Blogger Nic Wirtz says that the arrest of eight soldiers after the clashes in Totonicapán -which left at least 8 indigenous protestors dead- is “the first test of Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina's mano dura (iron fist) approach to restoring law and order.”

Pérez Molina campaigned for office promising to use the army, from which he is a retired general, to help combat narcoterrorism and the associated random violence that pervades the country. Instead, the remilitarization of Guatemala, with mixed army and Policía Nacional Civil (National Civil Police—PNC) roadblocks a common sight, has brought back memories of the 36-year civil war where state brutality was a daily occurrence.

Read more in Americas Quarterly.