Imagine yourself as an Ixil Mayan in the local market. You stroll among the stalls and admire the artisanal products. As the midday sun hits you, the sound of footsteps coming towards you becomes audible among the chatter of your fellow Mayans. Suddenly, the voices stop and a gunshot rings through the air. For what seems like an eternity, the market is drowned in the soft moans of children while their mothers' skirts muffle their moans. You are still frozen in your place in front of a booth. Then, a little moment of common sense pushes you to hide behind a wall. Before you know what's happening, the space around the market is filled with screams. A man falls next to you, his eyes rolled back and a gaping wound in his chest. Blood flows through the wall. The women's pleading cries have a chilling effect. As more bodies fall beside you, you suddenly become aware of an officer standing over you. A gun is pointed at you. Until now, you hadn't thought about running, but once the trigger was pulled, you knew you didn't stand a chance. Moments later, you left. The genocide that occurred in Guatemala tragically took the lives of thousands of Ixil Maya and ruined many more. It all started with José Efrain Rios Montt, president/dictator at the time. Rios Montt was born on June 16, 1926 in the small town of Huehuetenango, Guatemala (Encyclopædia Britannica Editors). In 1943, Rios Montt joined the Guatemalan army where he rose to the rank of brigadier general (1). After serving as director of the Inter-American Defense College in Washington, D.C., in 1973, he returned to Guatemala and unsuccessfully ran for president as a candidate of the opposition National Front (Frente Nacional de Oposición). paper......standing. You glanced sideways at the bald man in front of you. José Efrain Rios Montt Oh, how you hate this man. After all, the things he did to you, your brothers, and your sisters are indescribable! You take a deep breath and start to speak. You answer every question with a complete feeling of appreciation fueled by the fact that people want to hear your story. You tell them about the day the soldiers marched. in your village, you murdered your people and left as if nothing had happened. You tell them about the days of fear. People look at you in astonishment. You see their eyes shine with tears, and suddenly you break down too. It's too much. The man who made you suffer is going to be punished! In the back of your mind, you think that the Guatemalan genocide was a terrible tragedy that cost many people their lives..