Guatemala
For the city, see Guatemala City.Guatemala, officially the
Republic of Guatemala (
Spanish:
República de Guatemala,
IPA: ), is a country in
Central America, in the south part of
North America, bordering
Mexico to the northwest, the
Pacific Ocean to the southwest,
Belize and the
Caribbean Sea to the northeast, and
Honduras and
El Salvador to the southeast.
From the
3rd century BC to the
12th century AD, the lowlands of
Petén and
Izabal regions were inhabited by several indigenous states of
Mayan ethnicity. Many
K'iche tribal groups were on the central highlands.
The Spanish failed to conquer the
Alta Verapaz area by force, but later succeeded through the Catholic Church. A few missionaries, most notably Fr.
Bartolomé de las Casas defended the native population from the cruelty of the Spanish army. The church, however, had a policy of burning Mayan texts, and almost all of the precolumbian manuscripts were lost. A few survived, however, including: "
Popol Vuh", "Anales de los Kakchiqueles", and "Chilam Balam", books that were discovered and preserved by Spanish missionary friars. The name "Goathemala" was given by the Spanish conquistadores, and derives from indigenous words meaning "Land of many trees".
During the colonial period, Guatemala was a
Captaincy General (Capitanía General de Goathemala) of Spain, but still part of New Spain (Mexico). It extended from
Soconusco region - now in southern Mexico (states of
Chiapas,
Tabasco) - to
Costa Rica. This region was not as rich in minerals (gold and silver) as Mexico and Peru, and was therefore not considered as important. Its main products were
sugarcane,
cocoa, blue
añil dye, red dye from
cochineal insects, and precious woods used in artwork for churches and palaces in Spain.
Frustrated by their inability to trade with countries other than Spain, the Guatemalan elite declared independence on
September 15,
1821, although it was still part of the newly independent state of Mexico. In 1823 Guatemala became independent from Mexico as well. The new Guatemalan Republic included part of Soconusco region, and what are now the countries of
El Salvador,
Honduras,
Nicaragua, and
Costa Rica. Its 1.5 million inhabitants were concentrated in urban centers.
In 1822, the province of El Salvador convinced the other Guatemalan provinces to join the
Mexican Empire, an idea of
Agustin Iturbide. But a year later Iturbide was forced to abdicate, his empire collapsed and Guatemala separated from Mexico, losing the regions of Chiapas and Soconusco.
The Guatemalan provinces formed the
United Provinces of Central America, also called the Central American Federation (Federacion de Estados Centroamericanos). The capital city remained
Guatemala City which is still today the most populous city in Central America.
A politically unstable period followed, aggravated by the collapse of the world market for añil (indigo), the country's main export to Europe, due to the invention of synthetic dyes. This prompted each province to leave the Federation, from
1838 to
1840, beginning with Costa Rica, and Guatemala became an independent nation.
Guatemala has long claimed all or part of the territory of neighboring
Belize, formerly part of the Spanish colony, and later occupied by
Great Britain. Guatemala recognized Belize's independence in
1991, but their territorial dispute is not resolved. Negotiations are currently underway under the auspices of the
Organization of American States to conclude it. See: [
1] and the OAS page [
2].
Guatemalan history is marked by the
Cold War between the
U.S. and the
USSR. The
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with a small group of Guatemalans overthrew the freely-elected Guatemalan government of
Jacobo Arbenz in
1954 after the government expropriated unused land owned by the
United Fruit Company, a U.S.-based banana merchant. The CIA codename for the coup was
Operation PBSUCCESS, its second successful overthrow of a foreign government. The subsequent military rule, beginning with dictator
Carlos Castillo Armas led to over 30 years of civil war that, from
1960, led to the death an estimated 200,000 Guatemalan civilians. According to the U.N.-sponsored
Truth Commission, government forces and paramilitaries were responsible for over 90% of the human rights violations during the war. During the first 10 years, the victims of the state-sponsored terror were primarily students, workers, professionals, and opposition figures of all political tendencies, but in the last years, they were thousands of mostly rural Mayans farmers and non-combatants. More than 450 Mayan villages were destroyed and over one million people became refugees. This is considered one of the worst
ethnic cleansings in modern Latin America. 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.
From the 1950s to the 1990s (with a suspension of military aid between 1977 and 1982), the US government directly supported Guatemala's army with training, weapons and money. The
United States Army Special Forces (Green Berets) were sent to Guatemala to transform its army into a "modern counter-insurgency force" and made it the most powerful and sophisticated in Central America. In 1999, then US president
Bill Clinton stated that the United States was wrong to have provided support to Guatemalan military forces that took part in the brutal civilian killings [
3]. Further CIA involvement included the training of 5,000
Cubans opposed to
Fidel Castro and airstrips in its territory for what later became the failed
Bay of Pigs Invasion.
In 1982, four
Marxist groups formed the guerilla organization
Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG). A bloody 36-year war ended in
1996 with a peace accord between the guerrillas and the government of President
Álvaro Arzú, negotiated by the
United Nations. Both sides made major concessions. The army controlled urban centers, while URNG maintained a strong presence in the countryside. Due to the military's use of rampant torture, disappearances, "
scorched earth" warfare and many other brutal methods, the country became a
pariah state internationally. In
1992, the
Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to
Rigoberta Menchú, an indigenous human rights activist, for her efforts to bring international attention to the government-sponsored
genocide against the indigenous population.
Since the peace accord, Guatemala has enjoyed successive democratic elections, most recently in
2003. However, corruption is still rampant at all levels of government. A huge cache of National Police files discovered in December
2005 revealed methods of public security officials to quell unrest of citizens during the
Civil War [
4].
Politics of Guatemala takes place in a framework of a
presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the
President of Guatemala is both
head of state and
head of government, and of a pluriform 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.
Main article: Departments of Guatemala
 |
The departments of Guatemala |
Guatemala is divided into 22
departments (
departamentos) and sub-divided into about 332 municipalities (
municipios).
The
departments include:
 |
Map of Guatemala |
Main article: Geography of Guatemala
Guatemala is mountainous, except for the south coastal area and the north vast lowlands of
Peten department. Its climate is hot tropical – more temperate in the highlands, and drier in the easternmost departments.
All major cities are in the southern half of the country. Major cities are the capital
Guatemala City,
Quetzaltenango and
Escuintla. The largest lake
Lago de Izabal is close to the Caribbean coast.
Guatemala's location on the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean makes it a target for
hurricanes, including
Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and
Hurricane Stan in 2005, which killed more than 1,500 people.
Main article: Economy of Guatemala
The
agricultural sector accounts for one quarter of
GDP, two-thirds of exports, and half of the labor force.
Coffee,
sugar, and
bananas are the main exports. Manufacturing and construction account for one-fifth of GDP.
The signing of the peace accords ended the decades-long
Civil War, removing a major obstacle to foreign investment. In
1998,
Hurricane Mitch caused relatively little damage to Guatemala compared to neighboring countries, especially
Honduras.
Remaining challenges include beefing up government revenues, negotiating further assistance from international donors, and increasing the efficiency and openness of both government and private financial operations.
In 2005, despite massive street protests, Guatemala's congress ratified the
Dominican Republic - Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) between several Central American nations and the
U.S.. However, owing to the extensive damage and economic impacts caused by
Hurricane Stan in October
2005, the government is in period of stand-by analysis and acceptance as it contemplates how it will be possible to implement the mechanisms and stipulations of the DR-CAFTA by the starting date in February of
2006.
Main article: Demographics of Guatemala
According to the CIA
World Fact Book,
Mestizos, known as
Ladinos in Central America, (mixed
Amerindian-Spanish) and people of European descent (primarily of Spanish, German, English, Italian, and Scandinavian descent) comprise 60% of the population (mostly Mestizo) and Amerindians comprise approximately 40% (
K'iche 9.1%,
Kaqchikel 8.4%,
Mam 7.9%,
Q'eqchi 6.3%, other Mayan 8.6%, indigenous non-Mayan 0.2%, other 0.1%).
Though most of Guatemala's population is rural,
urbanization is accelerating.
Guatemala City (approx. 3 million residents) is expanding at a rapid rate, and
Quetzaltenango, the second largest city (approx. 250 thousand residents), is growing as well. Rural-to-urban migration is fueled by a combination of government neglect of the countryside, low farm gate prices, oppressive labor conditions on rural plantations, the high concentration of arable land in the hands of a few wealthy families, and the (often unrealistic) perception of higher wages in the city. Generally impoverished farmers move to the outskirts of the city in precarious dwellings on the slopes of ravines.
The predominant religion is
Roman Catholicism, into which many indigenous Guatemalans have incorporated traditional forms of worship, a process known as
syncretism.
Protestantism and traditional
Mayan religions are practiced by an estimated 33% and 1% of the population, respectively. It is common for traditional Mayan practices to be incorporated into Christian ceremonies and worship through
syncretism.
In 1900, Guatemala had a population of just 885,000 [
5]. Over the course of the twentieth century the population of the country grew by a factor of fourteen. No other western hemisphere country saw such rapid growth.
Although the official language is
Spanish, it is not universally spoken among the indigenous population, or is often spoken as a second language; 23 distinct
Mayan languages are still spoken, especially in rural areas.
The Peace Accords signed in December
1996 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 the teaching of bilingual education in Spanish and indigenous languages. It is very rare, however, for Spanish-speaking Guatemalans to learn or speak one or more of the nation's other languages.
Roman Catholicism was the dominant religion during the colonial era, and remains the faith of about two-thirds of the population. However,
Protestant denominations have increased markedly in recent decades, especially under the reign of dictator and evangelical pastor General Efraín Ríos Montt. Around 1 in 3 Guatemalans are Protestant - chiefly
Evangelical and
Pentecostal.
The practice of traditional Mayan religion is increasing as a result of the cultural protections established in 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.
The current Roman-Catholic leader of Guatemala is Mons. Álvaro Leonel Ramazzini Imeri.
The government runs a number of public elementary and secondary-level schools. These schools are theoretically tuition-free, but the cost of uniforms, books, supplies, and transportation makes them less accessible to the lower classes. Many middle and upper-class children go to private schools throughout the country. The country also has one public university (
Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala), and 9 private ones (see
List of universities in Guatemala).
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 1988 by the Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes (Ministry of Culture and Sports).
Communications in Guatemala*
panajachel.com Travel Information for Panajachel on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala*
Revue Magazine, Guatemala's English-language Magazine*
Guatemalan Art*
Guatemalan Literature*
Encyclopaedia Britannica Guatemala - Country Facts Page*
UK Foreign Office Country Profile for Guatemala*
Guatemala Overview*
Spanish Schools in Guatemala*
Revista Recrearte, Cultural Magazine*
Guatemalan Culture*
Volunteer work, internship and Spanish programs*
Congreso de la República – Congress of the Republic of Guatemala (in Spanish)
*
Organismo Judicial de Guatemala Judicial Branch of Guatemala (in Spanish)
*
Gobierno de Guatemala Guatemalan Government Page(in Spanish)
*
Instituto de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Metereologia E Hidrologia Guatemala's Institute Of Seismology, Vulcanology, Metereology And Hydrology
*
Guatemala Institute of Tourism.
*
Maya Spirit – (in Spanish)
*
The Rose Education Foundation*
Amnesty International Annual Report 2004 – Guatemala*
PhotoGlobe - Guatemala - georeferenced photos of Guatemala
*
NISGUA Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala
*
News and Project information on Guatemalan-Belizean Confidence-building in language activities, photos, news articles and official country links.
*
color photography of Guatemala - especially villages*
History of Guatemala*
Pictures of Guatemala
