On May 29, 1978, in a remote area of the northern state of Alta Verapaz called Panzós, fifty Maya Q’eqchi’ land activists staged a demonstration with the help of the Guatemalan Labor Party to protest the government’s theft of their land. The military sent troops who machine-gunned the crowds, killing several dozen people on the spot. “Those seeking real change will have no alternative but the violent left,” the US ambassador observed afterward.
