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Guatemala

 Flag of Guatemala

Last reviewed: 2 July 2008

Country information

POLITICS

Government

Constitutional democratic republic. Guatemala has a unicameral Congress, comprising 158 seats. Members are elected every 4 years and are eligible for re-election. The President is elected by universal suffrage for a single term of 4 years.

Head of State: Álvaro Colom
Prime Minister/Premier: None
Foreign Minister: Haroldo Rodas

Engineer and businessman Alvaro Colom narrowly won the presidential election in November 2007 at his third attempt as centre left candidate of the National Unity for Hope (UNE). He assumed office on 14 January 2008.

Colom inherited a country with some of the world’s highest rates of violent crime, poverty and child malnutrition.  His campaign centred around promises to improve healthcare, education, security and rural development. This went down well in the countryside and amongst the indigena groups that make up 40% of the population. It proved decisive in the election, making Colom the first democratically-elected President to come to power without taking the capital, Guatemala City. But his lack of a working legislative majority coupled with internal divisions in his own Party, have hampered his ability to pass legislation.  Efforts to increase the tax base - one of the world’s lowest - to implement his social development programme face stiff opposition from the business community and right-wing parties in Congress.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Guatemala is a signatory to the following international instruments:

  • International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
  • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
  • International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination
  • Convention on the Rights of the Child
  • Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women
  • Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
  • Convention and Protocol on the Status of Refugees and Protocol
  • Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Guatemala is also a Party to the American Convention on Human Rights and has accepted the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights based in San Jose.

UK Support for Human Rights

The UK has supported a number of high profile projects in recent years, including one advocating the abolition of the death penalty and another focused on truth and reconciliation relating to human rights abuses during the civil war. In 2005 the UK designated Guatemala a priority country for further human rights-focused projects. The Embassy, in collaboration with Consortium for Street Children, has funded projects focusing on the police and child rights.

Human Rights Concerns

Guatemala's 36 years of civil war officially ended with the signing of Peace Accords in 1996. Human rights violations committed during the war by the military and paramilitary bands were severe and psychological, social and physical wounds remain deep. The Truth Commission's final report in 1999 recorded 42,000 human rights violations, 626 massacres and an estimated 200,000 killings during the civil war.

The most immediate threat to human rights and democracy in Guatemala today is violent crime, fuelled by extreme poverty, inequality, and the lack of effective law enforcement. Guatemala has the most unequal distribution of income in Latin America, with over half the population living in poverty and nearly a fifth in extreme poverty; a sharp contrast to the extensive wealth among the business elite in the capital. Many perpetrators of human rights violations continue to escape justice due to a weak judicial system.
International recognition of Guatemala’s human rights problems resulted in the establishment of an office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in August 2005. Its purpose is to monitor the human rights situation in Guatemala, advise the government, and build the capacity of national stakeholders to participate in human rights advocacy.

Death Penalty

The death penalty is still retained on the statute books but there has been a de facto moratorium on its application since 2000. In March 2008, Congress  passed a law that would allow the President to pardon prisoners on death row or commute their sentences to life in prison - a decision that drew heavy criticism from human rights groups  who claimed it would  expedite executions.  Although President Colom vetoed the law, the majority of Guatemalans, faced with the inexorable rise of violent crime, favour the restoration of the death penalty.  

Media

Press freedom is enshrined in Guatemala's constitution, and newspapers freely criticise the government. Nonetheless, many journalists face intimidation because of their reporting, often in the form of anonymous threats. Reporters who expose corruption are particularly exposed.

Private operators dominate the media scene. Four national TV channels share the same owner and have a virtual monopoly in TV broadcasting. They have been criticised for being pro-government. Two state TV channels are licensed but are not broadcasting.

The press

Prensa Libre - daily
La Hora - private daily
el Periodo- private daily
Siglo Veintiuno - daily

Television

Canal 3 Radio-TV Guatemala - commercial
Canal 5 TV Cultural y Educativa - cultural and educational channel
Teleonce - commercial
Televisiete - commercial
Trecevision - commercial

Radio

La Voz de Guatemala - government-owned
Radio Cultural TGN - private, religious/cultural, broadcasts in Spanish, English and indigenous languages
Radio Sonora - news and talk station
Emisoras Unidas de Guatemala - commercial
Radio Continental - commercial
Radio Nuevo Mundo - commercial
Radio Panamericana - commercial

News agency

Inforpress Centroamericana - private

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Contacts

Guatemala, Guatemala City, British Embassy

Address:

British Embassy
Edificio Torre Internacional, Nivel 11
16 Calle 0-55, Zona 10
Guatemala City

Telephone:

(502) 2380 7300

Fax:

(502) 2380-7339

Email:  embassy@intelnett.com (General enquiries)
Email:  consular.guatemala@fco.gov.uk (Consular enquiries)

Office hours:

Embassy

GMT:
Mon-Thurs: 1400-1830 / 1930-2300
Fri: 1400-1800

Local Time:
Mon-Thurs: 0800-1230 / 1330-1700
Fri: 0800-1200

Consular Section

GMT:
Mon-Tues: 1400-1800 and 1930-2230
Wed-Thurs: 1400-1800
Fri: 1400-1700

Local Time:
Mon-Tues: 0800-1200 and 1330-1630
Wed-Thurs: 0800-1200
Fri: 0800-1100

 

Guatemala, Guatemala City, British Embassy


Guatemala, Guatemala City, British Embassy