Ixil people
Encyclopedia
Ixil is the name of a Mayan people in Guatemala. The Ixil live in three municipalities in the Cuchumatanes mountains in the northern part of the department El Quiché. These municipalities -also known as the Ixil Triangle
- are Santa Maria Nebaj
, San Gaspar Chajul, and San Juan Cotzal
.
In the early eighties the Ixil Community was one of the principal stages for insurgent
and counter-insurgent
operations in the Guatemalan civil war
. As a consequence the Ixil and other indigenous groups in the altiplano region suffered the brunt of the conflict. The violence was particularly heightened during the period 1979–1985 as successive Guatemalan administrations and the military pursued an indiscriminate scorched-earth (in ) policy.
Ixil Triangle
The Ixil Community is a name given to three neighbouring towns in the Quiché department in the western highlands of Guatemala. These towns are Santa Maria Nebaj, San Juan Cotzal, and San Gaspar Chajul. The area's population is predominantly of Ixil descent...
- are Santa Maria Nebaj
Santa Maria Nebaj
Santa Maria Nebaj is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché. Santa Maria Nebaj is part of the Ixil Community, along with San Juan Cotzal and San Gaspar Chajul. Native residents speak the Mayan Ixil language.There is a nearby pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Maya...
, San Gaspar Chajul, and San Juan Cotzal
San Juan Cotzal
San Juan Cotzal is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché. San Juan Cotzal is part of the Ixil Community, along with Santa Maria Nebaj and San Gaspar Chajul....
.
In the early eighties the Ixil Community was one of the principal stages for insurgent
Insurgency
An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents...
and counter-insurgent
Counter-insurgency
A counter-insurgency or counterinsurgency involves actions taken by the recognized government of a nation to contain or quell an insurgency taken up against it...
operations in the Guatemalan civil war
Guatemalan Civil War
The Guatemalan Civil War ran from 1960-1996. The thirty-six-year civil war began as a grassroots, popular response to the rightist and military usurpation of civil government , and the President's disrespect for the human and civil rights of the majority of the population...
. As a consequence the Ixil and other indigenous groups in the altiplano region suffered the brunt of the conflict. The violence was particularly heightened during the period 1979–1985 as successive Guatemalan administrations and the military pursued an indiscriminate scorched-earth (in ) policy.