Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Early 1990s
President Jorge Serrano (1990-93) from the conservative Movimiento de Acción Solidaria
(Solidarity Action Movement) reopened a dialogue with the URNG, hoping to bring the
decades-long civil war to an end. When the talks collapsed, the mediator from the Catholic
Church blamed both sides for intransigence.
Human-rights abuses continued during this period despite the country's return to demo-
cratic rule. In one dramatic case in 1990, Guatemalan anthropologist Myrna Mack, who
had documented army violence against the rural Maya, was fatally wounded after being
stabbed dozens of times. Former head of the Presidential Guard, Colonel Juan Valencia
Osorio, was found guilty of masterminding the assassination and sentenced to 30 years im-
prisonment, but went into hiding before he could be arrested.
Serrano's presidency came to depend more on the army for support. In 1993 he tried to
seize absolute power, but after a tense few days was forced to flee into exile. Congress
elected Ramiro de León Carpio, an outspoken critic of the army's strong-arm tactics, as
president to complete Serrano's term.
Guatemala: Nunca Mas
(1998), published by ODHAG and REMHI, details many of the human-rights abuses
committed during Guatemala's civil war, and includes moving testimonials.
