Centro Cívico in Ciudad de Guatemala in Guatemala Department, — Central America

Mobile Military Police

Photographed by J. Makali Bruton, August 5, 2016

1. Mobile Military Police Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

A la policia militar
ambulante
1958-1996
Por su aporte a la libertad y la paz
Guatemala, 2003

English translation:
To the Mobile Military Police (PMA)
1958-1996
For their support of liberty and peace
Guatemala, 2003

Erected 2003.

Topics. This memorial is listed in this topic list: Wars, Non-US.

Location. 14° 37.692′ N, 90° 30.976′ W. Memorial is in Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala (Guatemala Department). It is in Centro Cívico. It can be reached from 19a Calle close to 6a Avenida. The marker is on the grounds of the Guatemalan Military Museum. The entrance to the museum is on 19a Calle, just a few meters before the intersection with 6a Avenida heading towards the south. Touch for map. Memorial is in this post office area: Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala 01001, Guatemala. Touch for directions.

Regionally, it is in North America,

specifically in Central America,

in Mesoamerica,

on the Ring of Fire,

in the Pacific Rim,

and in the Western Hemisphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also a Spanish colony.

Other nearby markers. At least

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8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Guatemalan Military Museum (within shouting distance of this marker); Mario Méndez Montenegro (within shouting distance of this marker); The Guatemalan Peace Accords (about 150 meters away); 50th Anniversary of the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (about 240 meters away); Juan José Arévalo Bermejo (approx. 0.3 kilometers away); Mural of the Guatemalan Nationality (approx. 0.3 kilometers away); Bicentennial of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (approx. 0.3 kilometers away); Crédito Hipotecario Nacional (approx. 0.3 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Ciudad de Guatemala.

Another marker is no longer nearby. Municipal Headquarters of Guatemala City (was about 120 meters away, measured in a direct line but has been confirmed missing).

Regarding Mobile Military Police. Guatemala's Mobile Military Police (PMA, for its initials in Spanish) infamously played a role in consolidating and maintaining state control in rural Guatemala, providing surveillance, apprehending and interrogating suspected "subversives" and guerrillas,

Photographed by J. Makali Bruton, August 5, 2016

2. Mobile Military Police Marker

The marker and statue are located on the lower terrace of the Guatemalan Military Museum, surrounded by military hardware used by the Guatemalan military during the armed conflict from 1960-1996.

and working with the landed elite to discipline the rural workforce, undermine unions, and suppress worker rebellions at plantations and factories. By the 1970s the PMA had also become an integral part of Guatemala's military intelligence apparatus and was performing more specialized military functions. Between 1980 and 1983, through the presidencies of Romeo Lucas Garcia and Efrain Rios Montt, the PMA played a key role in the counterinsurgency operations in the predominantly indigenous highlands, where the EGP (Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres, a major guerrilero group) maintained its strongholds.

During the Guatemalan armed conflict, the PMA was particularly notorious for systematic and widespread human rights violations, including abduction, torture, extrajudicial killings and disappearances. A 1976 Latin American Newsletters article described the PMA as "a particularly vicious arm of the security forces." A 1981 Amnesty International report stated that the PMA was "named in many reports of abuses on and around large plantations in rural areas, and of seizure and 'disappearances' of trade union leaders at factories where the PMA

Nearby UH1H (Huey) Helicopter, used by Guatemalan military image. Click for full size.

Photographed by J. Makali Bruton, August 5, 2016

3. Nearby UH1H (Huey) Helicopter, used by Guatemalan military

A nearby marker mentions that the helicopter, of 1962 fabrication, was used in operations against guerrillas and was hit by enemy fire. The helicopter was awarded the "Roble de Oro" and "Placa del Combatiente" medals (seen near the left pilot's door in this photo) because of these actions.

provided security services." A report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights detailed the systematic murder of over 100 rural inhabitants in the municipality of Olopa, Chiquimula by the Mobile Military Police (PMA) detachment of Monteros, Esquipulas between 1977 and 1979. The victims included several religious workers, 15 women and more than 40 children. Due to its involvement in human rights abuses, it was required by the UN Peace Accords of December, 1996 that the Mobile Military Police be deactivated and demobilized. This went into effect with the formal signing of the peace accords and the PMA was dismantled in 1997. Evidence of the PMA's involvement in human rights abuses continued to surface after the armed conflict. In 1999, human bones were discovered in a former PMA compound undergoing renovation in Guatemala City. Testing of the remains proved inconclusive. The Families of the Detained and Disappeared of Guatemala (known by the acronym FAMDEGUA) estimate that over 3,000 were killed or "disappeared" in custody at PMA headquarters during the conflict. Special Prosecutor Fernando Mendízabal said, "Torture, killing,

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and illegal burial of people took place at the PMA facilities." Adapted from Wikipedia

Credits. This page was last revised on January 31, 2025. It was originally submitted on October 9, 2016, by J. Makali Bruton of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 477 times since then and 31 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on October 9, 2016, by J. Makali Bruton of Washington, District of Columbia.