the government in Guatemala. Instead of using words, they fight using violence. In Guatemala, the military runs the government, so a group of guerrillas formed to fight against the terrorism and discrimination against the native culture. A war waged for over 30 years for human rights in Guatemala. In 1996, the guerillas and the government signed a peace accord to end the 36 year-old war. The military run government in Guatemala is harsh and unfair towards the people. The military controls every aspect of what happens. Therefore, it can demand whatever it wants whenever it wants. Before 1996, the government was a dictatorship, which is a government with one person in charge. The military took over by force, and the people had no voice in what happened. In recent years, Guatemala has had few elections. The government can take over roads, buses, trains, anything they choose. It can also demand taxes. The military remains a constant threat today. The war in Guatemala was started by the military. They would destroy villages and kill the people living there. After all this destruction, they would sell the land to oil miners or farmers. A group of civilians banded together to fight against the widespread discrimination and abuse by the military These small bands of guerrillas would hide out in the tropical forests and attack the military. The guerrillas remain pretty illusive. Hardly anyone sees them. When they do kidnap people from villages or Peace Corps volunteers, they just demand a war tax from them which helps pay for supplies that they desperately need. The war began in 1960 and ended in 1996. During that time, military forces killed 200,000 native people. A peace accord was signed by the guerrillas and the government in 1996, which ended the 36 year long war and made it possible to begin tackling problems in Guatemala that had long been ignored. Among these problems was education and health care. The military agreed to shut down a number of their bases and to leave native villages. A few things still need to be worked out but things are much better than they were.