The s saw the birth of two new guerrilla organizations, The Guerrilla Army of the Poor EGP and the Organization of the People in Arms ORPA , who began and intensified by the end of the seventies, guerrilla attacks that included urban and rural guerrilla warfare, mainly against the military and some of the civilian supporters of the army. In , the U. In , a group of indigenous K'iche' took over the Spanish Embassy to protest army massacres in the countryside.
The Guatemalan government launched an assault that killed almost everyone inside as a result of a fire that consumed the building. The Guatemalan government claimed that the activists set the fire and immolated themselves.
However, the Spanish ambassador, who survived the fire, disputed this claim, claiming that the Guatemalan police intentionally killed almost everyone inside and set the fire to erase traces of their acts. As a result of this incident, the government of Spain broke diplomatic relations with Guatemala. This government was overthrown in The country became a pariah state internationally. As a result of the Army's "scorched earth" tactics in the countryside, more than 45, Guatemalans fled across the border to Mexico.
The Mexican government placed the refugees in camps in Chiapas and Tabasco. The Guatemalan Civil War ended in with a peace accord between the guerrillas and the government, negotiated by the United Nations through intense brokerage by nations such as Norway and Spain. Both sides made major concessions. The guerrilla fighters disarmed and received land to work. According to the U.
Over the last few years, millions of documents related to crimes committed during the civil war were found abandoned by the former Guatemalan police. Among millions of documents found, there was evidence that the former police chief of Guatemala, Hector Bol de la Cruz had been involved in the kidnapping and murder of year-old student Fernando Garcia in The evidence was used to prosecute the former police chief.
The families of over 45, Guatemalan activists are now reviewing the documents which have been digitized and this could lead to further legal actions. During the first ten years, the victims of the state-sponsored terror were primarily students, workers, professionals, and opposition figures, but in the last years they were thousands of mostly rural Mayan farmers and non-combatants.
More than Mayan villages were destroyed and over 1 million people became displaced within Guatemala or refugees. Over , people, mostly Mayan, lost their lives during the civil war. In certain areas, such as Baja Verapaz, the Truth Commission considered that the Guatemalan state engaged in an intentional policy of genocide against particular ethnic groups in the Civil War. In , U. Since the peace accords, Guatemala has witnessed both economic growth and successive democratic elections, most recently in He assumed office on January 14, He named Roxana Baldetti as his vice president.
On January 12, , Efrain Rios Montt, former President of Guatemala during the military dictatorship, appeared in a Guatemalan court on genocide charges. During the hearing, the government presented evidence of over incidents involving at least 1, deaths, 1, rapes, and the displacement of nearly 30, Guatemalans during his month rule from , according to the Washington Post, BBC, Siglo XXI in Spanish , and the LA Times.
The prosecution wanted him incarcerated because of his potential for flight but the judge ruled that he can remain out on bail. The trial, now under way, is expected to last at least a year. The estimated median age in Guatemala is 20 years old, This is the lowest median age of any country in the Western Hemisphere and comparable to most of central Africa and Iraq.
Guatemala is a constitutional democratic republic whereby the President of Guatemala is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Congress of the Republic. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Otto Perez Molina is the current President of Guatemala.
Guatemala is divided into 22 departments departamentos and sub-divided into about municipalities municipios. Guatemala is heavily centralized. Transportation, communications, business, politics, and the most relevant urban activity takes place in Guatemala City.
Guatemala City has about 2 million inhabitants within the city limits and more than 5 million within the urban area. This is a significant percentage of the population 14 million.
These three regions vary in climate, elevation, and landscape, providing dramatic contrasts between hot, humid tropical lowlands and colder, drier highland peaks. Guatemala has long claimed all or part of the territory of neighbouring Belize, formerly part of the Spanish colony, and currently an independent Commonwealth Realm which recognises Queen Elizabeth II as its Head of State.
Due to this territorial dispute, Guatemala recognized Belize's independence until , but the dispute is not resolved.
Negotiations are currently underway under the auspices of the Organization of American States and the Commonwealth of Nations to conclude it. Guatemala's location between the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean makes it a target for hurricanes, such as Hurricane Mitch in and Hurricane Stan in October , which killed more than 1, people.
The damage was not wind related, but rather due to significant flooding and resulting mudslides. The most recent was Tropical Storm Agatha in late May that killed more than Guatemala's highlands lie along the Motagua Fault, part of the boundary between the Caribbean and North American tectonic plates. This fault has been responsible for several major earthquakes in historic times, including a 7. In addition, the Middle America Trench, a major subduction zone lies off the Pacific coast.
Here, the Cocos Plate is sinking beneath the Caribbean Plate, producing volcanic activity inland of the coast. Fuego and Pacaya erupted in Natural disasters have a long history in this geologically active part of the world.
For example, two of the three moves of the capital of Guatemala have been due to volcanic mudflows in and earthquakes in On Thursday May 27, , the Pacaya volcano started erupting lava and rocks, blanketing Guatemala City with black sand and forcing the closure of the international airport.
It was declared a "state of calamity. Cleaning works are done. The country has 14 ecoregions ranging from mangrove forests to both ocean littorals with 5 different ecosystems. Guatemala has listed wetlands, including 5 lakes, 61 lagoons, rivers, and 4 swamps. Guatemala is a country of distinct fauna. It has some known species. Of these, 6. Guatemala is home to at least species of vascular plants, of which Amerindian populations include the K'iche' 9.
There are smaller communities present. Vincent, live mainly in Livingston and Puerto Barrios. Those communities have other blacks and mulattos descended from banana workers. There are also Asians, mostly of Chinese descent. Other Asian groups include Arabs of Lebanese and Syrian descent. There is also a growing Korean community in Guatemala City and in nearby Mixco, currently numbering about 10, Guatemala's German population is credited with bringing the tradition of a Christmas tree to the country.
In , Guatemala had a population of , Over the course of the twentieth century the population of the country grew, the fastest growth in the Western Hemisphere. The ever-increasing pattern of emigration to the U. The Civil War forced many Guatemalans to start lives outside of their country. The majority of the Guatemalan diaspora is located in the United States, with estimates ranging from , to 1,, The difficulty in getting accurate counts for Guatemalans abroad is because many of them are refugee claimants awaiting determination of their status.
Below are estimates for certain countries:. The distribution of income remains highly unequal with more than half of the population below the national poverty line and just over , 3.
Remittances from Guatemalans who fled to the United States during the civil war now constitute the largest single source of foreign income two thirds of exports and one tenth of GDP. Some of the main products for export are fruits, vegetables, flowers, handicrafts, cloths and others.
Mines produce gold, silver, zinc, cobalt and nickel. The agricultural sector accounts for about two-fifths of exports, and half of the labor force. Organic coffee, sugar, textiles, fresh vegetables, and bananas are the country's main exports.
Inflation was 3. The peace accords that ended the decades-long civil war removed a major obstacle to foreign investment. Tourism has become an increasing source of revenue for Guatemala. Guatemala also has free trade agreements with Taiwan and Colombia. Guatemala City is home to many of the nation's libraries and museums, including the National Archives, the National Library, and the Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, which has an extensive collection of Maya artifacts.
There are private museums, such as the Ixchel, which focuses on textiles, and the Popol Vuh, which focuses on Maya archaeology. Almost each of the municipalities in the country has a small museum. Guatemala has produced many indigenous artists who follow centuries-old Pre-Columbian traditions. However, reflecting Guatemala's colonial and post-colonial history, encounters with multiple global art movements also have produced a wealth of artists who have combined the traditional so-called "primitivism" or "naive" aesthetic with European, North American, and other traditions.
The Guatemala National Prize in Literature is a one-time only award that recognizes an individual writer's body of work. It has been given annually since by the Ministry of Culture and Sports.
The music of Guatemala comprises a number of styles and expressions. Guatemalan social change has been empowered by music scenes such as Nueva cancion, which blend together histories, present day issues, and political values and struggles of common people. The Maya had an intense musical practice, as is documented by iconography. Guatemala was also one of the first regions in the New World to be introduced to European music, from on.
Many composers from the Renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporary music styles have contributed works of all genres. The marimba is the national instrument that has developed a large repertoire of very attractive pieces that have been popular for more than a century.
The Historia General de Guatemala has published a series of CDs of historical music of Guatemala, in which every style is represented, from the Maya, colonial period, independent and republican eras to current times.
There are many contemporary music groups in Guatemala from Caribbean music, salsa, punta Garifuna influenced , Latin pop, Mexican regional, and mariachi. Although Spanish is the official language, it is not universally spoken among the indigenous population, nor is it often spoken as a second language by the elderly indigenous. Twenty-one Mayan languages are spoken, especially in rural areas, as well as two non-Mayan Amerindian dialects, Xinca, an indigenous dialect, and Garifuna, an Arawakan dialect spoken on the Caribbean coast.
The peace accords signed in December provide for the translation of some official documents and voting materials into several indigenous languages see summary of main substantive accords and mandate the provision of interpreters in legal cases for non-Spanish speakers. The accord also sanctioned bilingual education in Spanish and indigenous languages. It is common for indigenous Guatemalans to learn or speak between two to five of the nation's other languages, and Spanish.
More than one third of Guatemalans are Protestant, chiefly Evangelicals and Pentecostals. It is common for relevant Mayan practices to be incorporated into Catholic ceremonies and worship when they are sympathetic to the meaning of Catholic belief a phenomenon known as inculturation. The practice of traditional Mayan religion is increasing as a result of the cultural protections established under the peace accords. The government has instituted a policy of providing altars at every Mayan ruin found in the country so that traditional ceremonies may be performed there.
There are also small communities of Jews estimated between and ,Muslims , Buddhists at around to , and members of other faiths and those who do not profess any faith. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints currently has over , members in Guatemala, accounting for approximately 1. Membership grew to 10, by , and 18 years later, when the Guatemala City Temple was dedicated in , membership had risen to 40, By membership had quadrupled again to , The OCCG has an approximate membership of , faithful and catechumens, overwhelmingly indigenous, with churches in Guatemala and southern Mexico, with 12 formerly OCCG clergymen and 14 seminarians, who are assisted in their pastoral ministry by lay ministers and catechists.
Additionally, the OCCG has an established monastery located on acres ha of land. Fourteen students from Guatemala, with full scholarship, are now enrolled in the St. When people pass away in Guatemala, they are usually buried as soon as possible, so as to provide a quick passage to heaven.
Funerals generally include candles and rum, and despite the local superstition that loud mourning and crying will slow down the deceased's journey to the next world; mourners usually cry very loudly, except at funerals for children. Guatemala joined Honduras and El Salvador in signing a free trade agreement with Mexico in , which went into effect the following year. The U. CONCAUSA is a cooperative plan of action to promote clean, efficient energy use; conserve the region's biodiversity; strengthen legal and institutional frameworks and compliance mechanisms; and improve and harmonize environmental protection standards.
Guatemala is part of the Regional Security System contained in the Framework Treaty on Democratic Security in Central America, signed in , which establishes a model of cooperative security, integral and indivisible, based on the supremacy and strengthening of civil power, with Reasonable balance of forces and focusing on the safety of people.
It must in turn identify elements such as poverty, underdevelopment, depredation of the environment and cultural property, as well as violence, corruption, impunity, narco activity, arms trafficking and terrorism. In addition, Guatemala is a member of the Conference of the Central American Armed Forces CFAC , whose purpose is to promote a permanent and systematic effort of cooperation, Coordination and mutual support among the armed forces.
Guatemala has a long-standing claim to a large portion of Belize; the territorial dispute caused problems with the United Kingdom and later with Belize following its independence from the U.
In September , Guatemala recognized Belize's independence and established diplomatic ties, while acknowledging that the boundaries remained in dispute. In anticipation of an effort to bring the border dispute to an end in early , the Guatemalan Congress ratified two long-pending international agreements governing frontier issues and maritime rights.
In , Guatemala and Belize agreed to a facilitation process led by the OAS to determine the land and maritime borders separating the two countries. National elections in Guatemala put a temporary halt to progress, but discussions resumed in November After being named Foreign Minister in , Haroldo Rodas made clear his intention to reinvigorate discussions with Belize, and the two countries signed an agreement to submit the dispute to the International Court of Justice at The Hague for resolution.
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