Guatemalan armed conflict The
Guatemalan Civil War was a thirty-six-year internal conflict that took place from November 1960 to December 1996. The conflict was fought between the
Guatemalan government and smaller leftist guerrilla groups that fought under the
Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG). It resulted in about 200,000 casualties and "disappearances", making it the deadliest armed conflict in
Central America.
Early peace attempts After a series of dictatorships supported by the United States, Guatemala was greatly pressured internationally to make efforts towards reincorporating democracy. In 1985, the then ruler General Oscar Mejía Victores allowed for the formation of a
Constituent Assembly, which began working on a new democratic constitution. This new constitution was then finalized and ratified on May 30, 1985. The following year, democratic elections were held and
Vinicio Cerezo was sworn in as
president of Guatemala. Prior to this, in 1983, the
Contadora Group in the Americas, which was an initiative formed by
Mexico,
Venezuela, and
Colombia, began promoting peace in the Central American countries undergoing internal conflicts (
El Salvador,
Nicaragua, and Guatemala). The group served as mediators in peace talks among all Central American rulers, which led to the drafting of the Contadora Act on Peace and Cooperation in Central America. The document did not fully receive the support of the United States and was ultimately rejected by three of the Central American countries (
Honduras, El Salvador, and
Costa Rica) in 1986. Although the Contadora process was not successful, it was continued by President Cerezo in his pursuit for peace as president of Guatemala. In 1986, all five Central American rulers attended a series of meetings in Esquipulas, Guatemala. In August 1987, all five countries signed the
Esquipulas II Accord, which drew heavily from the previous Contadora Act on Peace and Cooperation. This agreement outlined a framework for the resolution of the current Central American civil wars. Two important components of this accord were an amnesty law and an urgency to disarm rebel groups. The government would then have further peace talks with forces who accepted these terms. The Esquipulas II Accord also created the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), which allowed for a civil influence on the peace process. Although this early accord opened the dialogue for peace in Guatemala, it did not come to a concrete close of the country's internal armed conflict. Starting in 1988 and continuing for the following years, the NRC and URNG met on several occasions and engaged in peace talks, but did not come to an end to the Guatemalan civil war. Still, the two groups signed documents, such as the Oslo Accord, Mexico Accord, and Querétaro Agreement.
President Serrano Elías autocoup Jorge Serrano Elías was democratically elected and became president of Guatemala in January 1991. Two years and a half into his presidency, on May 25, 1993, he attempted to proclaim sole power over the country through an
autocoup. He dissolved the Guatemalan congress and fragmented the Supreme Court with the help of allies in the government and military. With this, he caused a
constitutional crisis in the country. However, there was strong opposition by civilians and the Constitutional Court and Serrano Elías ultimately fled to El Salvador on June 2, failing in his attempts towards dictatorship. The congress then named
Ramiro de León Carpio, who was the country's Human Rights Ombudsman, as president for the time remaining of Serrano's original presidential term. ==Beginnings==