About Disappeared Memories

The impetus for this project stems from one of the names for this series of events: the Silent Holocaust. Acts of genocide usually make international news and are heavily-covered by the media. However, the Guatemalan Genocide was not only against a group of people who did not have the means to bring it to national attention, the government that carried out the orders for these attacks was US-backed.

The Maya are some of the most sociially, economically, and even nutritionally stressed people in the world due to centuries of structural violence against them. Despite having a long history of resiliance and defiance, the Maya still have little voice today. Efra´in Ríios Montt was tried for war crimes in Guatemala in 2013. He was found guilty and sentenced to decades in jail. However, the ruling was overturned 10 days later on a technicality and Montt died of a heart attack on April 1, 2018 in Guatemala City.