Freedom in the World 2004 - Guatemala

Political Rights: 4
Civil Liberties: 4
Status: Partly Free
Population: 12,400,000
GNI/Capita: $1,680
Life Expectancy: 66
Religious Groups: Roman Catholic, Protestant, indigenous beliefs
Ethnic Groups: Mestizo (55 percent), Amerindian (43 percent), other (2 percent)
Capital: Guatemala City

Overview

After great uncertainty and the threat of widespread violence, the November 2003 elections took place relatively peacefully. Neither Alvaro Colom of the Gran Alianza Nacional (GANA) nor Alvaro Colom of the Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE) received an absolute majority, forcing a runoff election to be held in late December. Parliamentary elections were held the same month saw the Frente Republicano Guatemalteco (FRG) lose its majority in legislative majority. Meanwhile, criminal and political violence are on the rise, prompting the government to institute a controversial program targeting gangs.

The Republic of Guatemala, which was established in 1839, has endured a history of dictatorship, coups, and guerrilla insurgency. Civilian rule followed the 1985 elections, and a 36-year civil war ended with the signing of a peace agreement in 1996. The peace accords led to the successful demobilization of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) guerrillas and their political legalization, the retirement of more than 40 senior military officers on corruption and narcotics charges, and the reduction of the army's strength by one-third. A truth commission mandated by the peace accords began receiving complaints of rights violations committed during the conflict. In a May 1999 referendum, voters rejected a package of amendments to the constitution, approved by congress a year earlier, which had been prepared in accordance with the peace plan.

The former guerrillas of the URNG, seriously divided and unable to make electoral gains, offered a blunt assessment of the peace accords in early 2002: "Genocide is no longer state policy." There is a general consensus that with the failure to implement substantive reforms redressing social and economic inequalities, the peace process is dead. This failure includes the government's inability to end the military's political tutelage and impunity, to fully recognize the rights of the Maya Indians, and to reform taxation to pay for health, education, and housing programs for the poor.

In late 2002, the government of President Alfonso Portillo signed an agreement to provide $400 million in compensation to the victims of the nation's 36-year civil war during which more than 200,000 died and over 200 mostly indigenous villages were destroyed. The National Compensation Program is a result of the 1996 UN-brokered peace accords and the ensuing truth commission.

In July 2003, the constitutional court ruled that retired General Efrain Rios Montt could stand for the presidency. He was later chosen as the candidate for the FRG. The court's decision was condemned at home and abroad. On July 24 and 25, violent demonstrations were staged in Guatemala City as the FRG brought armed supporters to bully the court's justices and critics. The UN Verification Mission for Guatemala (MINIGUA) condemned the fighting as a threat to citizen security.

November 9 presidential elections were held with less than the expected violence, though voting was suspended in seven municipalities because of violence. In the run-up to the election, more than 30 political activists were assassinated. The ruling FRG also authorized a first payment of $645, as "compensation" for their service, to each of the 520,000 members of the Civilian Defense Patrols (CAP). These groups had been set up by the armed forces and were made up of volunteers or impressed local men. The payment was seen as an effort to buy electoral support, though all presidential candidates eventually supported the measure.

Oscar Berger, a former mayor of Guatemala City, of the GANA received 34 percent of the vote. Alvaro Colom, who offers a populist message that appeals to Guatemala's "Mayaness," of UNE party obtained 26 percent of the ballot. Rios Montt came in a distant third with 19 percent. Under the constitution, a runoff election will be held between Berger and Colom since no candidate polled more than 50 percent.

In parliamentary elections held the same month, the FRG lost its congressional majority, but will still have 44 seats, with GANA holding 49 and UNE having 34. At the local level, the FRG was the most successful party, having won over 100 municipalities; GANA won 69, and UNE, 33. The significance of this outcome makes governability a serious concern, as the FRG still has significant support at the grassroots level. The FRG's appeal is based partly on a message of law and order that appeals to segments of the population exposed to high levels of lawlessness and violence. While UNE is identified as left-of-center, as a whole, the left did not fare well with the URNG getting 2 seats in congress. By contrast, after the 1999 elections, the URNG coalition was the third political party.

While the civil war is over, assassinations, kidnappings, beatings, break-ins, and death threats are still common. Death squads have reappeared, and hundreds of street children continue to be murdered and mutilated. In response to a dramatic increase in gang-related violence, the government has implemented a controversial jail-based program targeting gangs (maras) called "The Sweep-up Plan" and modeled after Honduras's draconian anti-gang efforts. President Portillo admitted that clandestine groups with military ties exist, but claims to be powerless to combat them. Guatemala's governance problems are on the rise as corruption and lawlessness increase with impunity.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Citizens can change their government through democratic means. The 1985 constitution, amended in 1994, provides for a four-year presidential term and prohibits reelection. A unicameral congress consisting of 113 members (increased from 80) is elected for four years. Corruption is widespread and efforts to promote transparency have made little progress.

The press and most broadcast media outlets are privately owned. Seven dailies are published in the capital, and six are local. There are several radio stations, most of them commercial. Four of the six television stations are commercially operated and are owned by the same financial interest. Reporters Sans Frontieres, a Paris-based organization, has repeatedly noted that journalists and human rights activists were targets of intimidation, including death threats. Access to the Internet is not limited.

The constitution guarantees religious freedom. The government does not interfere with academic freedom; however, academics have been targets of death threats.

The constitution guarantees the right to organize political parties and civic organizations. Nevertheless, human rights groups are the targets of frequent death threats and the victims of acts of violence. In May, the Inter-American Human Rights Commission noted that 11 activists had been murdered since the elections were announced. The commission also indicated that more than 30 human rights abuses had taken place against grassroots leaders in the period between April and July. An appeals court in May annulled the 30-year sentence of Colonel Juan Valencia Osorio, who had been found guilty of organizing the murder of human rights activist Myrna Mack in 1990. General Edgar Godoy Gaitan and Colonel Juan Oliva Carrera, former heads of the presidential military guard (EMP), also convicted for the same crime, were absolved. The decisions were widely seen as evidence of continued impunity and corruption.

Workers are frequently denied the right to organize and are subjected to mass firings and blacklisting, particularly in export-processing zones where the majority of workers are women. Existing unions are targets of intimidation, physical attack, and assassination, particularly in rural areas during land disputes.

The judicial system remains ineffectual for most legal and human rights complaints. In general, it suffers from chronic problems of corruption, intimidation, insufficient personnel, lack of training opportunities, and a lack of transparency and accountability. The indigenous population continues to be shut out from the national justice system. Although indigenous languages are now being used in courtrooms around the country, Guatemalan authorities mostly dismiss traditional justice systems. Cursory recruitment efforts have resulted in only a handful of indigenous recruits for the National Civilian Police (PNC).

Despite increasing freedoms, Guatemala has yet to end a tradition of military dominance. The demobilization of the presidential bodyguard and military intelligence, the two units held most accountable for human rights abuses, mandated by the peace accords has not taken place. Guatemala remains one of the most violent countries in Latin America. The closing of military barracks throughout the country – the armed forces were the one Guatemalan institution that had a truly national presence – while the PNC was being created and deployed created a vacuum in which criminal activity escalated. One result was an upsurge of vigilantism and lynchings. Neighborhood patrols – some armed with automatic weapons – have sprung up in an attempt to arrest the spiraling crime wave. More than 60,000 private security guards far outnumber the PNC. President Alfonso Portillo has called out army troops to assist the PNC in patrolling urban areas. Drug trafficking is a serious problem, and Guatemala remains a transit point for drugs going to the United States.

Eighty percent of the population lives below poverty levels, and infant mortality among the Maya – some 60 percent of the population – is among the highest on the continent.

Violence against women and children is widespread and common. There is extensive human trafficking, especially of illegal aliens from Asia en route to the United States. Women and children are drawn into prostitution both locally and in neighboring countries. Guatemala has the highest rate of child labor in the Americas, with one-third of school-aged children forced to work on farms or in factories.

Trend Arrow

Guatemala received a downward trend arrow due to increased violence, mostly criminal but also political, and widespread corruption.