Guatemala
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- parliamentary democratic republic
- CONSTITUTION
- January 14, 1986, suspended in 1993, reintroduced and amended in November 2003
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- civil rights; judicial review of legislative acts
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- unicameral, Congress of the Republic (Congreso de la República)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Court of Justice, Constitutional Court
RELIGIONS
Catholics, Protestants, indigenous Maya beliefs
From the country
- AUGUST 1, 2002GuatemalaDEATH PENALTY
Guatemalan Ambassador to the Organization of American...
Guatemalan Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) Arturo Duarte told the body that his government plans to abolish the death penalty
- JULY 30, 2002GuatemalaDEATH PENALTY
Pope John Paul II expressed satisfaction with the decision...
Pope John Paul II expressed satisfaction with the decision of President Alfonso Portillo to ask the Guatemalan Congress to abolish capital punishment
- JULY 27, 2002GuatemalaDEATH PENALTY
Heeding a call from Pope John Paul II, Guatemalan President...
Heeding a call from Pope John Paul II, Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo agreed to halt state executions during his administration and will ask the National Assembly to abolish the death penalty altogether
- MAY 9, 2002GuatemalaDEATH PENALTY
The U
The U
- APRIL 25, 2002GuatemalaDEATH PENALTY
Guatemala abstained from the resolution 2002/77 on...
Guatemala abstained from the resolution 2002/77 on the death penalty at the 58th UN Commission on Human Rights
- APRIL 23, 2002GuatemalaDEATH PENALTY
Police recaptured a convict who escaped with 78 other...
Police recaptured a convict who escaped with 78 other prisoners from a maximum-security jail on Guatemala's southern coast on June 17, 2001, but 19 of the escapees remain at large
- APRIL 25, 2001GuatemalaDEATH PENALTY
Guatemala abstained from the resolution on the death...
Guatemala abstained from the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 25 , 2001 (2001/68)
- NOVEMBER 27, 2000GuatemalaDEATH PENALTY
The UN Committee against torture cited concern over...
The UN Committee against torture cited concern over what it called a deterioration of the human rights situation in Guatemala, including matters involving torture
- SEPTEMBER 1, 2000GuatemalaDEATH PENALTY
Carlos Chun Choc, Douglas Montt Solorzano and Gustavo...
Carlos Chun Choc, Douglas Montt Solorzano and Gustavo Carranza were sentenced to death by lethal injection for kidnapping and killing two businessmen and a 17-year-old university student in 1996 and 1997
- JULY 18, 2000GuatemalaDEATH PENALTY
A poll conducted by a local newspaper indicated that...
A poll conducted by a local newspaper indicated that 80% of Guatemalans agree with the death penalty - which is also strongly supported by the main business organisations
- JUNE 29, 2000GuatemalaDEATH PENALTY
Two convicted kidnappers were put to death by lethal...
Two convicted kidnappers were put to death by lethal injection at the Pavon prison in an execution shown live on Guatemalan television
- JUNE 1, 2000GuatemalaDEATH PENALTY
President Alfonso Portillo granted clemency to an illiterate...
President Alfonso Portillo granted clemency to an illiterate Kekchi-speaking peasant farmer, Pedro Rax Cucul, who had been sentenced to death for a 1996 murder