Qualla: The Tragic Week: Guatemala City's Seven Days of Revolution https://qualla.com/tragic-week-guatemala en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:09 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: The Tragic Week: Guatemala City's Seven Days of Revolution https://qualla.com/tragic-week-guatemala The Tragic Week: Guatemala City's Seven Days of Revolution: Introduction https://qualla.com/tragic-week-guatemala/ Ten doctors were sent to examine the president. They knew what awaited them if they actually entered La Palma, the fortified compound where Manuel Estrada Cabrera had ruled Guatemala for 22 years. So they stopped at a nearby street corner, waited a few hours, and returned to Congress with their unanimous verdict: the president is most certainly insane. It was April 8, 1920, and Guatemala City erupted in celebration. Cars honked, tin cans clattered, toy trumpets blared. But Estrada Cabrera, hearing the diagnosis from his compound, responded with five words that would plunge the capital into a week of bloodshed: "Loco, eh? Ya veran su loco!" -- "Mad, huh? They will see their madman!"

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/f/x/e/tragic-week-guatemala-wp/9fxe-the-tragic-week-guatemala-citys-seven-days-of-revo-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full The Tragic Week: Guatemala City's Seven Days of Revolution: Earthquakes and a Christmas Manifesto https://qualla.com/tragic-week-guatemala/ Estrada Cabrera had survived multiple assassination attempts and governed through the absolute loyalty of his military. By declaring war on Germany during World War I, he acquired modern field guns, machine guns, and ammunition -- not to fight Europe, but to fortify his grip on G...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/f/x/e/tragic-week-guatemala-wp/9fxe-the-tragic-week-guatemala-citys-seven-days-of-revo-earthquakes-and-a-christmas-manifesto.mp3 0:06 2 full The Tragic Week: Guatemala City's Seven Days of Revolution: Machine Guns at the Military Academy https://qualla.com/tragic-week-guatemala/ On March 11, 1920, the Unionists organized a massive demonstration -- several thousand people marching on the Military Academy, where the National Assembly had relocated after the earthquakes destroyed its original chambers. The marchers demanded political freedom, press reform, ...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/f/x/e/tragic-week-guatemala-wp/9fxe-the-tragic-week-guatemala-citys-seven-days-of-revo-machine-guns-at-the-military-academy.mp3 0:06 3 full The Tragic Week: Guatemala City's Seven Days of Revolution: A City in Darkness https://qualla.com/tragic-week-guatemala/ Estrada Cabrera answered the celebrations with artillery fire. On the morning of April 9, Guatemala City awoke to machine-gun fire and shelling from every quarter. From La Palma, French field-howitzers and seventy-fives pounded the capital, supported by the fortresses of San Jose...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/f/x/e/tragic-week-guatemala-wp/9fxe-the-tragic-week-guatemala-citys-seven-days-of-revo-a-city-in-darkness.mp3 0:06 4 full The Tragic Week: Guatemala City's Seven Days of Revolution: A Swedish Prince and a Venezuelan Flag https://qualla.com/tragic-week-guatemala/ Among those trapped in the crossfire was Prince Wilhelm of Sweden, who had arrived in Guatemala City as a traveler and found himself barricaded in his hotel. The building's solid walls and corrugated iron roof withstood rifle fire and shrapnel, but barely. Guests stuffed earth fr...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/f/x/e/tragic-week-guatemala-wp/9fxe-the-tragic-week-guatemala-citys-seven-days-of-revo-a-swedish-prince-and-a-venezuelan-flag.mp3 0:06 5 full The Tragic Week: Guatemala City's Seven Days of Revolution: Eight Hundred Dead and a City Rebuilt https://qualla.com/tragic-week-guatemala/ The aftermath revealed the scale of what had happened. A shell had struck the Infant's Asylum, killing approximately thirty mothers and their newborns. Matamoros fort, built by Rafael Carrera in the Candelaria barrio simply because it was his birthplace, was found bristling with ...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/f/x/e/tragic-week-guatemala-wp/9fxe-the-tragic-week-guatemala-citys-seven-days-of-revo-eight-hundred-dead-and-a-city-rebuilt.mp3 0:06 6 full