Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-dvmhs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-09-13T05:57:32.390Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Guatemala in Search of Democracy*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Henry J. Frundt
Henry J. Frundt*
Affiliation:
Ramapo College (NJ)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In the political debate which swirls around “democratization” Guatemala must be counted. The policies of its first civilian government since the 1960s, now completing its term, have been important for the success of regional peace. Yet a new wave of violence surrounds the preparation for elections and is testing the government's fragile accomplishments. Underlying such phenomena is Guatemala's struggle to discover what democracy really means in the Latin context where elected officials often serve as a façade for ongoing military control.The contest extends the debate beyond bourgeois and popular conceptions of democracy, especially when Guatemala's civilian-military government is characterized as a “permanent counter-insurgency state” (see Anderson and Simon, 1987; exchange of letters in The Nation, 1989; Guatemalan Church in Exile, 1989). Such a portrayal effectively reduces the nation's democratic manifestations to a charade.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , Fall 1990 , pp. 25 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Middle Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies, Rutgers University, 6 April 1990.

References

Adams, R. (1988) “Definitions of Indigenous.” Paper presented at VIII Congress of Central American Sociology, Guatemala City, 10-15 October.Google Scholar
Albizurez, M.A. (1988) Tiempo de dudor y lucha (Coca-Cola). Guatemala City, Guatemala: Editor Local.Google Scholar
Americas Watch (1990) Messengers of Death. Washington, DC: Americas Watch.Google Scholar
Amnesty International (AI) (1981) Guatemala, A Government Program of Political Murder (February). London, England: Amnesty International.Google Scholar
Anibal Gonzalez, M. (1988) “Algunos apuntes sobre la actividad productora de banano en Guatemala y las organizaciones sindicales,” pp. 185-202 in Cambio y continuidad en la economía bananera. San José, Costa Rica: Editor Flacso/CEDAL (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales/Centro de Estudios Democráticos de America Latina).Google Scholar
Anibal Gonzalez, M. (1987) Proyecto deuda externa y politicas de estabilización y a juste estructural: el case de Guatemala. Guatemala City, Guatemala: Confederación Universitaria Centroamerica (CSUCA),Google Scholar
Anderson, K. and Simon, J.M. (1987) “Permanent Counter-Insurgency in Guatemala.” Telos 73 (Fall): 9-46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arias, A. (1988) Paper on the situation faced by indigenous people in Guatemala presented at VIII Congress of Central American Sociology, Guatemala City, 10-15 October.Google Scholar
Bartra, R. (1974) Estructura agraria y clases sociales en Mexico. Mexico, DF (Mexico): ERA.Google Scholar
Bishop, J. (1988) Author interview, Guatemala City (Guatemala), 16 September.Google Scholar
Black, G., Jamail, M., and Chinchilla, N.S. (1984) Garrison Guatemala. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press.Google Scholar
Carmack, R. (ed.) (1988) Harvest of Violence: The Maya Indians and the Guatemalan Crisis. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.Google Scholar
Central America Report (1989) “Guatemala: Human Rights Indictments Fly.” Vol. 16, 8 (24 February): 59. (article contains figures by Cieprodh, which are reported quarterly by Central America Report).Google Scholar
Central America Report(1988) “Guatemala: Government and Labor Sign National Accord.” Vol. 15, 10 (11 March): 81-83..Google Scholar
Centro de Investigación, Estudio y Promocion de los Derechos Humanos en Guatemala (CIEPRODH) Central America Report(1988) “Segundo informe trimestral sobre los derechos humanos en Guatemala.” Report presented at the forum entitled “La situación de los derechos humanos en centroamérica un ano despues de los acuerdos de Esquipulas II,” Guatemala City, 10-15 August.Google Scholar
Ciencia y Tecnologia para Guatemala (CITGUA) (1990) El Movimiento Sindical en Guatemala, 1986-1988. México, DF (México): CITGUA.Google Scholar
Cronica (1990a) 1 June: 27.Google Scholar
Ciencia y Tecnologia para Guatemala (1990b) 9 February: 11-15.Google Scholar
Ciencia y Tecnologia para Guatemala (1990c) 26 January: 15.Google Scholar
Ciencia y Tecnologia para Guatemala (1990d) 5 January: 28.Google Scholar
Ciencia y Tecnologia para Guatemala (1990e) 29 June: 23.Google Scholar
Ciencia y Tecnologia para Guatemala (19900 24 September: 27-28.Google Scholar
Ciencia y Tecnologia para Guatemala (1990g) 7 September.Google Scholar
Ciencia y Tecnologia para Guatemala (1990h) 14 September.Google Scholar
Ciencia y Tecnologia para Guatemala (1988a) 8 December: 19-20.Google Scholar
Ciencia y Tecnologia para Guatemala (1988b) 25 August.Google Scholar
Dahl, R. (1987) Un prefacio a la teoría democrática. México, DF (México): Editor Gernika S.A. Google Scholar
Figueroa Ibarra, C. (1980) El proletariado rural en el agro guatemalteco. Guatemala City, Guatemala: Editor Universitaria.Google Scholar
Frundt, H. (1989) “Backing away from ‘El Sindicato Blanco:’ Aifld in Guatemala.” Paper presented at XV International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (Lasa), Miami (FL), 4-6 December.Google Scholar
Frundt, H. (1988a) “Esquipulas II y las posibilidades para una reconciliation nacional: perspectivas guatemaltecas.” Paper presented at the XIV International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), New Orleans (LA), 17-19 March.Google Scholar
Frundt, H. (1988b) “Percepciones del estado y democratizacion en Guatemala.” Paper presented at the VIII Congress of Central American Sociology,Guatemala City, 10-15 October.Google Scholar
Frundt, H. (1987a) Refreshing Pauses: Coca-Cola and Human Rights in Guatemala. New York, NY: Praeger Publishers Google Scholar
Frundt, H. (1987b) “Trade Union Redevelopment in Guatemala.” Latin American Perspectives 14, 3 (Summer): 381–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frundt, H. and N. Chinchilla (1987) “Labor Organizations in Guatemala,” pp. 395-432 in Gerald Michael Greenfield and Sheldon Marmon (eds.) Latin American Labor Organizations. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Google Scholar
Gall, N. (1971) “Slaughter in Guatemala.” New York Review of Books (20 May): 12 ff.Google Scholar
Garst, R. and Barry, T. (1990 Feeding the Crisis: US Food Aid and Farm Policy in Central America. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Goldston, J. (1989) Shattered Hope: Guatemalan Workers and the Promise of Democracy. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Gonzalez Casanova, P. (1986) El poder al pueblo. Mexico, DF (Mexico): Editor Océano.Google Scholar
Gonzalez Saenz, A. (1978) “Determinantes en la estructura social y politica durante la reforma liberal.” Estudios Sociales (Guatemala) (October).Google Scholar
Goodman, L., Mendelson, J., and Rial, J. (1990) The Military and Democracy. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
(El) Grafico (1988) 11 March.Google Scholar
Gramajo, H. (1988a) Speech given by Minister of Defense to People of Guatemala, 30 June, Campo Marte. Guatemala City, Guatemala: Prensa Libre (3 July).Google Scholar
Gramajo, H. (1988b) “I Mesa Redonda para definir guia curricular y conferencistas del centro de estudios estratégicos para la estabilidad nacional - central estna.” Guatemala City, Guatemala: Ministerio de la Defensa Nacional (28 September).Google Scholar
Gramsci, A. (1977) Selections from Political Writings, 1910-1920. London, England: Lawrence and Wishart.Google Scholar
Gruson, L. (1990a) “Guerrilla War in Guatemala Heats up, Fueling Criticism of Civilian Rule.” New York Times (3 June): 18.Google Scholar
Gruson, L. (1990b) “Political Violence on Rise again in Guatemala, Tarnishing Civilian Rule.” New York Times (28 June): A-3.Google Scholar
Gruson, L. (1990c) “US Pins Hopes on Guatemala Army.” New York Times (5july):A-6.Google Scholar
Guatemala Church in Exile (1989) Guatemala: Security, Development and Democracy. Oakland, CA: Guatemala News and Information Bureau Google Scholar
Guatemalan Episcopal Conference (1988) Clamor por la tierra. Guatemala City, Guatemala: Guatemalan Episcopal Conference.Google Scholar
Guatemalan Human Rights Commission (1989) La Masacre en Aguacate. Washington, DC: Guatemalan Human Rights CommissionGoogle Scholar
Handler, P. (1988) “Solidarismo: A Threat to the Labor Movement.” Report on Guatemala 9, 3 (May/June): 4 ff.Google Scholar
Haynes, K. (1988) “Authoritarianism, Democracy and Development: The Corporative Theory of Howard J. Wiarda.” Latin American Perspectives 15, 3 (Summer): 131-150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huntington, S. (1969) Political Order in Changing Societies. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Immerman, R. (1982) The Cia in Guatemala. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Inforpress Centroamericana (1989) Guatemala, 1989- Guatemala City, Guatemala: Inforpress Centroamericana.Google Scholar
Inforpress Centroamericana(1986) Guatemala 1986: El Ano de las promesas. Guatemala City, Guatemala: Inforpress Centroamericana.Google Scholar
Instituto de Educacion Social (Idesoc) (1989) Survey of NGO Activities in Guatemala. Guatemala City, Guatemala: IDESOC.Google Scholar
Inter-Hemispheric Educatión Resource Center (I-HERC) (1988a) “The Rise of the Religious Right in Guatemala.” Report on Guatemala 9, 1 (January-February): 9-10.Google Scholar
Inter-Hemispheric Educatión Resource Center (I-HERC) (1988b) Private Organizations with US Connections in Guatemala. Albuquerque, NM: Inter-Hemispheric Education Resource Center.Google Scholar
Inter-Hemispheric Educatión Resource Center (I-HERC) (1987) “The Rise of the Religious Right in Guatemala.” Report on Guatemala 8, 5 (November-December): 6-7.Google Scholar
Jonas, S. (1988) “Contradictions of Guatemala's ‘Political Opening'.” Latin American Perspectives 15, 3 (Summer): 26–46 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jonas, S., McCaughan, E., and Martinez, E. (eds.) (1984) Guatemala: Tyranny on Trial. San Francisco, CA: Synthesis Publicatons.Google Scholar
Jonas, S. and D. Tobis (eds.) (1974) Guatemala: And So Victory IS Born, Even in the Bitterest Hours. New York, NY: North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) Google Scholar
LaClau, E. (1981) “Teorías marxistas delestado: debates yperspectivas,” pp. 25–59 in Norbert Lechner (ed.) Estado y politica en America Latina. México, DF (México): Editor Siglo Veintiuno.Google Scholar
LaClau, E. (1971) “Feudalism and Capitalism in Latin America.” New Left Review 67 (May-June): 19-38.Google Scholar
Larue, F. (1990) “US Policy and Guatemala.” Paper presented at the national conference on “Guatemala in the ‘90s — A Struggle for Democracy in a Country at War,” American University, Washington (DC), 9-10 June.Google Scholar
Lernoux, P. (1988) “Guatemala's New Military Order. The Nation 247, 16 (28 November): 556–59Google Scholar
Lopez, F. (1989) “Born of Pain and Suffering: Guatemala Widows Organize” (interview with Fermina López of Conavigua). Report on Guatemala 10, 3 (July-September): 9–10.Google Scholar
Lovell, W.G. (1988) “Surviving Conquest: The Maya of Guatemala in Historical Perspective.” Latin American Research Review XXIII, 2: 25–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McClintock, M. (1985) The American Connection: State Terror and Popular Resistance in Guatemala. London, England: Zed Books.Google Scholar
MacEwan, A. (1988) “Transitions from Authoritarian Rule.” Latin American Perspectives 15, 3 (Summer): 115-130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maldonado, K. (1987) “El desafio de la democratizacion en centroamerica” (reporte especial). Guatemala City, Guatemala: Institute Centroamericano de Estudios Politicos (Incep).Google Scholar
Manz, B. (1987) Refugees of a Hidden War. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Google Scholar
Mendez, A. (1989) “New Indian Group Opposes Civil Patrols” (interview with Amilcar Méndez of Cerj). Report on Guatemala 10, 1 (January-March): 9-10.Google Scholar
Menchu, R. (1990) “The Indigenous Movement.” Paper presented at the national conference on “Guatemala in the ‘90s — A Struggle for Democracy in a Country at War,” American University, Washington (DC), 9-10 June.Google Scholar
(1984) I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala. London, England: Verso Press.Google Scholar
Mersky, M. (1988) “Empresarios y transicion politica en Guatemala” (mimeo). Guatemala City, Guatemala: Confederacion Universitaria Centroamérica (CSUCA)Google Scholar
Michael, A. (1989) “Forging New Revolutionary Models: Indigenous Peoples in the Guatemalan Struggle.” Report on Guatemala 10, 1 (January-March): 10 ff.Google Scholar
Molina, R. (1990) “Internal Conditions.” Paper presented at Regional Conference on Guatemala, New York (NY), 12 May.Google Scholar
Montejo, V. (1987) Testimony: Death of a Guatemalan Village. New York, NY: Curbstone Press.Google Scholar
Moore, B. (1967) Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
(The) Nation (1989) “Letters.” (23 January).Google Scholar
O'Donnell, G. (1981) “Las fuerzas armadas y el estado autoritorio del cono sur de América Latina,” pp. 199-235 in Norbert Lechner (ed.) Estado y política in América Latina. Mexico, DF, México: Editor Siglo Veintuno.Google Scholar
O'Donnell, G., Schmitter, P., and Whitehead, L. (eds.) (1986) Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Latin America. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Painter, J. (1987) Guatemala: False Hope, False Freedom. London, England: Latin American Bureau and Catholic Institute for International Relations (CIIR).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poulantzas, N. (1968) Pouvoir politique et classes sociales de l'etat capitaliste. Paris, France: Francois Maspero.Google Scholar
Rosada Granados, H. (1985) “Los partidos politicos en Guatemala (1963-1985),” pp. 73-90 in Asies (ed.) I Seminario: el rol de los partidos politicos. Guatemala City, Guatemala: Asociacion de Investigacion y Estudios Sociales (ASIES).Google Scholar
Rosada Granados, H. (1988) “Los partidos políticos.” Paper presented for “Cursos de Educacion para la democracia,” Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Politicas, Universidad Rafael Landivar (Guatemala), October.Google Scholar
Rossdeutscher, D. (1988) “Neo-liberal Economic Policies Take over.” Report on Guatemala 9, 6 (November-December): 5 ff.Google Scholar
Santiago, D. (1990) “The Aesthetics of Terror, the Hermeneutics of Death.” America (24 March): 292-5.Google Scholar
Sereseres, C. (1985) “The Guatemalan Legacy: Radical Challengers and Military Politics,” pp. 17–50 in Report on Guatemala (SAIS Papers in International Affairs No. 7). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Simon, J. (1987) Guatemala: Eternal Spring — Eternal Tyranny. New York, NY: W.W. Norton Co.Google Scholar
Solorzano Martinez, M. (1987) Guatemala: autoritarismo y democracia. San José, Costa Rica: Editorial Universitaria Centroamericana/Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (EDUCA/FLACSO).Google Scholar
Stlx, B. (1988) “Coup Attempt Narrows Political Space.” Report on Guatemala 9, 4 (Tuly-August): 2-4.Google Scholar
Tenneriello, B. (1990) The Administration of Injustice: Military Accountability in Guatemala. Washington, DC: Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).Google Scholar
Tevtn, J. (1990) “Dangerous Mission: Holy Week in San Lucas, Toliman, Guatemala.” Catholic Digest (February): 10-20.Google Scholar
Torres, E. (1990) “Overview of the Guatemalan Reality.” Paper presented at the national conference on “Guatemala in the ‘90s — A Struggle for Democracy in a Country at War,” American University, Washington (DC), 9-10 June.Google Scholar
Torres-Rtvas, E. (1987) Centroaméricana: la democracia posible. San Jose, Costa Rica: Editorial Universitaria Centroamericana (EDUCA).Google Scholar
Torres-Rtvas, E. (1981) “La nación: problemas teoricos e historicos,” pp. 87-132 in Norbert Lechner (ed.) Estadoy politica en America Latina. Mexico, DF (México): Editorial Siglo Veintiuno.Google Scholar
Trudeau, R. and L. Schoultz (1986) “Guatemala,” pp. 23–49 in Morris Blachman, William LeoGrande, and Kenneth Sharpe (eds.) Confronting Revolution. New York, NY: Pantheon Books. VON Google Scholar
Braun, H., D. Hotchkiss, and M. Immink(1989) Nontraditional Export Crops in Guatemala: Effects on Production, Income and Nutrition (Research Report 73). Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (May).Google Scholar
Weeks, J. (1985) The Economies of Central America. New York, NY: Holmes and Meier.Google Scholar
Webster, K. (1990) “Deception in Guatemala.” The Progressive 54, 2 (February): 26–32 Google Scholar
Whitehead, L. (1986) “International Aspects of Democratization,” pp. 1–30 in G., O'Donnell, Schmitter, P., and Whitehead, L. (eds.)Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Vol. 3 — Comparative Perspectives. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Wiarda, H. (1981) Corporatism and National Development. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar