Richard Overy is professor of history
at the University of Exeter, and editor of
The Times Complete History of the World
GE (William Collins, 2015)
TT
Y^ I
MA
GE
S
Horror in the headlines
A man reads news of the massacre of 54
villagers in El Quiche, Guatemala, in 1982
by government-backed forces. During the
long civil war, the Guatemalan army and
security forces engaged in a brutal campaign
against the indigenous Maya peoples of the
highlands, burning villages and slaughter-
ing their inhabitants. This campaign inten-
sified after General Efraín Ríos Montt took
power in a March 1982 coup; the crescendo
of violence peaked that year, but repression
continued for much of the decade. Montt
was later tried for genocide and crimes
against humanity, but died in 2018 before
a final verdict could be reached.High command
Jerry John Rawlings (left) stands on a vehicle to address a rally in Ghana’s
capital, Accra, in early 1982, having seized power in a military coup on
the final day of the previous year. The Air Force flight lieutenant had
earlier led a coup in 1979 before restoring the democratic government.
After the 1981 takeover, though, he retained power at the head of a
military junta through his Provisional National Defence Council. After
overcoming economic crises in his early years as national leader, Rawlings
steadied Ghana’s finances and in 1992 was elected president in democratic
elections; he remained head of state till 2001.