Mano Blanca

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'''{{lang|es|Mano Blanca}}''' (Spanish for 'White Hand'), was a [[Guatemala]]n [[right-wing politics|far-right]], anti-communist [[death squad]],{{sfn|Batz|2013|pp=64-65}} set up in 1966 to prevent [[Julio César Méndez Montenegro]] from being inaugurated as the president of Guatemala. While initially autonomous from the government, it was absorbed into the Guatemalan State's counter-terror apparatus and evolved into a paramilitary unit of the Guatemalan armed forces, and was responsible for the murder and torture of thousands of people in rural Guatemala.{{sfn|Theroux|2014|pp=100-103}} The group received support from the Guatemalan army and government, as well as from the United States. The group was officially known as the ''Movimiento de Acción Nacionalista Organizado'' (English: Movement of Organized Nationalist Action) which gives the acronym "MANO", (Spanish: hand). The group was variously known by its full name, by MANO, or most popularly by ''Mano Blanca'', or "White Hand."

'''{{lang|es|Mano Blanca}}''' (Spanish for 'White Hand') was a [[Guatemala]]n [[right-wing politics|far-right]], anti-communist [[death squad]],{{sfn|Batz|2013|pp=64-65}} set up in 1966 to prevent [[Julio César Méndez Montenegro]] from being inaugurated as the president of Guatemala. While initially autonomous from the government, it was absorbed into the Guatemalan State's counter-terror apparatus and evolved into a paramilitary unit of the Guatemalan armed forces, and was responsible for the murder and torture of thousands of people in rural Guatemala.{{sfn|Theroux|2014|pp=100-103}} The group received support from the Guatemalan army and government, as well as from the United States. The group was officially known as the ''Movimiento de Acción Nacionalista Organizado'' (English: Movement of Organized Nationalist Action) which gives the acronym "MANO", (Spanish: hand). The group was variously known by its full name, by MANO, or most popularly by ''Mano Blanca'', or "White Hand."

== History ==

== History ==