GUATEMALA

Republic of Guatemala

A BEAUTY
THAT
HURTS
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
GUATEMALA
LOCATION PEOPLE CULTURE

HISTORY POLITICS ECONOMICS

CURRENT INTERNAL CURRENT EXTERNAL

SITUATION SITUATION

TAKE AN INTEREST FURTHER

IN GUATEMALA ! READINGS
  Guatemala is
LOCATION located in Central
America.

 Area 108,889 Km.

 Highest Point;
4,220m Volcan
Tajamulco.

 Lowest Point; Sea

Level.
  66% of the country
GEOGRAPHY is mountainous

 62% is covered by
forests.

 Four topographical
regions

 Eighteen short rivers

 Four major lakes

 THE PEOPLE
Population: 10,510,000

 Density: 97/km2

 Capital: Guatemala

 Urban 39%

 Ethnic Groups: Ladinos

56%, Amerindian 44%
THE PEOPLE
 Languages: Spanish,
Amerindian

 Religions: Roman
Catholic,
Protestant, tribal
religionist

 67 female, 62 male

 Literacy: 55%
 THE CULTURE

 Arte4 Maya Tz’utuhil Museaum and Gallery

 HISTORICAL
Highlights
 Mayan Civilization

 The Fishing and Farming Villiages

 Pedro de Alvarado came to conquer

Guatemala 1523

 Independence from Spain came in 1821

 HISTORICAL
Highlights
 A succession of military presidents

 Protest and repression became more

violent

 Civil war broke out

 New government January 2000!

 The POLITICS
 Government: Republic  Membership:
OAS, UN.
 Parties: Christian
Democratic, Democratic
Party of National
 Subdivisions: 22
Cooperation, National Departments.
Centrist Union,
Revolutionary, others

 Suffrage: Universal, over

18.
 The ECONOMICS
 GDP: $12, 600,000,000

 Per capita: $1,342

 Monetary Unit: Quetzal(Q)

 Public Debt; USD 2, 301,000,000

 The ECONOMICS
 Imports: USD $2,647,629,800

 Exports: USD 1,502,610,4000

 Trade Partners: Exports: U.S., El. Salvador,

Germany, Japan

 Exports: Coffee, sugar, bananas, beef.

 Imports:Fuel, machinery, grain, fertilizer,

transportation equipment
CURRENT SITUATION
INTERNAL RELATIONS

 THE PEOPLE

 ECONOMY AND THE LAND

 HISTORY AND POLITICS

CURRENT SITUATION
INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
 SITUATIONAL UPDATE!

 VISIT FROM THE CANADIAN

FOREIGN AID MINISTER !

 SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS!!

 URGENT ACTION
SOLIDARITY WORK WITH GUATEMALA
 Canada Guatemala Breaking the Silence
Network
 Project Accompaniment
 Amnesty International
 United Nation Human Rights Commission
 Arch Bishops Office for Human Rights
 Canada World Youth
 Peace Brigades
 TAKE AN
INTEREST IN
GUATEMALA!
 LATIN AMERICAN
STUDIES
 http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/ca/guate
mala/

 100 TIPS
 http://www.1000traveltips.org/guatema
l.htm
FURTHER READINGS
 I, Rigoberta Menchu is the autobiography of Guatemala's Indian Nobel
Peace Prize winner - a very moving story of Mayan life and government
repression.
 Time and the Highland Maya by Barbara Tedlock is an anthropological
study of the Quiché Indians of Momostenango.
 Unfinished Conquest: The Guatemalan Tragedy by Victor Perera
looks at the history of the Maya and their situation in modern
Guatemala.
 The Central America Fact Book by Tom Barry & Deb Preusch
examines the economic, political and military role of the USA in Central
America.
 Birds of Guatemala by Hugh C Land is a field guide to - surprisingly
enough - the birds of Guatemala.
 lamor of Innocence: Central American Short Stories, edited by Barbara
Paschke & David Volpendesta, contains 31 short stories by writers from
the region.