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Ex-soldiers protest in Guatemala to get civil war payment

  • Firefighters and police work together to douse with water a vehicle set on fire by a group of veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
    1/7

    Guatemala Protest

    Firefighters and police work together to douse with water a vehicle set on fire by a group of veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • A protester aims a slingshot at police during a protest of veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
    2/7

    Guatemala Protest

    A protester aims a slingshot at police during a protest of veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Riot police form a cordon during a protest by veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
    3/7

    Guatemala Protest

    Riot police form a cordon during a protest by veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • A firefighter douses a vehicle set on fire by a group of veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
    4/7

    Guatemala Protest

    A firefighter douses a vehicle set on fire by a group of veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Riot police form a cordon against a group of veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
    5/7

    Guatemala Protest

    Riot police form a cordon against a group of veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Protesters throw stones at police during a protest of veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
    6/7

    Guatemala Protest

    Protesters throw stones at police during a protest of veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • A group of veterans clash with police during a protest demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
    7/7

    Guatemala Protest

    A group of veterans clash with police during a protest demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
Firefighters and police work together to douse with water a vehicle set on fire by a group of veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
A protester aims a slingshot at police during a protest of veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Riot police form a cordon during a protest by veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
A firefighter douses a vehicle set on fire by a group of veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Riot police form a cordon against a group of veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Protesters throw stones at police during a protest of veterans demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
A group of veterans clash with police during a protest demanding that a law be passed that compensates them for having served during the country's civil war, outside the Congress building in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Associated Press
Updated ·1 min read

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Former soldiers who are demanding they be paid a war-time bonus for serving in Guatemala’s 1960-1996 civil war burst onto the grounds of the country’s congress building Tuesday and set several vehicles on fire.

The protesters broke down gates leading into the building’s parking lot and torched at least three vehicles. Some of the demonstrators apparently carried machetes, and some congress employees fled over a rooftop to escape.

Legislator Carlos Barreda wrote on his Twitter account that some of his colleagues were trapped inside the building. Another legislator, Luis Fernando Pineda, wrote that the ex-soldiers set fire to offices adjoining the parking lot.

Soldiers eventually showed up to force the protesters out. The civil war pitted the army and police against leftist rebels. It ended with the signing of peace accords in 1996.

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The former soldiers are demanding a bonus of about $16,000 for having served in the civil war, in which at least 200,000 people, most of them civilians, died.

The U.S.-backed army was responsible for most of the deaths, according to findings of an independent truth commission set up to investigate the bloodshed.