Sunday June 25, 1944
Teachers demonstrated in the streets in front of the National Palace demanding fair wages, freedom to organize and the resignation of President General Jorge Ubico, a harsh dictator for over 14 years. The massive protests were on their third day when the President sent in his cavalry to break up the crowd by opening fire, killing over 200 people including a popular leader of the Teachers Union movement, Maria Chinchilla, who became a martyr.
That spring a growing body of schoolteachers, shopkeepers, skilled workers and students staged public demonstrations. They had emerged almost overnight as a powerful force.
"With WWII, the global warfare exposed Guatemalans to promises of democracy heard over shortwave radio. U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms"-the declaration that all humanity was entitled to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear -stirred a new generation of Guatemalans aware of the inequities of their own society, and made Roosevelt a hero in Guatemala. His advocacy of trade unions also struck a responsive chord in the country where labor was just beginning to think about organizing. Roosevelt's New Deal convinced many Guatemalans, in short, that they deserved a government actively devoted to the public good. "~Stephen Schlesinger & Stephen Kinzer from the book, Bitter Fruit.
Guatemala was on the brink of a government overthrow.
