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Guatemala Travel and Destination Guide
CULTURE
Pre 20th Century History
Fishing and farming villages emerged on Guatemala's Pacific coast as early as 2000 BC. They were the forerunners of the great Mayan civilization which dominated Central America for centuries, leaving an enigmatic legacy of hilltop ruins. By AD 250, the Early Classic period, great temple cities were being built in the Guatemalan highlands. By the Late Classic period (AD 600-900), however, the center of power had moved to the El Petén lowlands. Following the mysterious collapse of the Mayan civilization, the Itzaes also settled in El Petén, particularly around the present-day site of Flores.
When Pedro de Alvarado came to conquer Guatemala for the king of Spain in 1523, he found the faded remnants of the Mayan civilization and an assortment of warring tribes. The remaining highland kingdoms of the Quiché and Cakchiquel Maya were soon crushed by Alvarado's armies. Their lands were carved up into large estates and their people were ruthlessly exploited by the new landowners. The subsequent arrivals of Dominican, Franciscan and Augustinian friars could not halt this exploitation, and their religious imperialism caused valuable traces of Mayan culture to be destroyed.
Independence from Spain came in 1821, bringing new prosperity to those of Spanish blood (creoles) and even worse conditions for those of Mayan descent. The Spanish Crown's few liberal safeguards were now abandoned. Huge tracts of Mayan land were stolen to cultivate tobacco and sugar cane, and the Maya were further enslaved to work that land. Since independence, the country's politics have been colored by continued rivalry between the forces of the left and right - neither of which has ever made it a priority to improve the position of the Maya.
Modern History
Few exceptional leaders have graced Guatemala's political podium. An alternating wave of dictators and economics-driven liberals was briefly brightened by Juan José Arévalo. He established the nation's social security, health systems and a government bureau to look after Mayan concerns. In power from 1945 to 1951, Arévalo's liberal regime experienced 25 coup attempts by conservative military forces. He was followed by Colonel Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán, who continued to implement liberal policies. He also instituted an agrarian reform law to break up the large estates and foster highly productive, individually owned small farms. The expropriation of lands controlled by foreign companies, a move supported by the country's Communist Party, was the signal for the CIA to step in. A successful military coup was organized in 1954 - Arbenz Guzmán fled to Mexico and land reform never eventuated.
A succession of military presidents followed and, as protest and repression became more violent, civil war broke out. Booming industrialization in the 60's and 70's helped the rich get richer. Cities became increasingly squalid as the rural dispossessed fled the countryside to find urban employment. The military's suppression of antigovernment elements finally led the USA to cut off military assistance. This led to the 1986 election of civilian Christian Democrat Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo.
Five years of inconclusive government were followed by conservative Jorge Serrano Elías. His attempts to end the decades-long civil war failed. In May 1993, following a series of public protests, he carried out an auto-coup. Lacking popular support, he fled the country; an outspoken critic of the army, Ramiro de León Carpio was elected by Congress. Carpio's law-and-order mantle was taken up by a new president, Alvaro Enrique Arzú Irigoyen. In December 1996, the government signed a series of peace accords with leftist guerrillas and the army agreed to reduce its role in domestic security matters.
Recent History
In November 1999, Guatemala held its first peacetime elections in nearly 40 years. A new government was sworn in on January 14, 2000, under its recently elected right-wing president, Alfonso Portillo. An admitted murderer, Portillo won by claiming that if he could defend himself, he could defend his people. He vowed to clean up the judicial system, crack down on crime, tax the rich and respect human rights.
The subsequent 2003 elections were held amid much scandal and chicanery; the less extreme right-winger, Oscar Berger, supported by the traditional elites in banking and agriculture, was declared president.
The following year, the government instituted major cuts to the army (including the retirement of 10,000 soldiers) and admitted its guilt in some high-profile human rights violation cases.
In 2006, Guatemala ratified the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States, aimed at creating a free-trade zone and reducing tarrifs.
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