Guatemala

Republic of Guatemala República de Guatemala (Spanish)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Libre crezca fecundo[1] (Spanish) "Grow Free and Fecund"
Anthem:  Himno Nacional de Guatemala (English: "National Anthem of Guatemala")
March: La Granadera (English: "The Song of the Grenadier")
Location on the Western Hemisphere Guatemala and its neighbors
Capital and largest city	Guatemala City 14°38′N 90°30′W / 14.633°N 90.500°W / 14.633; -90.500
Official languages	Spanish
Recognised national languages	Mayan
Recognised regional languages	Garifuna Xinca
Afro-Guatemalan 0.13% Garifuna 0.24% other
Religion (2017)[3]	88% Christianity 45% Roman Catholic 42% Protestant 1% other Christian 11% President of the Congress	Nery Ramos
Legislature	Congress of the Republic
Independence
• Declared from the Spanish Empire	15 September 1821
• Declared from the First Mexican Empire	1 July 1823
• Declared from the Federal Republic of Central America	17 April 1839
• Current constitution	31 May 1985
Area
• Total	108,889 km2 (42,042 sq mi) (105th)
• Water (%)	0.4
Population
• 2023 estimate	17,980,803[4] (69th)
• Density	129/km2 (334.1/sq mi) (85th)
GDP (PPP)	2024 estimate
• Total	$213.134 billion[5] (77th)
• Per capita	$10,998[5] (121nd)
GDP (nominal)	2024 estimate
• Total	$111.384 billion[5] (70th)
• Per capita	$5,748[5] (108th)
Gini (2014)	48.3[6] high
HDI (2021)	0.627[7] medium (135th)
Currency	Quetzal (GTQ)
Time zone	UTC−6 (CST)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+502
ISO 3166 code	GT
Internet TLD	.gt

Guatemala,^[a] officially the Republic of Guatemala,^[b] is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically bordered to the south by the Pacific Ocean and to the northeast by the Gulf of Honduras.

The territory of modern Guatemala hosted the core of the Maya civilization, which extended across Mesoamerica; in the 16th century, most of this was conquered by the Spanish and claimed as part of the viceroyalty of New Spain. Guatemala attained independence from Spain and Mexico in 1821. From 1823 to 1841, it was part of the Federal Republic of Central America. For the latter half of the 19th century, Guatemala suffered instability and civil strife. From the early 20th century, it was ruled by a series of dictators backed by the United States. In 1944, authoritarian leader Jorge Ubico was overthrown by a pro-democratic military coup, initiating a decade-long revolution that led to social and economic reforms. In 1954, a US-backed military coup ended the revolution and installed a dictatorship.^[8] From 1960 to 1996, Guatemala

Guatemala's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems includes many endemic species and contributes to Mesoamerica's designation as a biodiversity hotspot.^[12] Although rich in export goods, around a quarter of the population (4.6 million) face

With an estimated population of around 17.6 million,^[13][14] Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America, the 4th most populous country in North America and the 11th most populous country in the Americas. Its capital and largest city, Guatemala City, is the most populous city in Central America.

Etymology

The name "Guatemala" comes from the

Pre-Columbian

The first evidence of human habitation in Guatemala dates to 12,000 BC. Archaeological evidence, such as

The Classic period of

This lasted until approximately 900 AD, when the Classic Maya civilization collapsed.^[23] The Maya abandoned many of the cities of the central lowlands or were killed by a drought-induced famine.^[23] The cause of the collapse is debated, but the drought theory is gaining currency, supported by evidence such as lakebeds, ancient pollen, and others.^[23] A series of prolonged droughts in what is otherwise a seasonal desert is thought to have decimated the Maya, who relied on regular rainfall to support their dense population.^[24]

The Post-Classic period is represented by regional kingdoms, such as the

The Maya civilization shares many features with other Mesoamerican civilizations due to the high degree of interaction and

Spanish era (1519–1821)

After they arrived in the

On 15 September 1821, Gabino Gainza Fernandez de Medrano and the Captaincy General of Guatemala, an administrative region of the Spanish Empire consisting of Chiapas, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Honduras, officially proclaimed its independence from Spain at a public meeting in Guatemala City. Independence from Spain was gained, and the Captaincy General of Guatemala joined the First Mexican Empire under Agustín de Iturbide.

Under the First Empire, Mexico reached its greatest territorial extent, stretching from northern California to the provinces of Central America (excluding Panama, which was then part of Colombia), which had not initially approved becoming part of the Mexican Empire but joined the Empire shortly after their independence. This region was formally a part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain throughout the colonial period, but as a practical matter had been administered separately. It was not until 1825 that Guatemala created its own flag.^[29]

In 1838 the liberal forces of Honduran leader Francisco Morazán and Guatemalan José Francisco Barrundia invaded Guatemala and reached San Sur, where they executed Chúa Alvarez, father-in-law of Rafael Carrera, then a military commander and later the first president of Guatemala. The liberal forces impaled Alvarez's head on a pike as a warning to followers of the Guatemalan caudillo.^[30] Carrera and his wife Petrona – who had come to confront Morazán as soon as they learned of the invasion and were in Mataquescuintla – swore they would never forgive Morazán even in his grave; they felt it impossible to respect anyone who would not avenge family members.^[31]

After sending several envoys, whom Carrera would not receive – and especially not Barrundia whom Carrera did not want to murder in cold blood – Morazán began a scorched-earth offensive, destroying villages in his path and stripping them of assets. The Carrera forces had to hide in the mountains.^[32] Believing Carrera totally defeated, Morazán and Barrundia marched to Guatemala City, and were welcomed as saviors by state governor Pedro Valenzuela and members of the conservative Aycinena clan [es], who proposed to sponsor one of the liberal battalions, while Valenzuela and Barrundia gave Morazán all the Guatemalan resources needed to solve any financial problem he had.^[33] The criollos of both parties celebrated until dawn that they finally had a criollo caudillo like Morazán, who was able to crush the peasant rebellion.^[34]

Morazán used the proceeds to support Los Altos and then replaced Valenzuela with

In September of that year, Carrera attempted an assault on the capital of Guatemala, but the liberal general Carlos Salazar Castro defeated him in the fields of Villa Nueva and Carrera had to retreat.^[38] After unsuccessfully trying to take Quetzaltenango, Carrera found himself both surrounded and wounded. He had to capitulate to Mexican General Agustín Guzmán, who had been in Quetzaltenango since Vicente Filísola's arrival in 1823. Morazán had the opportunity to shoot Carrera, but did not, because he needed the support of the Guatemalan peasants to counter the attacks of Francisco Ferrera in El Salvador. Instead, Morazán left Carrera in charge of a small fort in Mita, without any weapons. Knowing that Morazán was going to attack El Salvador, Francisco Ferrera gave arms and ammunition to Carrera and convinced him to attack Guatemala City.^[39]

Meanwhile, despite insistent advice to definitively crush Carrera and his forces, Salazar tried to negotiate with him diplomatically; he even went as far as to show that he neither feared nor distrusted Carrera by removing the fortifications of the Guatemalan capital, in place since the battle of Villa Nueva.^[38] Taking advantage of Salazar's good faith and Ferrera's weapons, Carrera took Guatemala City by surprise on 13 April 1839; Salazar, Mariano Gálvez and Barrundia fled before the arrival of Carrera's militiamen. Salazar, in his nightshirt, vaulted roofs of neighboring houses and sought refuge,^[40][41] reaching the border disguised as a peasant.^[40][41] With Salazar gone, Carrera reinstated Rivera Paz as head of state.

Between 1838 and 1840 a

Carrera government (1847–1851)

During the first term as president, Carrera brought the country back from extreme conservatism to a traditional moderation; in 1848, the liberals were able to drive him from office, after the country had been in turmoil for several months.^[45][46] Carrera resigned of his own free will and left for México. The new liberal regime allied itself with the Aycinena family and swiftly passed a law ordering Carrera's execution if he returned to Guatemalan soil.^[45]

The liberal criollos from

On learning that officer José Víctor Zavala had been appointed as Corregidor in Suchitepéquez, Carrera and his hundred jacalteco bodyguards crossed a dangerous jungle infested with jaguars to meet his former friend. Zavala not only did not capture him, he agreed to serve under his orders, thus sending a strong message to both liberal and conservatives in Guatemala City that they would have to negotiate with Carrera or battle on two fronts – Quetzaltenango and Jalapa.^[51] Carrera went back to the Quetzaltenango area, while Zavala remained in Suchitepéquez as a tactical maneuver.^[52] Carrera received a visit from a cabinet member of Paredes and told him that he had control of the native population and that he assured Paredes that he would keep them appeased.^[51] When the emissary returned to Guatemala City, he told the president everything Carrera said, and added that the native forces were formidable.^[53]

Guzmán went to

After Carrera returned from exile in 1849 the president of El Salvador, Doroteo Vasconcelos, granted asylum to the Guatemalan liberals, who harassed the Guatemalan government in several different ways. José Francisco Barrundia established a liberal newspaper for that specific purpose. Vasconcelos supported a rebel faction named "La Montaña" in eastern Guatemala, providing and distributing money and weapons. By late 1850, Vasconcelos was getting impatient at the slow progress of the war with Guatemala and decided to plan an open attack. Under that circumstance, the Salvadorean head of state started a campaign against the conservative Guatemalan regime, inviting Honduras and Nicaragua to participate in the alliance; only the Honduran government led by Juan Lindo accepted.^[45] In 1851 Guatemala defeated an Allied army from Honduras and El Salvador at the Battle of La Arada.

In 1854 Carrera was declared "supreme and perpetual leader of the nation" for life, with the power to choose his successor. He held that position until he died on 14 April 1865. While he pursued some measures to set up a foundation for economic prosperity to please the conservative landowners, military challenges at home and a three-year war with Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua dominated his presidency.

His rivalry with Gerardo Barrios, President of El Salvador, resulted in open war in 1863. At Coatepeque the Guatemalans suffered a severe defeat, which was followed by a truce. Honduras joined with El Salvador, and Nicaragua and Costa Rica with Guatemala. The contest was finally settled in favor of Carrera, who besieged and occupied San Salvador, and dominated Honduras and Nicaragua. He continued to act in concert with the Clerical Party, and tried to maintain friendly relations with European governments. Before he died, Carrera nominated his friend and loyal soldier, Army Marshall Vicente Cerna y Cerna, as his successor.

Vicente Cerna y Cerna regime (1865–1871)

Vicente Cerna y Cerna was president of Guatemala from 24 May 1865 to 29 June 1871.^[57] Liberal author Alfonso Enrique Barrientos [es],^[58] described Marshall Cerna's government in the following manner:^[58]

A conservative and archaic government, badly organized and with worse intentions, was in charge of the country, centralizing all powers in Vicente Cerna, ambitious military man, who not happy with the general rank, had promoted himself to the Army Marshall rank, even though that rank did not exist and it does not exist in the Guatemalan military. The Marshall called himself President of the Republic, but in reality he was the foreman of oppressed and savaged people, cowardly enough that they had not dared to tell the dictator to leave threatening him with a revolution.

The State and Church were a single unit, and the conservative régime was strongly allied to the power of regular clergy of the Catholic Church, who were then among the largest landowners in Guatemala. The tight relationship between church and state had been ratified by the Concordat of 1852, which was the law until Cerna was deposed in 1871.^[59] Even liberal generals like Serapio Cruz [es] realized that Rafael Carrera's political and military presence made him practically invincible. Thus the generals fought under his command,^[45] and waited—for a long time—until Carrera's death before beginning their revolt against the tamer Cerna.^[60] During Cerna's presidency, liberal party members were prosecuted and sent into exile; among them, those who started the Liberal Revolution of 1871.^[45]

In 1871, the merchants guild, Consulado de Comercio, lost their exclusive court privilege. They had major effects on the economics of the time, and therefore land management. From 1839 to 1871, the Consulado held a consistent monopolistic position in the regime.^[61]

Liberal governments (1871–1898)

Guatemala's "Liberal Revolution" came in 1871 under the leadership of Justo Rufino Barrios, who worked to modernize the country, improve trade, and introduce new crops and manufacturing. During this era coffee became an important crop for Guatemala.^[62] Barrios had ambitions of reuniting Central America and took the country to war in an unsuccessful attempt to attain it, losing his life on the battlefield in 1885 against forces in El Salvador.

José María Reina Barrios was president between 1892 and 1898. During Barrios's first term in office, the power of the landowners over the rural peasantry increased. He oversaw the rebuilding of parts of Guatemala City on a grander scale, with wide, Parisian-style avenues. He oversaw Guatemala hosting the first "Exposición Centroamericana" ("Central American Fair") in 1897. During his second term, Barrios printed bonds to fund his ambitious plans, fueling monetary inflation and the rise of popular opposition to his regime.

His administration also worked on improving the roads, installing national and international telegraphs and introducing electricity to Guatemala City. Completing a transoceanic railway was a main objective of his government, with a goal to attract international investors at a time when the Panama Canal was not yet built.

Manuel Estrada Cabrera regime (1898–1920)

After the assassination of general José María Reina Barrios on 8 February 1898, the Guatemalan cabinet called an emergency meeting to appoint a new successor, but declined to invite Estrada Cabrera to the meeting, even though he was the designated successor to the presidency. There are two different descriptions of how Cabrera was able to become president. The first states that Cabrera entered the cabinet meeting "with pistol drawn" to assert his entitlement to the presidency,^[65] while the second states that he showed up unarmed to the meeting and demanded the presidency by virtue of being the designated successor.^[66]

The first civilian Guatemalan head of state in over 50 years, Estrada Cabrera overcame resistance to his regime by August 1898 and called for elections in September, which he won handily.^[67] In 1898 the legislature convened for the election of President Estrada Cabrera, who triumphed thanks to the large number of soldiers and policemen who went to vote in civilian clothes and to the large number of illiterate family that they brought with them to the polls.^[68]

One of Estrada Cabrera's most famous and most bitter legacies was allowing the entry of the

In 1906 Estrada faced serious revolts against his rule; the rebels were supported by the governments of some of the other Central American nations, but Estrada succeeded in putting them down. Elections were held by the people against the will of Estrada Cabrera and thus he had the president-elect murdered in retaliation. In 1907 Estrada narrowly survived an assassination attempt when a bomb exploded near his carriage.^[71] It has been suggested that the extreme despotic characteristics of Estrada did not emerge until after an attempt on his life in 1907.^[72]

Estrada Cabrera continued in power until forced to resign after new revolts in 1920. By that time his power had declined drastically and he was reliant upon the loyalty of a few generals. While the United States threatened intervention if he was removed through revolution, a bipartisan coalition came together to remove him from the presidency. He was removed from office after the national assembly charged that he was mentally incompetent, and appointed Carlos Herrera in his place on 8 April 1920.^[73]

Guatemala joined with El Salvador and Honduras in the Federation of Central America from 9 September 1921 until 14 January 1922.

Carlos Herrera served as President of Guatemala from 1920 until 1921. He was succeeded by José María Orellana, who served from 1921 until 1926. Lázaro Chacón González then served until 1931.

Jorge Ubico regime (1931–1944)

The

Ubico continued his predecessor's policy of making massive concessions to the United Fruit Company, often at a cost to Guatemala. He granted the company 200,000 hectares (490,000 acres) of public land in exchange for a promise to build a port, a promise he later waived.[81] Since its entry into Guatemala, the UFCO had expanded its land-holdings by displacing farmers and converting their farmland to banana plantations. This process accelerated under Ubico's presidency, with the government doing nothing to stop it.^[82] The company received import duty and real estate tax exemptions from the government and controlled more land than any other individual or group. It also controlled the sole railroad in the country, the sole facilities capable of producing electricity, and the port facilities at Puerto Barrios on the Atlantic coast.^[83]

Ubico saw the United States as an ally against the supposed communist threat of Mexico, and made efforts to gain its support. When the US

On 1 July 1944 Ubico was forced to resign from the presidency in response to a wave of protests and a

The junta organized Guatemala's first free election, which the philosophically conservative writer and teacher Juan José Arévalo, who wanted to turn the country into a liberal capitalist society won with a majority of 86%.^[96] His "Christian Socialist" policies were inspired to a large extent by the US New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression.^[97] Arévalo built new health centers, increased funding for education, and drafted a more liberal labor law,^[98] while criminalizing unions in workplaces with less than 500 workers,^[99] and cracking down on communists.^[100] Although Arévalo was popular among nationalists, he had enemies in the church and the military, and faced at least 25 coup attempts during his presidency.^[101]

Arévalo was constitutionally prohibited from contesting the 1950 elections. The largely free and fair elections were won by

Despite their popularity within the country, the reforms of the Guatemalan Revolution were disliked by the United States government, which was predisposed by the Cold War to see it as communist, and by the UFCO, whose hugely profitable business had been affected by the end to brutal labor practices.^[100][107] The attitude of the US government was also influenced by a propaganda campaign carried out by the UFCO.^[108]

US President

On 13 November 1960, a group of left-wing junior military officers of the Escuela Politécnica national military academy led a failed revolt against Ydigoras' government. The rebels fled to the mountains of eastern Guatemala and neighboring Honduras and formed MR-13 (Movimiento Revolucionario 13 Noviembre). On 6 February 1962, in Bananera, they attacked the offices of the United Fruit Company. The attack sparked sympathetic strikes and university student walkouts throughout the country, to which the government responded with a violent crackdown.^[116]

In 1963, Ydígoras, despite the firm opposition of the

The 1970s saw the rise of two new guerrilla organizations, the Guerrilla Army of the Poor (EGP) and the Organization of the People in Arms (ORPA). They began guerrilla attacks that included urban and rural warfare, mainly against the military and some civilian supporters of the army. The army and the paramilitary forces responded with a brutal counter-insurgency campaign that resulted in tens of thousands of civilian deaths.[120] In 1979, US President Jimmy Carter, who had until then been providing public support for the government forces, ordered a ban on all military aid to the Guatemalan Army because of its widespread and systematic abuse of human rights.^[97] However, documents have since come to light that suggest that American aid continued throughout the Carter years, through clandestine channels.^[121]

On 31 January 1980, a group of indigenous

In 1982, the four guerrilla groups, EGP, ORPA, FAR and PGT, merged and formed the URNG, influenced by the Salvadoran guerrilla FMLN, the Nicaraguan FSLN and Cuba's government, in order to become stronger. As a result of the Army's "scorched earth" tactics in the countryside, more than 45,000 Guatemalans fled across the border to Mexico. The Mexican government placed the refugees in camps in Chiapas and Tabasco.

In 1992, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Rigoberta Menchú for her efforts to bring international attention to the government-sponsored genocide against the indigenous population.^[125]

1996–2000

The

During the first ten years of the civil war, 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 Maya farmers and non-combatants. More than 450 Maya villages were destroyed and over 1 million people became refugees or displaced within Guatemala.

In 1995, the Catholic Archdiocese of Guatemala began the Recovery of Historical Memory (REMHI) project,^[128] known in Spanish as "El Proyecto de la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica", to collect the facts and history of Guatemala's long civil war and confront the truth of those years. On 24 April 1998, REMHI presented the results of its work in the report "Guatemala: Nunca Más!". This report summarized testimony and statements of thousands of witnesses and victims of repression during the Civil War. "The report laid the blame for 80 per cent of the atrocities at the door of the Guatemalan Army and its collaborators within the social and political elite."^[129]

Catholic Bishop Juan José Gerardi Conedera worked on the Recovery of Historical Memory Project and two days after he announced the release of its report on victims of the Guatemalan Civil War, "Guatemala: Nunca Más!", in April 1998, Bishop Gerardi was attacked in his garage and beaten to death.^[129] In 2001, in the first trial in a civilian court of members of the military in Guatemalan history, three Army officers were convicted of his death and sentenced to 30 years in prison. A priest was convicted as an accomplice and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.^[130]

According to the report, Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica (REMHI), some 200,000 people died. More than one million people were forced to flee their homes and hundreds of villages were destroyed. The Historical Clarification Commission attributed more than 93% of all documented violations of human rights to Guatemala's military government, and estimated that Maya Indians accounted for 83% of the victims. It concluded in 1999 that state actions constituted genocide.^[131][132]

In some areas such as

Since the peace accords Guatemala has had both economic growth and successive democratic elections, most recently in 2019. In the 2019 elections, Alejandro Giammattei won the presidency. He assumed office in January 2020.

In January 2012 Efrain Rios Montt, the former dictator of Guatemala, appeared in a Guatemalan court on genocide charges. During the hearing, the government presented evidence of over 100 incidents involving at least 1,771 deaths, 1,445 rapes, and the displacement of nearly 30,000 Guatemalans during his 17-month rule from 1982 to 1983. The prosecution wanted him incarcerated because he was viewed as a flight risk but he remained free on bail, under house arrest and guarded by the Guatemalan National Civil Police (PNC). On 10 May 2013, Rios Montt was found guilty and sentenced to 80 years in prison. It marked the first time that a national court had found a former head of state guilty of genocide.^[134] The conviction was later overturned, and Montt's trial resumed in January 2015.^[135] In August 2015, a Guatemalan court ruled that Rios Montt could stand trial for genocide and crimes against humanity, but that he could not be sentenced due to his age and deteriorating health.^[136]

Ex-President

Retired general

Officials received bribes from importers in exchange for discounted import tariffs,

A Facebook event using the hashtag #RenunciaYa (Resign Now) invited citizens to go downtown in Guatemala City to ask for Baldetti's resignation. Within days, over 10,000 people RSVPed that they would attend. Organizers made clear that no political party or group was behind the event, and instructed protesters at the event to follow the law. They also urged people to bring water, food and sunblock, but not to cover their faces or wear political party colors.^[146] Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Guatemala City. They protested in front of the presidential palace. Baldetti resigned a few days later. She was forced to remain in Guatemala when the United States revoked her visa. The Guatemalan government arraigned her, since it had enough evidence to suspect her involvement in the "La Linea" scandal. The prominence of US Ambassador Todd Robinson in the Guatemalan political scene once the scandal broke led to the suspicion that the US government was behind the investigation, perhaps because it needed an honest government in Guatemala to counter the presence of China and Russia in the region.^[147]

The UN anti-corruption committee has reported on other cases since then, and more than 20 government officials have stepped down. Some were arrested. Two of those cases involved two former presidential private secretaries: Juan de Dios Rodríguez in the Guatemalan Social Service and Gustave Martínez, who was involved in a bribery scandal at the coal power plant company. Jaguar Energy [es] Martínez was also Perez Molina's son-in-law.^[148]

Leaders of the political opposition have also been implicated in CICIG investigations: several legislators and members of Libertad Democrática Renovada party (LIDER) were formally accused of bribery-related issues, prompting a large decline in the electoral prospects of its presidential candidate, Manuel Baldizón, who until April had been almost certain to become the next Guatemalan president in the 6 September 2015 presidential elections. Baldizón's popularity steeply declined and he filed accusations with the Organization of American States against CICIG leader Iván Velásquez of international obstruction in Guatemalan internal affairs.^[149]

CICIG reported its cases so often on Thursdays that Guatemalans coined the term "CICIG Thursdays". But a Friday press conference brought the crisis to its peak: on Friday 21 August 2015, the CICIG and Attorney General Thelma Aldana presented enough evidence to convince the public that both President Pérez Molina and former vice President Baldetti were the actual leaders of "La Línea". Baldetti was arrested the same day and an impeachment was requested for the president. Several cabinet members resigned and the clamor for the president's resignation grew after Perez Molina defiantly assured the nation in a televised message broadcast on 23 August 2015 that he was not going to resign.^[150][151]

Thousands of protesters took to the streets again, this time to demand the increasingly isolated president's resignation. Guatemala's Congress named a commission of five legislators to consider whether to remove the president's immunity from prosecution. The Supreme Court approved. A major day of action kicked off early on 27 August, with marches and roadblocks across the country. Urban groups who had spearheaded regular protests since the scandal broke in April, on the 27th sought to unite with the rural and indigenous organizations who orchestrated the road blocks.

The strike in Guatemala City was full of a diverse and peaceful crowd ranging from the indigenous poor to the well-heeled, and it included many students from public and private universities. Hundreds of schools and businesses closed in support of the protests. The Comité Coordinador de Asociaciones Agrícolas, Comerciales, Industriales y Financieras (CACIF) Guatemala's most powerful business leaders, issued a statement demanding that Pérez Molina step down, and urged Congress to withdraw his immunity from prosecution.^[152]

The attorney general's office released its own statement, calling for the president's resignation "to prevent ungovernability that could destabilize the nation." As pressure mounted, the president's former ministers of defense and of the interior, who had been named in the corruption investigation and resigned, abruptly left the country.^[153] Pérez Molina meanwhile had been losing support by the day. The private sector called for his resignation; however, he also managed to get support from entrepreneurs that were not affiliated with the private sector chambers: Mario López Estrada – grandchild of former dictator Manuel Estrada Cabrera and the billionaire owner of cellular phone companies – had some of his executives assume the vacated cabinet positions.^[154]

The Guatemalan radio station Emisoras Unidas reported exchanging text messages with Perez Molina. Asked whether he planned to resign, he wrote: "I will face whatever is necessary to face, and what the law requires." Some protesters demanded the general election be postponed, both because of the crisis and because it was plagued with accusations of irregularities. Others warned that suspending the vote could lead to an institutional vacuum.

In June 2016 a United Nations-backed prosecutor described the administration of Pérez Molina as a crime syndicate and outlined another corruption case, this one dubbed Cooperacha (Kick-in). The head of the Social Security Institute and at least five other ministers pooled funds to buy Molina luxurious gifts such as motorboats, spending over $4.7 million in three years.[160]

Jimmy Morales and Alejandro Giammattei in power (2016–2024)

In the October 2015 presidential election, former TV comedian Jimmy Morales was elected as the new president of Guatemala after huge anti-corruption demonstrations. He took office in January 2016.^[161]

In December 2017, President Morales announced that Guatemala will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, becoming the first nation to follow the United States.^[162]

In January 2020, Alejandro Giammattei replaced Jimmy Morales as the president of Guatemala. Giammattei had won the presidential election in August 2019 with his "tough-on-crime" agenda.^[163]

In November 2020, large protests and demonstrations occurred in Guatemala against President Alejandro Giammattei and the legislature, because of cutting educational and health spending.^[164]

In August 2023,

Minutes after midnight, he was finally sworn in as Guatemala's president on January 15.[169] His campaign promotes anti-corruption and economic opportunities for Guatemalans.^[170] In his first few days in office, Arévalo reversed a government agreement signed by his predecessor that would have granted security and vehicles to former officials from the Giammattei cabinet for six years.^[171][172]

On 8 February 2024, Arévalo and Francisco Jiménez, the Minister of the Interior, announced the creation of the Special Group Against Extortion (GECE), a special force within the National Civil Police (PNC) aimed at combatting violent crime and extortions.^[173] The GECE will consist of 400 motorized officers who will patrol different regions of the country in phases. At the request of Arévalo, the United States government donated equipment to support the new task force.^[174]

On 7 April 2024, Arévalo dismissed Minister of Environment María José Iturbide. His decision came after a report was published by Vox Populi on 4 April, which revealed that María Fernanda Iturbide, daughter of Minister Iturbide, had used state vehicles for personal activities.^[175] On 11 April 2024, Arévalo appointed Patricia Orantes as Iturbide's replacement.^[176]

Geography

Petén

department. Two mountain chains enter Guatemala from west to east, dividing Guatemala into three major regions: the highlands, where the mountains are located; the Pacific coast, south of the mountains and the Petén region, north of the mountains.

All major cities are located in the highlands and Pacific coast regions; by comparison, Petén is sparsely populated. These three regions vary in climate, elevation, and landscape, providing dramatic contrasts between hot, humid tropical lowlands and colder, drier highland peaks. Volcán Tajumulco, at 4,220 metres (13,850 feet), is the highest point in the Central American countries.

The rivers are short and shallow in the Pacific drainage basin, larger and deeper in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico drainage basins. These rivers include the Polochic and Dulce Rivers, which drain into Lake Izabal, the Motagua River, the Sarstún, which forms the boundary with Belize, and the Usumacinta River, which forms the boundary between Petén and Chiapas, Mexico.

Natural disasters

For the 2018 volcanic eruption, see 2018 Volcán de Fuego eruption.

Guatemala's location between the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean makes it a target for hurricanes such as

flooding and resulting mudslides. The most recent was Hurricane Eta in November 2020, which was responsible for more than 100 people missing or killed with the final tally still uncertain.^[177]

Guatemala's highlands lie along the

Santiaguito, Fuego, and Tacaná

.

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 1541 and earthquakes in 1773.

Biodiversity

Main article:

Biodiversity of Guatemala

Guatemala has 14 ecoregions ranging from mangrove forests to both ocean littorals with 5 different ecosystems. Guatemala has 252 listed wetlands, including five lakes, 61 lagoons, 100 rivers, and four swamps.[178] Tikal National Park was the first mixed UNESCO World Heritage Site. Guatemala is a country of distinct fauna. It has some 1246 known species. Of these, 6.7% are endemic and 8.1% are threatened. Guatemala is home to at least 8,682 species of vascular plants, of which 13.5% are endemic. 5.4% of Guatemala is protected under IUCN categories I-V.^{[citation needed]}

The

Bosawas. Guatemala had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 3.85/10, ranking it 138th globally out of 172 countries.^[180]

Government and politics

Political system

Main article: Politics of Guatemala

Guatemala is a constitutional democratic republic whereby the

Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Congress of the Republic. The judiciary

is independent of the executive and the legislature.

On 2 September 2015,

a corruption scandal and was replaced by Alejandro Maldonado until January 2016.^[181] Congress appointed former Universidad de San Carlos President Alfonso Fuentes Soria as the new vice president to replace Maldonado.^[182]

Jimmy Morales assumed office on 14 January 2016.^[161] In January 2020, he was succeeded by Alejandro Giammattei.^[163]

sociologist, writer, and politician, and a member and co-founder of the Semilla party, is now serving as the 52nd president of Guatemala

.

Foreign relations

Further information: Foreign relations of Guatemala

Guatemala has long claimed all or part of the territory of neighboring Belize. Owing to this territorial dispute, Guatemala did not recognize Belize's independence until 6 September 1991,^[184] but the dispute is not resolved. Negotiations are currently under way under the auspices of the Organization of American States to conclude it.^[185][186]

Military

Further information:

Military of Guatemala

Guatemala has a modest military, with between 15,000 and 20,000 personnel.^[187]

In 2017, Guatemala signed the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.^[188]

Administrative divisions

Main articles: Departments of Guatemala and Municipalities of Guatemala

Guatemala is divided into 22

departments (Spanish: departamentos) and sub-divided into about 335 municipalities (Spanish: municipios).^[189]

Human rights

See also: Human rights in Guatemala, Violence against women in Guatemala, and Guatemalan Civil War

Killings and

Inter-American Court condemned the 18 July 1982 massacre of 188 Achi-Maya in Plan de Sanchez, and for the first time in its history, ruled the Guatemalan Army had committed genocide. It was the first ruling by the court against the Guatemalan state for any of the 626 massacres reported in its 1980s scorched-earth campaign.^[191] In those massacres, 83 percent of the victims were Maya and 17 percent Ladino.^[191]

Extra-Judicial Killings in Guatemala
2010	5,072
2011	279
2012	439
source: Center for Legal Action in Human Rights (CALDH)[190]

In 2008, Guatemala became the first country to officially recognize femicide, the murder of a female because of her sex, as a crime.^[192] Guatemala has the third-highest femicide rate in the world, after El Salvador and Jamaica, with around 9.1 murders for every 100,000 women from 2007 to 2012.^[192]

Economy

Main article: Economy of Guatemala

Guatemala is the largest economy in Central America, with a GDP (PPP) per capita of US$5,200. However, Guatemala faces many social problems and is one of the poorest countries in Latin America. The income distribution is highly unequal with more than half of the population below the national poverty line and just over 400,000 (3.2%) unemployed. The CIA World Fact Book considers 54.0% of the population of Guatemala to be living in poverty in 2009.^[193][194]

In 2010, the Guatemalan economy grew by 3%, recovering gradually from the 2009 crisis, as a result of the falling demands from the United States and other

global recession.^[195]

Remittances from Guatemalans living in United States now constitute the largest single source of foreign income (two-thirds of exports and one tenth of GDP).^[193]

Some of Guatemala's main exports are fruits, vegetables, flowers, handicrafts, cloths and others. It is a leading exporter of cardamom^[196] and coffee.^[197]

In the face of a rising demand for

sugar cane and palm oil. Critics say that this development leads to higher prices for staple foods like corn, a major ingredient in the Guatemalan diet. As a consequence of the subsidization of US American corn, Guatemala imports nearly half of its corn from the United States that is using 40 percent of its crop harvest for biofuel production.^[198] In 2014, the government was considering ways to legalize poppy and marijuana production, hoping to tax production and use tax revenues to fund drug prevention programs and other social projects.^[199]

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in purchasing power parity (PPP) in 2010 was estimated at US$70.15 billion. The service sector is the largest component of GDP at 63%, followed by the industry sector at 23.8% and the agriculture sector at 13.2% (2010 est.). Mines produce gold, silver, zinc, cobalt and nickel.^[200] 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 3.9% in 2010.

The 1996 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 thanks to the new foreign investment.

In March 2006, Guatemala's congress ratified the Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) between several Central American nations and the US.^[201] Guatemala also has free trade agreements with Taiwan and Colombia. Guatemala was ranked 122nd in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.^[202]

Tourism

Main article: Tourism in Guatemala

Tourism has become one of the main drivers of the economy, with tourism estimated at $1.8 billion to the economy in 2008. Guatemala receives around two million tourists annually. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of cruise ships visiting Guatemalan seaports, leading to higher tourist numbers. Tourist destinations include Maya archaeological sites (e.g. Tikal in the Peten, Quiriguá in Izabal, Iximche in Chimaltenango and Guatemala City), natural attractions (e.g. Lake Atitlán and Semuc Champey) and historical sites such as the colonial city of Antigua Guatemala, which is recognized as a UNESCO Cultural Heritage site.

Demographics

Main articles:

List of cities in Guatemala

Tz'utujil men in Santiago Atitlán

Guatemala has a population of 17,608,483 (2021 est).[13]^[14] With only 885,000 in 1900, this constitutes the fastest population growth in the Western Hemisphere during the 20th century.^[204] The Republic of Guatemala's first census was taken in 1778.^[205] The census records for 1778, 1880, 1893 and 1921 were used as scrap paper and no longer exist, although their statistical information was preserved.^[206] Censuses have not been taken at regular intervals. The 1837 census was discredited at the time; statistician Don Jose de la Valle made a calculation that in 1837 the population of Guatemala was 600,000.^[205] The 1940 census was burned.^[207][206] Data from the remaining censuses is in the Historical Population table below.

Historical Population

Census	Population
1778	430,859[205]
1825	507,126[205]
1837	490,787[205]
1852	787,000[205]
1880	1,224,602[208]
1893	1,364,678[209]
1914	2,183,166[207]
1921	2,004,900[207]
1950	2,870,272[207]
1964	4,287,997[210]
1973	5,160,221[210]
1981	6,054,227[210]
1994	8,321,067[210]
2002	11,183,388[211]
2018	14,901,286[2]

Guatemala is heavily centralized: transportation, communications, business, politics, and the most relevant urban activity takes place in the capital of Guatemala City,^{[citation needed]} whose urban area has a population of almost 3 million.^[193]

The estimated median age in Guatemala is 20 years old, 19.4 for males and 20.7 years for females.^[193] Guatemala is demographically one of the youngest countries in the Western Hemisphere, comparable to most of central Africa and Iraq. The proportion of the population below the age of 15 in 2010 was 41.5%, 54.1% were aged between 15 and 65 years of age, and 4.4% were aged 65 years or older.^[203]

Diaspora

A significant number of Guatemalans live outside of their country. The majority of the Guatemalan diaspora is located in the United States of America, with estimates ranging from 480,665^[212] to 1,489,426.^[213] Emigration to the United States has led to the growth of Guatemalan communities in California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Texas, Rhode Island and elsewhere since the 1970s.^[214] However, as of July 2019, the United States and Guatemala signed a deal to restrict migration and asylum seekers from Guatemala.^[215]

Below are estimates of the number of Guatemalans living abroad for certain countries:

Country	2019
United States	1,070,743
Mexico	44,178
Belize	25,086
Canada	18,398
El Salvador	9,005
Spain	7,678
Honduras	4,681
France	3,296
Costa Rica	2,699
Italy	2,299
Total	1,205,644
Source:DatosMacro.[216]

Ethnic groups

Main article: Demographics of Guatemala § Ethnic groups

Ethnic groups in Guatemala (2018 Census)[2]
Ethnic groups			percent
Ladino			56.01%
Maya			41.66%
Xinca			1.77%
Afro-Guatemalan			0.19%
Garífuna			0.13%
Foreign			0.24%

Guatemala is populated by a variety of ethnic, cultural, racial, and linguistic groups. According to the 2018 Census conducted by the

Q'eqchi (8.3%), Kaqchikel (7.8%), Mam (5.2%), and "other Maya" (7.6%). 2% of the national population is indigenous non-Maya. 1.8% of the population is Xinca (mesoamerican), and 0.1% of the population is Garifuna (African/Carib mix).^[217]

"However, indigenous rights activists put the indigenous figure closer to 61 per cent." [218]

White Guatemalans of European descent, also called Criollo, are not differentiated from Ladinos (mixed-race) individuals in the Guatemalan census.^[217] Most are descendants of German and Spanish settlers, and others derive from Italians, British, French, Swiss, Belgians, Dutch, Russians and Danes. German settlers are credited with bringing the tradition of Christmas trees to Guatemala.^[219]

The population includes about 110,000 Salvadorans. The

Syrian descent.^[220]

Languages

Main article: Languages of Guatemala

Languages in Guatemala
Languages			percent
Spanish			69.9%
Mayan languages			29.6%
English			0.1%
Other			0.2%
None			0.1%

Guatemala's sole official language is Spanish.

Twenty-one

Arawakan language spoken on the Caribbean coast. According to the Language Law of 2003, these languages are recognized as national languages.^[221]

Indigenous integration and bilingual education

Throughout the 20th century there have been many developments in the integration of

Castellanizacion

Program and the Radiophonic Schools, to accelerate the move of Mayan students to Spanish. Unintentionally, the efforts to integrate the indigenous using language, especially the new alphabet, gave institutions tools to use Mayan tongues in schools, and while improving Mayan children's learning, they left them unequipped to learn in a solely Spanish environment. So, an additional expansion of bilingual education took place in 1980, when an experimental program in which children were to be instructed in their mother tongue until they are fluent enough in Spanish was created. The program proved successful when the students of the pilot showed higher academic achievements than the ones in the Spanish-only control schools. In 1987, when the pilot was to finish, bilingual education was made official in Guatemala.

Religion

Main article: Religion in Guatemala

Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, continued to register at more than 2 percent of the population.^[223]

Since the 1960s, and particularly during the 1980s, Guatemala has experienced the rapid growth of Protestantism, especially evangelical varieties. Guatemala has been described as the most heavily evangelical nation in Latin America,[224] with multitudes of unregistered churches,^[225] although Brazil^[226] or Honduras may be as heavily evangelical as Guatemala.

Over the past two decades, particularly since the end of the civil war, Guatemala has seen heightened missionary activity. Protestant denominations have grown markedly in recent decades, chiefly

Pentecostal varieties; growth is particularly strong among the ethnic Maya population, with the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala maintaining 11 indigenous-language presbyteries. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has grown from 40,000 members in 1984 to 164,000 in 1998, and continues to expand.^[227][228]

The growth of

better source needed] giving the country the highest proportion of Orthodox adherents in the Western Hemisphere.^{[citation needed}

]

Traditional Maya religion persists through the process of inculturation, in which certain practices are incorporated into Catholic ceremonies and worship when they are sympathetic to the meaning of Catholic belief.^[232][233] Indigenous religious practices are increasing as a result of the cultural protections established under the peace accords.^{[citation needed]} The government has instituted a policy of providing altars at every Maya ruin to facilitate traditional ceremonies.

Immigration

Main article: Immigration to Guatemala

During the colonial era Guatemala received immigrants (settlers) only from Spain. Subsequently, Guatemala received waves of immigration from Europe in the mid 19th century and early 20th century.^[

Baja Verapaz and Izabal

. To a lesser extent people also arrived from Spain, France, Belgium, England, Italy, Sweden, and others.

Many European immigrants to Guatemala were politicians, refugees, and entrepreneurs as well as families looking to settle. Up to 1950 Guatemala was the Central American country that received the most immigrants, behind

Jewish immigration.^{[citation needed}

]

During the second half of the twentieth century, Latin American immigration increased in Guatemala, particularly from other

Central American countries, Mexico, Cuba, and Argentina, although most of these immigrants stayed only temporarily before going to their final destinations in the United States.^{[citation needed}

]

Country	2019
El Salvador	19,704
Mexico	18,003
United States	8,871
Nicaragua	8,787
Honduras	8,608
South Korea	1,833
Spain	1,354
Costa Rica	1,192
Colombia	1,186
Belize	904
Total	80,421
Source:DatosMacro.[234]

Health

Main article: Health in Guatemala

Guatemala has among the worst health outcomes in Latin America with some of the highest infant mortality rates, and one of the lowest life expectancies at birth in the region.^[235] With about 16,000 doctors for its 16 million people, Guatemala has about half the doctor-citizen ratio recommended by the WHO.^[236] Since the end of the Guatemalan Civil War in 1997, the Ministry of Health has extended healthcare access to 54% of the rural population.^[237]

Healthcare has received different levels of support from different political administrations who disagree on how best to manage distribution of services – via a private or a public entity – and the scale of financing that should be made available.^[237] As of 2013^[update], the Ministry of Health lacked the financial means to monitor or evaluate its programs.^[237]

Total healthcare spending, both public and private, has remained constant at between 6.4 and 7.3% of the GDP.^[238][239] Per-capita average annual healthcare spending was only $368 in 2012.^[239] Guatemalan patients choose between indigenous treatments or Western medicine when they engage with the health system.^[240]

Education

Main article: Education in Guatemala

Education in Guatemala is for the most part provided publicly, funded, and overseen by the central government. The Ministry of Education is responsible for the formulation, implementation, and supervision of national educational policy and curriculum. Education is divided into a five-tier system which includes primary education, followed by secondary education, and tertiary education, depending on the level of technical training. Education is instructed in Spanish, though a bilingual education in Amerindian languages is available in regions with predominantly indigenous populations.^[241] Guatemala has a total of fifteen universities; one public and fourteen private. Established in 1676, Universidad de San Carlos is the oldest post-secondary institution in Guatemala and the fourth oldest in the Americas.^[242]

Guatemala spends about 3.2 percent of its GDP on education.^[243] However, youth participation has been an ongoing challenge—particularly in rural areas and indigenous communities.^[244] Lack of training for rural teachers is one of the key contributors to Guatemala's low literacy rates. Nevertheless, significant strides in education have made literacy rates among the population aged 15 and above increase from 74.5% in 2012 to 83.3% in 2021.^[245][246] Organizations such as Child Aid, Pueblo a Pueblo, and Common Hope, which train teachers in communities throughout the Central Highlands region, have also worked to improve educational outcomes for children.

Largest cities

Largest cities or towns in Guatemala According to the 2018 Census[247]
	Rank	Name	Department	Pop.
Guatemala City Mixco	1	Guatemala City	Guatemala	923,392	Villa Nueva Cobán
	2	Mixco	Guatemala	463,019
	3	Villa Nueva	Guatemala	426,316
	4	Cobán	Alta Verapaz	212,047
	5	Quetzaltenango	Quetzaltenango	180,706
	6	Jalapa	Jalapa	159,840
	7	Escuintla	Escuintla	156,313
	8	San Juan Sacatepéquez	Guatemala	155,965
	9	Jutiapa	Jutiapa	145,880
	10	Petapa	Guatemala	129,124

Culture

Main article: Culture of Guatemala

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. It also boasts private museums such as the Ixchel Museum of Indigenous Textiles and Clothing and the Museo Popol Vuh, which focuses on Maya archaeology. Both these museums are housed on the Universidad Francisco Marroquín campus. Most of the 329 municipalities in the country have at least a small museum.

Art

Guatemala has produced many indigenous artists who follow centuries-old Pre-Columbian traditions. 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 primitivist or naive aesthetic with European, North American, and other traditions.

The Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas "Rafael Rodríguez Padilla" is Guatemala's leading art school, and several leading indigenous artists, also graduates of that school, have work in the permanent collection of the Museo Nacional de Arte Moderno in the capital city. Contemporary Guatemalan artists who have gained reputations outside of Guatemala include Dagoberto Vásquez, Luis Rolando Ixquiac Xicara, Carlos Mérida,^[248] Aníbal López, Roberto González Goyri, and Elmar René Rojas.^[249]

Literature

Further information: Guatemalan literature

• 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 Ministry of Culture and Sports.
• Miguel Ángel Asturias won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1967. Among his famous books is El Señor Presidente, a novel based on the government of Manuel Estrada Cabrera.
• Rigoberta Menchú, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for fighting oppression of indigenous people in Guatemala, is famous for her books I, Rigoberta Menchú^[250] and Crossing Borders.^[251]

Cinema

The Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamante has gained an international audience with his films focused on Guatemalan contemporary society and politics : Ixcanul in 2015, and Temblores and La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) in 2019.

Media and news

Further information:

Media of Guatemala

Major national newspapers in Guatemala include Prensa Libre, El Periodico and Siglo21.^[252][253] Guatemala also has a few major local channels and radio stations, such as one of Guatemala's major radio stations, Emisoras Unidas.

Music

Further information: Music of Guatemala

Guatemalan music comprises a number of styles and expressions. Guatemalan social change has been empowered by music such as

nueva cancion, which blends together histories, present-day issues, and the political values and struggles of common people. The Maya had an intense musical practice, as documented by their iconography.^[254][255] Guatemala was also one of the first regions in the New World to be introduced to European music, from 1524 on. Many composers from the Renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporary music styles have contributed works of all genres. The marimba, which is like a wooden xylophone,^[256] is the national instrument and its music is widely found in Guatemala.^[257]

It 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 compiling the historical music of Guatemala, in which every style is represented, from the Maya, colonial, independent and republican eras to the present. Many contemporary music groups in Guatemala play

Caribbean music, salsa, Garifuna-influenced punta, Latin pop, Mexican regional, and mariachi

.

Cuisine

Main article: Guatemalan cuisine

Many traditional foods in Guatemalan cuisine are based on Mayan cuisine and prominently feature

antojitos, which include small tamales called "chuchitos", fried plantains, and tostadas with tomato sauce, guacamole or black beans. Certain foods are also commonly eaten on certain days of the week; for example, a popular custom is to eat paches (a kind of tamale made from potatoes) on Thursday. Certain dishes are also associated with special occasions, such as fiambre for All Saints' Day on 1 November, or tamales and ponche (fruit punch

), which are both very common around Christmas.

Sports

Main article:

Sport in Guatemala

Football

Main article: Football in Guatemala

Football is the most popular sport in Guatemala and its national team has appeared in 18 editions of the CONCACAF Championship, winning it once, in 1967. However, the team has yet to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. Established in 1919, the National Football Federation of Guatemala organizes the country's national league and its lower-level competitions.

Futsal

Futsal is the most successful team sport in Guatemala. Its national team won the 2008 CONCACAF Futsal Championship as hosts. It was also the runner-up in 2012 as hosts and won the bronze medal in 2016.

Guatemala participated for the first time in the

2000, as hosts, and has played in every competition from 2008 onwards. It has never passed the first round. It has also participated in every Grand Prix de Futsal since 2009, reaching the semifinals in 2014

.

Olympics

Further information: Guatemala at the Olympics and Guatemala at the Paralympics

The

Winter Olympics edition, in 1988

.

Erick Barrondo won the only Olympic medal for Guatemala so far, silver in race walking at the 2012 Summer Olympics

.

Other sports

Guatemala also keeps

national sports teams in several disciplines such as basketball, beach volleyball^[258] or teqball.^[259]

See also

• Index of Guatemala-related articles
• Outline of Guatemala

Notes

1. ^ /ˌɡwɑːtəˈmɑːlə/ ^ⓘ GWAH-tə-MAH-lə; Spanish: [ɡwateˈmala] ^ⓘ
2. ^ República de Guatemala

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• LaFeber, Walter (1993). Inevitable revolutions: the United States in Central America. W. W. Norton & Company.
  ISBN 978-0-393-30964-5
  .
• Loveman, Brian; Davies, Thomas M. (1997). The Politics of antipolitics: the military in Latin America (3rd, revised ed.). Rowman & Littlefield.
  ISBN 978-0-8420-2611-6
  .
• McCleary, Rachel (1999). Dictating Democracy: Guatemala and the End of Violent Revolution (Illustrated ed.). University Press of Florida.
  ISBN 978-0-8130-1726-6
  .
• Miceli, Keith (1974). "Rafael Carrera: Defender and Promoter of Peasant Interests in Guatemala, 1837–1848". The Americas. 31 (1). Academy of American Franciscan History: 72–95.
  S2CID 197669388
  .
• Navarro, Mireya (26 February 1999). "Guatemalan Army Waged 'Genocide,' New Report Finds". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
• Paterson, Thomas G. (2009). American Foreign Relations: A History, Volume 2: Since 1895. Cengage Learning.
  ISBN 978-0-547-22569-2
  .
• Rain Forest Wordpress (4 April 2013). "Guatemala Rainforest Interesting fact | rainforest facts". Rainforestcentralamerica.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
• Schlesinger, Stephen; Kinzer, Stephen (1999). Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala. David Rockefeller Center series on Latin American studies, Harvard University.
  ISBN 978-0-674-01930-0
  .
• Shillington, John (2002). Grappling with atrocity: Guatemalan theater in the 1990s. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. pp. 38–39.
  ISBN 9780838639306. Archived
  from the original on 21 October 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
• Solano, Luis (2012). Contextualización histórica de la Franja Transversal del Norte (FTN) (PDF). Centro de Estudios y Documentación de la Frontera Occidental de Guatemala, CEDFOG. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
• Streeter, Stephen M. (2000). Managing the counterrevolution: the United States and Guatemala, 1954–1961. Ohio University Press.
  ISBN 978-0-89680-215-5
  .
• Torres Espinoza, Enrique (2007). Enrique Gómez Carrillo, el cronista errante (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). Guatemala: Artemis-Edinter.
• Trigger, Bruce G.; Washburn, Wilcomb E.; Adams, Richard E. W. (2000). The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas.
• Troika study abroad programs (2006). "Guatemala". Community colleges for international development. Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
• "Human Development Report 2011; Statistical annex" (PDF). United Nations. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
• Weaver, Frederic S. (March 1999). "Reform and (Counter) Revolution in Post-Independence Guatemala: Liberalism, Conservatism, and Postmodern Controversies". Latin American Perspectives. 26 (2): 129–158.
  S2CID 143757705
  .
• White, Douglas R. (2002). The Marriage Core of the Elite Network of Colonial Guatemala (PDF). Irvine, CA: University of California, Irvine, School of Social Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 December 2004.
• Woodward, Ralph Lee (1993). Rafael Carrera and the Emergence of the Republic of Guatemala, 1821–1871. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.
  ISBN 978-0-8203-1448-8. Archived
  from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2015.

Further reading

• Gómez Carrillo, Enrique (1898). "Interview from Enrique Gómez Carrillo with His Excellency, President Manuel Estrada Cabrera". Diario de Centro América (in Spanish). Guatemala.
• Garcia Ferreira, Roberto (2008). "The CIA and Jacobo Arbenz: The story of a disinformation campaign". Journal of Third World Studies. XXV (2). United States: 59. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
• Koeppel, Dan (2008). Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World. New York: Hudson Street Press. p. 153.
  ISBN 9781101213919
  .
• Krehm, William (1999). Democracies and Tyrannies of the Caribbean in the 1940s. COMER Publications.
  ISBN 978-1-896266-81-7
  .
• Marroquín Rojas, Clemente (1971). Francisco Morazán y Rafael Carrera (in Spanish). Guatemala: Piedrasanta.
• Martínez Peláez, Severo (1988). Racismo y Análisis Histórico de la Definición del Indio Guatemalteco (in Spanish). Guatemala: Universitaria.
• Martínez Peláez, Severo (1990). La patria del criollo; ensayo de interpretación de la realidad colonial guatemalteca (in Spanish). México: Ediciones en Marcha.
• McCreery, David (1994). Rural Guatemala, 1760–1940. Stanford University Press.
  ISBN 978-0-8047-2318-3
  .
• Medina, José Toribio. La imprenta en Guatemala (1660-1821) por José Toribio Medina. Chile: Impreso en casa del autor, 1910, 1910.
• Mendoza, Juan Manuel (1946). Biografía de Enrique Gómez Carrillo: su vida, su obra y su época (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). Guatemala: Tipografía Nacional.
• Montenegro, Gustavo Adolfo (2005). "Yo, el Supremo". Revista Domigo de Prensa Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
• Montúfar, Lorenzo; Salazar, Ramón A. (1892). El centenario del general Francisco Morazán (in Spanish). Guatemala: Tipografía Nacional.
• Rabe, Stephen G. (1988). Eisenhower and Latin America: The Foreign Policy of Anticommunism. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
  ISBN 978-0-8078-4204-1
  .
• Rosa, Ramón (1974). Historia del Benemérito Gral. Don Francisco Morazán, ex Presidente de la República de Centroamérica (in Spanish). Tegucigalpa: Ministerio de Educación Pública, Ediciones Técnicas Centroamericana. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
• Rugeley, Terry (1996). Yucatan's Maya Peasantry and the Origins of the Caste War. San Antonio, TX: University of Texas.
  ISBN 978-0-292-77078-2
  .
• Rugeley, Terry (2001). Maya Wars: Ethnographic Accounts from Nineteenth Century Yucatan. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
  ISBN 978-0-8061-3355-3
  .
• Sabino, Carlos (2007). Guatemala, la historia silenciada (1944–1989) (in Spanish). Vol. Tomo 1: Revolución y Liberación. Guatemala: Fondo Nacional para la Cultura Económica.
• Stephens, John Lloyd; Catherwood, Frederick (1854). Incidents of travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. London, England: Arthur Hall, Virtue and Co.
• Striffler, Steve; Moberg, Mark (2003). Banana wars: power, production, and history in the Americas. Duke University Press.
  ISBN 978-0-8223-3196-4
  .
• Taracena, Arturo (2011). Invención criolla, sueño ladino, pesadilla indigena, Los Altos de Guatemala: de región a Estado, 1740–1871 (in Spanish) (3rd ed.). Guatemala: Biblioteca básica de historia de Guatemala.
  ISBN 978-9929-587-42-7. Archived from the original
  on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
• Vanden, Harry E.; Prevost, Gary, eds. (2002). "Chapter Ten: Guatemala". Politics of Latin America: The Power Game. Oxford University Press.
  ISBN 0-19-512317-4
  .

External links

• Guatemala After the War 1996–2000, photographs by Jorge Uzon (archived 17 January 2013)
• Guatemala Map Search with Longitude and Latitude (archived 9 March 2018)
• Guatemala – Country Article – Encyclopædia Britannica
• Government of Guatemala (in Spanish) (archived 14 August 2009)
• Chief of State and Cabinet Members (archived 10 December 2008)
• Guatemala. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
• Guatemala at UCB Libraries GovPubs (archived 7 June 2008)
• Guatemala at
  Curlie
• Guatemala profile from the BBC News.
• Wikimedia Atlas of Guatemala
• Key Development Forecasts for Guatemala from International Futures.
• The National Security Archive: Guatemala Project
• Guatemala Tourism Commission
• World Bank Summary Trade Statistics Guatemala

15°30′N 90°15′W / 15.500°N 90.250°W / 15.500; -90.250