Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
curity force officially charged with presidential protection but in reality designed to keep
presidentialpowerincheck.Cerezocandidlyadmittedthatthemilitarystillheld75percent
of the power.
Cerezo sought to give the democratic opening a chance, knowing that the military's
power could not be broken in the five years his term in office would last, by taking a non-
confrontational approach to the demands of Guatemala's various societal sectors. He kept
a happy courtship with the powerful business interests, landowners, and generals. Among
thelatterwashisdefenseminister,GeneralHéctorAlejandroGramajo,whocurtailedmuch
of the violence in the countryside and allowed Cerezo to survive numerous coup attempts.
In September of 1987 the Central American heads of state convened in the eastern high-
land town of Esquipulas, where they signed a treaty aimed at bringing the pacification and
democratization of the region. Costa Rica's Oscar Arias Sánchez would later win the No-
bel Peace Prize for his role in bringing the peace plan to fruition. Esquipulas II, as it was
called, would open the doors for peace negotiations between the Guatemalan government
and the URNG.
Although the levels of repression and violence dropped, they by no means disappeared.
The armed struggle continued in remote corners of the highlands and Petén while death
squads continued their reign of terror. Formal labor organization was once again given the
official go-ahead, and widespread protests marked much of Cerezo's later years as the av-
erage Guatemalan saw little economic improvement.
Jorge Serrano Elías
Barred from running for a second term under the 1985 Constitution, Cerezo yielded power
tohissuccessor,JorgeSerranoElías,in1991.Alsobarredfromrunningunderthenewcon-
stitution was Efraín Ríos Montt, though there was much speculation as to his role behind
the scenes because Serrano had served in his government. The new constitution specific-
ally prohibited anyone rising to power as the result of a military coup from running for
president, a decision Montt has repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to have rescinded.
Indigenous-rights advocates, already enjoying greater freedom since the democratic
opening, received a huge bolster from the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 to
activistRigobertaMenchúTumforhereffortsinbringingworldwideattentiontothegeno-
cidalcivilwarstillragingoninthecountryside.TheGuatemalanmilitaryissuedanofficial
protest to what it saw as disgraceful approval for an advocate of Communist insurrection
but removed its opposition on the wave of worldwide fanfare for the awarding of the prize
to Menchú.
Guatemala's historical problems continued to plague the nation, and Serrano's incom-
petence at the helm soon became evident. The peace process stalled with the Catholic
Church's mediator accusing both sides of intransigence. Popular protests against Serrano's
government,bolsteredbycorruptionchargesinvolvinghissuspectedlinkswithColombian
