Abstract

SALA, LAURA YANINA. In search of an Own Counter-Subversive Doctrine: The Promotion Thesis of Guatemalan Officers, 1975-1985. Desafíos [online]. 2020, vol.32, n.2, pp.204-250.  Epub Jan 21, 2021. ISSN 0124-4035.  https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/desafios/a.7388.

This article proposes to qualify the dominant perspective regarding the National Security Doctrine (NDS) in Guatemala, according to which the Army appears as a mere recipient of ideas from the US. It assumes that the military doctrines of the seventies and eighties have been the product of a complex elaboration process that, even though the US were a key actor, involved particular socio-historical aspects and local, regional and international actors. Based on an analysis of the Guatemalan Army Officers Promotion Thesis we show that, during the period 1975-1985, concerns were raised by the High Command and the officers in order to establish their own doctrine to guide military actions against "subversion". Second, we expose the differences in prevailing approaches among officers. Then, we identify the bibliographical references that nurtured the local doctrinal elaboration in which texts from South American and Taiwanese military stand out.

Keywords : Guatemala; military forces; counterinsurgency; doctrine; military culture.

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