Government

In 1967 the president at that time, Castillo Armas, was murdered, this led to different coups and the country was indirectly governed by the military for 30 years (Bijl, 2008). From 1960 until 1996 there was a civil war going on in Guatemala, between the guerrilla and the government forces. In 1996 peace agreements formally ended the civil war. But in the following ten years there was practically nothing seen of this agreement. The country remained very restless, with resurrections, coups and war criminals as parliamentarians.

Guatemala is a country without democratic traditions. Several times they have tried to form a democracy, without success. In 1986 arose the first democracy, because a new constitution became effective (Zoon, 2007).

Guatemala is a now democracy with a multiparty system. Since January 2012 Otto Fernandez PEREZ MOLINA is the president of Guatemala (CIA .Government – Guatemala).The president is both chief of state and head of government. The president appoints the ministers of his government; the president, vice-president and the ministers are forming the government.
The parliament consists of 1 chamber with 158 delegates from 22 districts. Every four years, there are elections for a new president, congressmen and local administrators. The president can only be elected for one term. The congressmen and local administrators can often be reelected. Changes in the constitution needs to be approved by a referendum. The last referendum in 1999 was not a great success, the attendance was less than 20%.

There is a just a modest role in the politics for the indigenous population (Zoon, 2007).