How the National Dignity Day was born

The National Dignity Day is a special date that is celebrated every August 2 and that aims to preserve, preserve the honor, respect and esteem of the State as a national territory. But, what happened to commemorate this anniversary in the country? Read on and find out.

How the National Dignity Day was born

The National Dignity Day is commemorated in honor of the revolt organized by the cadets of the Polytechnic School of Guatemala City , which had the purpose of defeating and expelling the ranks of the National Liberation Movement that had settled in the capital. .

The resignation of President Jacobo Árbenz on June 27, 1954, who had assumed the presidency of the country in 1951 with a government plan that sought to modernize the nation, meant a great change in Guatemala .

He resigned that a few days earlier, on June 18, 1954, an army of mercenaries and exiles led by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas, backed by the government of Honduras and the United States, entered the national territory throwing bombs and pamphlets. from the airplanes, which caused panic among the population and the resignation of the president.

In this way, Castillo, on July 3, 1954, was proclaimed the new head of state and the National Liberation Army was installed in the capital. However, this decision did not go down well with the Guatemalan military and the cadets of the Polytechnic School who did not decide to remain still.

Thus, on August 2, 1954 , the students attacked the invading army in the middle of the night and captured Colonel Castillo in the National Palace, getting him to sign an agreement where the army would leave the country and not they would retaliate against any of the youth.

However, Castillo continued to rule until July 26, 1957 when he was shot twice while in the presidential house. Years later, the current president, Álvaro Arzú, declared August 2 as National Dignity Day to commemorate this courageous undertaking.