Overthrow of Guatemalan Government

Date: March 23, 1982 • Location: Rome, Italy

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1982–1985.

Guatemala's government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García was overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt.

Fernando Romeo Lucas García was a military officer and politician who served as the 37th president of Guatemala from July 1, 1978, to March 23, 1982. He was elected as the nominee for the Institutional Democratic Party. During Lucas García's regime, tensions between the radical left and the government increased. The military started to murder political opponents while counterinsurgency measures further terrorized populations of poor civilians.