Araña Osorio, Carlos (1918–2003)

Guatemalan soldier and right-wing politician, president 1970–74. He was elected president on a programme of law and order and social reform. However, although a five-year development plan was introduced, reforms were shelved and, in November 1970, a one-year state of siege was declared. Strict curfew and press censorship laws were imposed, while the armed forces launched a concerted campaign against communist guerrillas, terrorists, and ‘habitual criminals’ (those with more than ten recorded arrests). The crackdown continued after 1971 and a ‘police state’ was effectively established, with detentions without trial and intimidation of political opponents.

A tough right-wing army colonel, Araña rose to prominence between 1966 and 1968 when he directed a war against guerrillas, but was dismissed by President Méndez Montenegro, after claims that he had links to the Mano Blanca (White Hand) rightist paramilitaries who had abducted the archbishop of Guatemala.