In
spite of an official finding that 93% of all atrocities
carried out during the war had been committed by the
security forces, moves to bring those responsible to
account started only after a long delay.
A
Chronology of Key Events
1523-24
- Spanish adventurer Pedro de Alvarado defeats the indigenous
Maya and turns Guatemala into a Spanish colony.
1821 - Guatemala becomes independent and joins
the Mexican empire the following year.
1823 - Guatemala becomes part of the United
Provinces of Central America, which also include Costa
Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
1839 - Guatemala becomes fully independent.
1844-65 - Guatemala ruled by conservative
dictator Rafael Carrera.
1873-85 - Guatemala ruled by liberal President
Justo Rufino Barrios, who modernises the country, develops
the army and introduces coffee growing.
1931 - Jorge Ubico becomes president; his
tenure is marked by repressive rule and then by an improvement
in the country's finances.
1941 - Guatemala declares war on the Axis
powers.
Social-democratic reforms
1944
- Juan Jose Arevalo becomes president following the
overthrow of Ubico and introduces social-democratic
reforms, including setting up a social security system
and redistributing land to landless peasants.
1951 - Colonel Jacobo Arbenz Guzman becomes
president, continuing Arevalo's reforms.
1954 - Land reform stops with the accession
to power of Colonel Carlos Castillo in a coup backed
by the US and prompted by Arbenz's nationalisation of
plantations of the United Fruit Company.
1963 - Colonel Enrique Peralta becomes president
following the assassination of Castillo.
1966 - Civilian rule restored; Cesar Mendez
elected president.
1970 - Military-backed Carlos Arena elected
president.
Human
rights violated
CIVIL WAR
Victims' relatives try to identify remains before burial
ceremony
Conflict raged for 36 years
1996:
Rebels, government sign peace deal
More than 200,000 killed, or disappeared
1970s - Military rulers embark on a programme
to eliminate left-wingers, resulting in at least 50,000
deaths.
1976 - 27,000 people are killed and more than
a million rendered homeless by earthquake.
1981 - Around 11,000 people are killed by
death squads and soldiers in response to growing anti-government
guerrilla activity.
1982 - General Efrain Rios Montt gains power
following military coup.
EFRAIN RIOS MONTT
His term in office saw some of the war's worst episodes
Born in 1926
1982:
Led military coup
2003: Unsuccessful bid for presidency
1983 - Montt ousted in coup led by General
Mejia Victores, who declares an amnesty for guerrillas.
1985 - Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arevalo elected
president and the Guatemalan Christian Democratic Party
wins legislative elections under a new constitution.
1989 - Attempt to overthrow Cerezo fails;
civil war toll since 1980 reaches 100,000 dead and 40,000
missing.
1991 - Jorge Serrano Elias elected president.
Diplomatic relations restored with Belize, from whom
Guatemala had long-standing territorial claims.
RIGOBERTA MENCHU
Tireless campaigner for Mayan rights
Born in 1959
Spent most of 1980s in exile
1992:
Awarded Nobel Peace Prize
2004: Joined cabinet as "goodwill
ambassador to peace accords"
1993 - Serrano forced to resign after his
attempt to impose an authoritarian regime ignites a
wave of protests; Ramiro de Leon Carpio elected president
by the legislature.
1994 - Peace talks between the government
and rebels of the Guatemalan Revolutionary National
Unity begin; right-wing parties win a majority in legislative
elections.
1995 - Rebels declare a ceasefire; UN and
US criticise Guatemala for widespread human rights abuses.
End of civil war
1996
- Alvaro Arzu elected president, conducts purge of senior
military officers and signs peace agreement with rebels,
ending 36 years of civil war.
1998 - Bishop Juan Gerardi, a human rights
campaigner, murdered.
1999 - UN-backed commission says security
forces were behind 93% of all human rights atrocities
committed during the civil war, which claimed 200,000
lives, and that senior officials had overseen 626 massacres
in Maya villages.
2000 - Alfonso Portillo sworn in as president
after winning elections in 1999.
2001 December - President Portillo pays $1.8
millon in compensation to the families of 226 men, women
and children killed by soldiers and paramilitaries in
the northern village of Las Dos Erres in 1982.
Border talks
2002
September - Guatemala and Belize agree on draft settlement
to their long-standing border dispute at talks brokered
by Organization of American States (OAS). Both nations
will hold referendums on draft settlement.
2003 November - Presidential elections go
to second round. Former military leader Efrain Rios
Montt trails in third place, accepts defeat.
2003 December - Conservative businessman Oscar
Berger - a former mayor of Guatemala City - wins presidential
election in second round.
Guatemala - along with Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras
- agrees on free-trade agreement with US.
2004 May - Former military leader Efrain Rios
Montt placed under house arrest.
2004 May/June - Major cuts to the army; bases
are closed and 10,000 soldiers are retired.
2004 July - $3.5 million in damages paid to
victims of civil war. Move follows state's formal admissions
of guilt in several well-known human rights crimes.
2004 September - Deadly clashes as police
try to evict around 600 squatters from a private farm.
Eleven people are killed.
2004 December - UN mission, set up to monitor
post-civil war peace process winds up. But UN says Guatemala
still suffers from crime, social injustice, human rights
violations.
Story from BBC NEWS:Published: 2004/12/31 12:20:50 GMT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/country_profiles/1215811.stm |
