General Efraín Ríos Montt seized power in 1982 during a pivotal military coup
Guatemala's political landscape shifted violently in 1982 when General Efraín Ríos Montt led a military coup, ushering in one of the most controversial eras in the nation's history.
On March 23, 1982, a group of junior army officers overthrew the government of Fernando Romeo Lucas García and installed a military junta led by General Efraín Ríos Montt. The coup occurred during a brutal civil war and was initially seen by some as a path to stability.
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