page_title: San José Castle (Guatemala City)
section_title: April 9, 1920
hierarchical_section_title: San José Castle (Guatemala City) / History / Tragic week April 9–14, 1920 / April 9, 1920
caption_attribution_description: English: Fuerte
context_page_description: San José Castle -also known as Castillo de San José in Spanish- was opened to the public on 25 May 1846 on the «Buena Vista Hill» on the southeast of Guatemala City by general Rafael Carrera government; it was also known as «Carrera Castle». San José Fort was located where later Guatemalan administrations built a new city Hall, a National Theater and part of the Bolivar Avenue. The fort had a shooting range for the soldiers, ammunition warehouses, horses, diners and a small pond that was called "Soldier's Pond".
context_section_description: On April 8, 1920, president Manuel Estrada Cabrera was declared mentally unfit to continue in office, after 22 years.  He resisted this designation and settled for a fight from his residence in "La Palma", which was a large enclosed area with roads crossing both ways, without any real aspect of park or garden arrangement. Tumbled together in a group were some small buildings, painted in the crudest colors; each house appeared to be built for some particular purpose: one was the dining room, another the kitchen, a writing room, and so on. The structure had little open spaces, was blazed in the sun and had wonderful landscapes painted on the walls. At a little distance were straw-thatched huts with a lone broad bench used for bed and table for servants and soldiers.
  On April 9, 1920, Guatemala City was awakened with machine-gun fire and shells dropping close in every quarter of the city. In "La Palma" French field-howitzers and seventy-fives with anti-aircraft sights, quick firing guns and machine guns were drawn up; on the other hand, in Guatemala City streets were deserted and bloodshed commenced in earnest. The Unionists were caught off-guard: their organization was deficient, and they had almost no weapons, but they were able to remedy the situation.  Government buildings were systematically plundered and ransacked and they got arms and ammunition from the most unlikely places; this way they got knives, machetes, saloon rifles, shotguns, axes and crowbars.  With enthusiasm, all men raised barricades and dug trenches in the streets.
  The shooting at first accounted for as many friends as enemies, but after white badges bearing the name "Unionista" were distributed, the fire was more effective. A few hours later all males in the city were wearing that token in their hat, and there were even some that had a portrait of the new president on their chest.  On the government side, steady fire was maintained from "La Palma" and the two forts of San José  and Matamoros. Cars with the Red Cross flag dashed incessantly, carrying a sister on the footboard with her medical supplies on one hand and a machete stuck in her belt.
  After the combats, the water supply pipes and electric cables were damaged, leaving the city in darkness from the first night; telephone and telegraph were also out of order.  The wildest rumors were the only source of news while bullets whistled about one's ears. It was a revolution, which, thanks to the modern weapons, was really hard fought.
caption: Fifth avenue of Guatemala City in 1911.  The fort is at the end of the street.
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