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Guatemala
Area: 108,889 square km
Population: 11,237,196 (Census 2002), 14,650,000 (Estimate 2005)
Capital City: Guatemala City (population: 942,348 – Census 2002)
People: Mayan Indians (approximately 66%) speaking 22 different languages. There is also a small community of 'Garifuna' (of Caribbean descent). The remainder are Guatemalans of Spanish and European descent.
Language(s): Spanish, but 22 different Mayan languages principally (K'iche, Kakchiquel, K'ekchi and Mam) and Garifuna are also officially recognised. Many in the business community speak English.
Religion(s): PPredominantly Roman Catholic (60%). The rest are mainly Protestants (Evangelical). There are a small number of Jewish, Muslim and other faith communities.
Currency: Quetzal made up of one hundred centavos. Approximately Q13.00 equal £1.00
Major political parties: As at July 2007,there were more than 20 registered political parties, the largest of which are:
FRG - Frente Republicano Guatemalteco
PAN – Partido de Avanzada Nacional Guatemalteca
GANA – Gran Alianza para una Nueva Nacion
PP – Partido Patriota
UNE – Unidad Nacional de Esperanza
EG – Encuentro por Guatemala
Smaller parties, e.g. Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) and Alianza Nueva Nacion (ANN) represent the former guerrilla movement. 14 political parties, including all those listed above, have registered presidential candidates for the elections on 9 September.
Government: Guatemala has a unicameral Congress, comprising 158 seats. Members are elected every four years and are eligible for re-election. The President is elected by universal suffrage for a single term of four years.
Head of State: Licenciado Oscar Berger Perdomo.
Prime Minister/Premier: None.
Foreign Minister: Licenciado Gert Rosenthal
Membership of international groupings/organisations: Guatemala is a member of the Organisation of American States (OAS), United Nations (UN), Central American Integration System (SICA), San Jose Group, Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
GEOGRAPHYGuatemala is situated in Central America and borders Mexico to the north, Belize to the East and El Salvador and Honduras to the South. Mountains run through the country from east to west and from north to south, to the east of the Pacific coast. There are lowlands to the north and to the south of the mountains, towards the Yucatan peninsula in the Atlantic and along the Pacific Ocean coast. The high plateau in the centre is volcanic, and temperate in climate compared to the hot tropical lowlands. Guatemala has 33 volcanoes. Violent earthquakes have, in the past, destroyed what were small cities on average twice every century. Modern construction is supposed to follow California building codes. There are black basalt volcanic sand beaches on the Pacific Ocean and white coral sand on the Caribbean Sea beaches.
HISTORYThere were fishing and farming villages in the territory that is now Guatemala from as early as 2000 BC. These gave rise to Maya civilisation that reached its height between AD600 and AD900. For several centuries, Guatemala was a centre of Mayan culture with one of the most advanced pre-Colombian civilisations of the New World.
1523-25 – The beginning of the Spanish conquest when Pedro de Alvarado invaded Guatemala and defeated the indigenous rulers.
1542 - First Colonial capital, Ciudad Vieja was ruined by floods and an earthquake.
1543 - Antigua became the second capital.
1776 – Guatemala City became the third capital when Antigua was destroyed by two earthquakes in 1773.
1821 – A declaration of independence was drafted in Guatemala City, but Mexico invaded and ruled until 1823.
1823-35 Guatemala joined the Federation of the United Provinces of Central America for a brief period.
1870s - Thoroughly modern state set up. Separation of Church & State; divorce, full civil rights for children out of wedlock; universal and secular public education.
1898-1920 – Guatemala's first 20th century dictator, Manuel Estrada Cabrera opened the country to US capital investment in railways, ports, electricity, maritime transport and mail service. The United Fruit Company acquired significant landholdings, so that by the 1930s, it was the largest landowner, employer and exporter in Guatemala. On 8 April 1920, the legislature found Estrada Cabrera unfit to carry out his duties on the grounds of mental incapacity. Subsequently, Carlos Herrera was elected provisional president, but was overthrown after two months in office.
1921-1930 – General Jose Maria Orellan became president from 1921-1926, dying of a heart attack while in office. Lazaro Chacon succeeded him from 1926-1930, and had to resign from office after suffering a haemorrhage. During both presidencies Guatemala enjoyed prosperity and democracy. The currency was stabilised, labour unions were organised, the education system was expanded with an emphasis on rehabilitation and there were improvements in public health.
1931-1944 – The dictatorship of Jorge Ubico, who believed he was a reincarnation of Napolean. A vagrancy law was instituted which punished landless Maya if they did not work 150 days per year on plantations. Decree 816, which was introduced in 1932, allowed landowners to take any action necessary to protect their land and goods. This effectively legalised the murder of those Mayans who resisted forced labour.
1944 – Jorge Ubico's Government was overthrown in June 1944 by a combination of student strikes and a military junta. In October '44 the successor military government was overthrown.
1945 – Civilian Juan Jose Arevalo Guzman was elected President.
1950 – Colonel Jacobo Arbenz elected President.
1954 – Colonel Jacobo Arbenz was forced to resign when an US-backed group led by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas invaded the country from Honduras.
1958 – Gen Ydigoras Fuentes assumed the presidency following the murder of Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas in 1957.
1961 – Junior military officers involved in a failed coup attempt encouraged by Cubans to become the nucleus of forces involved in armed insurrection against the government. Fighting continued for the next 36 years. Three leading guerrilla groups combined to form the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) in 1982.
1966-1982 – A series of military or military-dominated governments followed. Most notable were:
1978-82 – General Romeo Lucas Garcia instigated a Sandinista-style takeover.
1982-83 – General Efrain Rios Montt was invited by young officers to participate in a three-member military junta. They annulled the 1965 constitution, dissolved Congress, suspended political parties and cancelled the electoral law. He later dismissed his junta colleagues and assumed the de facto title of President.
1983 – General Rios Montt was replaced by his Defence Minister General Oscar Humberto Mejia Victores, at bidding of young officers.
1985 - Guatemala returned to a democracy after a new democratically determined constitution was approved.
1985 – Vinicio Cerezo, a civilian politician won the first election under the new constitution. A government priority was to bring an end to the political violence and establish the rule of law. The military returned to a more traditional role of providing internal security. Despite two failed coup attempts by dissatisfied military personnel in1988-1989, Cerezo served his elected term.
1991 – Jorge Serrano Elias of MAS was inaugurated as President. Serrano took the step of recognising neighbouring Belize's sovereignty, with which it had a territorial dispute, which is as yet still unresolved (see below).
1993 – Serrano illegally dissolved Congress and the Supreme Court in an effort to stamp out alleged corruption. His efforts to emulate Peruvian autocrat Fujimori encountered strong protests from most of Guatemala's society. Serrano was forced to leave the country by the military.
1993 - On 5 June Congress elected Ramiro De Leon Carpio, Human Rights Ombudsman to complete Serrano's Presidential term. De Leon called for a referendum, which replaced the Congress, shortened terms from 5 to 4 years and amended the Constitution to bar central bank lending to the government. Under De Leon the government and the URNG signed agreements on human rights (March 1994), resettlement of displaced persons (June 1994), historical clarification (June 1994), and indigenous rights (March 1995).
1996 - Presidential and Congressional elections in November 1995 resulted in the inauguration of Alvaro Enrique Arzu Irigoyen (PAN) as President. The government of President Alvaro Arzu (PAN), signed peace accords with the guerrillas (URNG) in 1996 and began their implementation of the Peace Accords, ending the 36-year civil war. It pursued a policy of modernising the government and economy, as well as introducing social reform.
2000 – President Alfonso Portillo (FRG) won the elections at the end of 1999, defeating Oscar Berger (PAN). The FRG, under the leadership of its founder, former dictator ex-General Efrain Rios Montt (allegedly responsible for mass human rights violations), also won a working majority in Congress.
2004 – President Oscar Berger, representing a centre-right coalition of parties (GANA), took office on 15 January 2004, following his victory in a run-off election against Alvaro Colom (UNE) in December 2003. Berger won by an 8% margin in free and fair elections. Rios Montt came third and was therefore inelegible to contest the final ballot.
POLITICSDespite Berger's convincing personal victory, his GANA coalition failed to secure a majority in Congress. Parties such as the FRG, UNE and PAN remain a significant political force. Berger has faced major political challenges to achieve agreement over the budget and the adoption of his government's programme in the legislature. He has promised significant reforms and introduced improvements to social programmes, including education and health services. He has successfully implemented reductions in the military ahead of ambitious modernisation plans. His greatest challenge remains to overcome high crime levels and improve citizen security.
Presidential, congressional and local elections will take place on 9 September 2007. If there is no outright winner in the presidential race, a second round between the top two candidates will be held on 4 November. The new President will take office on 14 January 2008.
ECONOMYBasic Economic Facts GDP: US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$ 27 billion (2006)
GDP per head: US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$ 1,790 (2006)
Annual Growth: 4.2% (2006)
Inflation: 6.5.0% (2006)
Major industries: The agricultural sector accounts for 43% of all exports. Major commodities include coffee, sugar, bananas and cardamom. Textiles account for 14% and non-traditional products such as flowers, fruits and, ceramics account for 33%. A major growth sector identified by the government is tourism. Remittances from Guatemalans living in the Unites States are a major source of foreign income.Major trading partners: USA, El Salvador, Honduras and EU.
Major trading partners: USA, El Salvador, Honduras and EU.
Aid & development: Mainly from USA, EU and Japan. Provides 25% of state expenditure which is 13% of GDP.
Exchange rate: Approx Q14 to £1.
Guatemala is the largest economy in Central America. The government's programme focuses on three main areas: macroeconomic stability; financial sector restructuring; and structural reforms to boost growth and reduce poverty. Following three years of sluggish growth, activity improved in 2004, with real GDP rising by almost 3%. This momentum was maintained in 2005 and 2006. Estimates of growth for 2007 range between 4 – 4.5%. Inflation, which rose to to over 9% in 2005 fell back to 6.5% in 2006. The public sector deficit was around 2% of GDP at the end of 2006. The government is committed to tax reform designed to increase revenues to 12% of GDP but in 2006 this was not expected to exceed 10% of GDP.
Moves towards regional economic integration in Central America are continuing. During the early part of 2004, the five Central American countries concluded negotiations with the USA on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Known in Spanish as the TLC (Tratado de Libre Comercio), the agreement was signed by Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. El Salvador was the first country to ratify the agreement (18 December 2004), followed by Honduras and Guatemala (in March 2005). The US ratified in August 2005. Violent protests greeted ratification in Honduras and Guatemala. During 2004 and early 2005, several Central American countries signed bilateral border agreements to simplify customs procedures for goods (and tourists) passing from one country to another. . Negotiations between Central American states, including Guatemala, and the EU on an Association Agreement are due to begin in mid 2007.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSGuatemala's Relations with its neighboursWhen Guatemala became independent in 1821, it claimed it had inherited the previous Spanish claim to the southern part of Belize. In September 1981, Belize gained its independence from the UK, but this was not recognised by Guatemala. Independence was preceded by Guatemala ending consular relations with Britain earlier in September 1981. Guatemala also closed its Consulate-General in Belize City and Consulate in Benque Viejo del Carmen, Belize. Subsequently, HM's Consul left Guatemala. From 1975 successive UN resolutions endorsed Belize's right to self- determination, independence and territorial integrity. As relations improved Guatemala recognised Belize as a sovereign and independent state in September 1991, though maintaining a territorial claim on Belize. Guatemalan/UK diplomatic relations were resumed in December 1986, while consular relations were renewed in August of the same year.
Belize and Guatemala have had a series of meetings under the auspices of the Organisation of American States (OAS) in an attempt to resolve the dispute through peaceful negotiation. Two Facilitators, one each appointed by Belize and Guatemala, presented comprehensive recommendations to both countries on 16 September 2002 on settling the dispute. The recommendations were made public on 17 September. They recommended some adjustment to the land border and new maritime limits giving Guatemala an Economic Exclusion Zone of some 2000 square nautical miles. The Governments of Belize and Honduras each agreed to contribute 1000 square nautical miles to this zone. The Facilitators also recommended the establishment of a tri-national ecological park covering coastal, insular and maritime areas of Belize, Guatemala and Honduras and a substantial internationally financed Development Trust Fund.
Although the Belize government publicly supported the recommendations, the Guatemalan government, citing constitutional difficulties, officially informed the OAS in August 2003 that it could not. Both Governments o however continued to work with the OAS to secure an agreement. In September 2003, the UK joined the ‘Group of Friends’ established under the OAS to help resolve the dispute.
Following negotiations in New York in September 2005, Guatemala and Belize signed a Framework for Negotiation and Confidence Building Measures. Under the agreement, both sides meet regularly under the auspices of the OAS to examine ways of resolving the dispute. It also allows the OAS Secretary General to recommend international arbitration for those issues he determines cannot be agreed bilaterally.
Peace AccordsGuatemala’s 36 year long civil war ended in 1996 with the signing of a comprehensive series of agreements, aimed at redressing longstanding inequalities and injustices and modernising the country. The international community was tasked with monitoring the implementation of these ‘Peace Accords’. Delegates from 19 donor countries and 17 international agencies attended a meeting of the Consultative Group in May 2003. The government's progress against a nine-point plan was reviewed covering areas such as combating corruption, promoting transparency and accountability, the rule of law, human rights and citizen security, indigenous rights, and demilitarisation. Many donors noted the slowness in implementing the Peace Accords and called on the government to increase its efforts. Donors had promised support through technical and financial assistance programmes totalling approx. US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$1.3 billion, subject to further progress being made in the implementing of the Peace Accords at the 2003 meeting.
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