Kayb'il B'alam

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Kayb'il B'alam (alternatively written Kaibil Balam) was a 16th-century leader of the Maya Mam people in the southern highlands of Guatemala. During the time of the Spanish invasion, the Mam population was mainly situated in Xinabahul (Now modern-day Huehuetenango). However, due to the Spanish conquest, the tribe returned to its stone fortifications of Zaculeu for protection.

The city was attacked in 1525 by conquistador Don Pedro de Alvarado and later by his brother Gonzalo de Alvarado. Kayb'il B'alam and his warriors successfully repelled the attempted siege by the Spanish forces for six weeks until being forced to surrender after being reduced to the verge of starvation.

Kaibil Balam was the first born to one of the founders of the K'iché empire that originally displaced the indigenous Mayan people of the Mam Kingdom who previously inhabited the highlands of Zaculeu in Guatemala. Kaibil was trained as a Quachic warrior. These warriors were subject to intense training and maintained a “guerrilla warfare” against all conquistadores, to which they would never surrender. The Guatemalan Army maintains an elite group of fiercely trained officers, the Kaibil, named after their great leader. The Kaibil Militia group is centered out of Huehuetenengo (Land of the Old) some 5km from the original stand off site at Zaculeu.