Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
president of the court each year from among their members. The judiciary suffers from a
poor public image because of suspicions that it has become porous to influence from drug
traffickers as well as being corrupt and inefficient.
The current power balance is a product of the 1985 Constitution, formulated before the
country'sofficialreturntodemocracyin1986.Aseriesofreformsin1993shortenedterms
of office for president, vice president, and members of congress from five years to four;
for Supreme Court justices from six years to five; and increased terms for mayors and city
councils from two-and-a-half years to four.
Between1954and1986,Guatemalawasruledprimarilybyamilitary-oligarchy alliance
that installed presidents periodically via widely fraudulent elections or military coups. In
the few elections considered free and fair during this period, the military quickly stepped
in to assert its dominant role while ensuring that the president remained a figurehead. All
of the elections from 1985 onward have been considered free and fair, though the military
still holds much power in Guatemala, probably more so than in any other Latin American
country. Much of Guatemala's democratic process has consisted of a gradual strengthen-
ing of the state while trying to limit the power of the military. Other general characteristics
of the democratic process have been the growth of citizen participation from all sectors of
society in an atmosphere of greater freedom concurrent with the gradual strengthening of
institutions having extremely limited experience with governance under a democratic sys-
tem.
Guatemala's political parties constitute a veritable alphabet soup and change from year
to year depending on the capricious nature of alliances between different factions. Parties
are unstable, to say the least, and no party has won a presidential election on more than
one occasion. As an election approaches, a fresh batch of newly formed parties begin to
make the rounds. The ruling party following the 2007 elections was the Unidad Nacional
de la Esperanza (UNE, or National Unity of Hope). Some of the other parties, in order of
their percentage of congressional seats, are the Gran Alianza Nacional (GANA), Partido
Patriota (PP), Frente Republicano Guatemalteco (FRG), Encuentro por Guatemala (EG),
and Partido Unionista (PU). The Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (Guatem-
alan National Revolutionary Unity, also URNG-MAIZ) is the political party formed by
the former guerrilla movement, which fought against the government during the country's
36-year civil war. It holds two congressional seats.
