種族屠殺在瓜地馬拉北部弱者游擊隊(英语:Guerrilla Army of the Poor)(EGP)活躍的地區尤為嚴重,瓜地馬拉軍隊將當地馬雅農民均視為游擊隊的支持者,並對其展開大規模屠殺。殺害平民的案件自內戰爆發起即持續發生,但1975年起軍隊開始全面屠殺行動,並於1980年代初期達到高峰[7],內戰期間軍方至少發動了626起屠殺[8],1981年至1983年間即摧毀440座馬雅村莊,有些市鎮中有多達三分之一的村莊被毀,1985年的一份研究報告指出有超過20萬名兒童失去了至少一名雙親,且1980年至1985年間有45,000至60,000人遇害[9]。
^Foster, Lynn V. Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World(PDF). : 84. While only limited violence has accompanied the on-going Zapatista movement in Chiapas, a holocaust occurred in Guatemala. Highland Maya civilians were the victims of a 36-year civil war in which 900,000 of them were displaced from their lands, many of them becoming refugees in Mexico, Belize, and the United States, and another 166,000 were killed or 'disappeared'. By the time a cease-fire was declared in 1996, the Maya constituted 83 percent of the war dead. A United Nations study stated that Guatemala's war policies had been tantamount to Maya genocide.[失效連結]
^Guatemala 1982. Peace Pledge Union Information. [2016-09-11]. (原始内容存档于2004-02-03).