[originally published on March 17, 2024]

Efraín Ríos Montt's presidency was the nadir of Guatemala's 36-year civil war, and the worst period of violence - la violencia - took place during it. I begin by discussing his upbringing, class background, and early career as a Guatemalan military officer. He was trained at the School of the Americas (now WHINSEC) in Georgia as well as at Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty) in North Carolina as well as the Italian War College and Fort Gulick (aka the School of the Assassins) in the Panama Canal Zone.

Montt converted to evangelical christianity of a variety taught by La Iglesia El Verbo, the Church of the Word, which was itself a mission of Gospel Outreach, US-based church which was an outgrowth of the older pentecostal movement, but even more accurately, Gospel Outreach was part of the Jesus Freak movement of the 60s and 70s. Gospel Outreach was started by a US Naval officer who took over an existing Jesus Freak outfit and got them to proselytize in some geopolitically hot locations (such as Guatemala). As is so often the case, too, credible allegations have been made against Gospel Outreach about the abuse of minors.

In March 1982, in response to URNG advances, factions within the Guatemalan military carried out a coup and installed a three-man junta including Montt. Montt soon consolidated power as the president, and immediately afterwards Pat Robertson was promoting Montt on the 700 Club. Montt suspended the constitution, launched an ambitious new plan for the moral regeneration of Guatemala, and consolidated his power further in preparation for genocide. Songs: Golden Desert by Jeremiah Sand Message from the Mountain by Jeremiah Sand Dedication To The Tackling Of The Beast And The Dragon by Elizabeth Clare Prophet