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Guatemala's history is clearly divided in five different periods:
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Processes of Peace (1985) |
The Mayan civilization flourished in the year 2000 b.C. in Guatemala, México, Honduras, Belize, and El Salvador. Today, numerous investigations are being carried out, and new discoveries about this advanced civilization have been found. You can find more information about this exciting civilization in the “Antiguos Mayas [ancient Mayans]” section of this webpage
In 1524, Pedro de Alvarado, a general sent by Hernán Cortés, arrived in Guatemala. He conquered the Mayan kingdoms of Quiché, Kakchikel and Tzutujil, which were in a transition process. Afterwards, he proceeded to establish the first capital city of the Guatemalan kingdom. Two years later, he completed his conquest of the country, thus marking the beginning of the colonial period, which lasted until 1821. The capital city became the Government headquarters of the General Captaincy, which included all Central America, spanning from Yucatan (south of Mexico) to Panamá. The principal economic activities of the country were agriculture and shepherding. In this period the crossbreed between the native culture and the Spanish culture began taking place, thus establishing the base of the current Guatemalan culture.
On September 15th, 1821, landlords, merchants, and colonial authorities pacifically declare the independence of the General Captaincy of the Guatemalan Kingdom (which included the five Central American countries). In 1831, the government was troubled by debts, and large extensions of land were given to England for wood exploitation. This land was named "British Honduras", which today, already independent, is the country of Belize. The political-administrative entity created after the independence, named Provincias Unidas de Centroamérica [United Provinces of Central America], was dissolved in 1839, as a result of a breach of a federal agreement. In 1847 the Republic of Guatemala was constituted. Due to the invention of artificial coloring in Europe in the middle of the XVIII century, Guatemala had to change its industry, which was based on vegetable dyeing, and introduced coffee as its main crop. In 1871, the natives lost many communal lands because they were incorporated to the landlords' estates for the production of coffee. From the end of the XIX century to 1920, North American capital was invested into the country, and businessmen of the United States monopolized the transportation system (railroads, ports, ocean transportation, etc.), the production of electrical power, international mails, and most important, large extensions of land.
In 1944 a popular revolution took place, which was called "Revolución de Octubre" [October Revolution], which instigated the overthrow of General Jorge Ubico, and the election of a new president, Juan José Arévalo. He began a process of land, political, economic and social reforms that incorporated the country to the global market and caused an industrial development. The United States of America viewed the land reforms as acts of communism, and in 1954 Allen Dulles, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, organized an invasion to our country from Honduras. As a result, the government of Juan Jose Arevalo was overthrown and this led to a series of military governments were elected through fraudulent processes and aided by the CIA. Due to this, an armed revolutionary movement was established and many revolutionary groups were formed: the Fuerzas Armadas Rebeldes [Rebel armed Forces] in 1962, Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres [Rebel Army for the Poor] in 1975, and Organización del Pueblo en Armas [Armed People organization] in 1979. In 1982 the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca [National Guatemalan Revolutionary Coalition] was formed, which gathered together all armed organizations and included the Partido Guatemalteco del Trabajo [Laborer's Guatemalan Party]. Between 1954 and 1983 due to the repressive regimes that ruled Guatemala, there was an armed conflict in which 100,000 people were killed and 50,000 disappeared.. In July 1st, 1984, a Constituent Assembly was elected with the purpose of writing a fundamental law, new constitutional laws, habeas corpus, and promoting constitutional elections. In 1985, Vinicio Cerezo, a demo-Christian candidate, won the elections. He began a new peace process
In 1987, meetings and talks between the rebel groups and the government began, concluding in 1990 with the signature of a basic agreement for the search of peace in Guatemala. This agreement was followed by the skepticism of the nation. New negotiations for peace were started in 1991 between the guerilla and the government. However, human rights transgressions continued (mostly, extra-judicial executions and killing of children who lived on the streets). The international community pressured the government to stop such constant political violence. New governments followed. In 1992, Rigoberta Menchú, a native leader of Quiché ethnicity, who publicly denounced the condition of the native people in Guatemala, received the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1994, the government and the rebel groups signed agreements for the resettlement of the population who had become refugees because of the war, and the international monitoring of the UN, in regards to human rights. The president of the Constitutional Court was murdered three days later. The negotiations for peace did not progress in 1995 due to the national elections, lack of interest of the army and landlords, and the government's weakness. The UN confirmed that the human rights transgressions still continued because the aggressors enjoyed impunity. However, in 1996, a new government and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca [National Guatemalan Revolutionary Coalition] signed a series of agreements that finally allowed the rebirth of democracy and peace in Guatemala.
