1986 Edition

Agriculture

main products — coffee, cotton, corn, beans, sugarcane, bananas, livestock

Aid

economic commitments — US, including Ex-Im (FY70-84), $325 million; from other Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF (1970-83), $6.5 billion; military— assistance from US (FY70-80), $22 million

Airfields

9 total, 9 usable, 8 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 1 with runways 1,220-2,439

498 total, 452 usable; 1 1 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 21 with runways 1, 220-2,439 m

Branches

traditionally dominant executive; new 100-member congress installed 14 January 1986; power vested in Office of President; seven-member (minimum) Supreme Court

Army, Navy, Air Force

Capital

Guatemala

Central government budget

(1986 est.) expenditures, $1.710 billion; revenues, $975 million

Civil air

2 major transport aircraft

10 major transport aircraft

Coastline

400 km People

Communists

Guatemalan Labor Party (PGT); main radical left guerrilla groups — Guerrilla Army of the Poor (EGP), Revolutionary Organization of the People in Arms (ORPA), Rebel Armed Forces (FAR), and PGT Dissidents

Elections

last congressional election held 3 November 1985; presidential runoff election held 8 December 1985 Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Party (DCG), Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arevalo; National Centrist Union (UCN), Jorge Carpio Nicolle; National Liberation Movement (MLN), Mario Sandoval Alarcon; Institutional Democratic Party (PID) in coalition with MLN; People's Democratic Force (FDP) in coalition with MLN; Democratic Party of National Cooperation (PDCN), Jorge Serrano Elias; Revolutionary Party (PR) in coalition with PDCN; Social Democratic Party (PSD), Mario Solarzano Martinez; National Renewal Party (PNR), Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre; National Authentic Center (CAN), Mario David Garcia; Anti-Communist Democratic Front (DUA) in coalition with PUA; emerging Movement for Harmony (MEC) in coalition with PUA; 14 political groups participated in national election for a civilian president, congress, and mayoralties; in runoff elections between Vinicio Cerezo (DCG) and Jorge Carpio (UCN), Cerezo won by a 2 to 1 margin

Electric power

815,000 kW capacity (1985); 2.1 billion kWh produced (1985), 250 kWh per capita

Ethnic divisions

56% Ladino (mestizo and westernized Indian), 44% Indian

Exports

$1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1983); coffee, cotton, sugar, bananas, meat

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

Fishing

catch 4,300 metric tons (1982)

GDP

$9.2 billion (1985), $1,150 per capita; 26% commerce, 25% agriculture, 9% financial services, 7% transportation and communication, 6% government, 27% other; average annual real growth rate (1975-80), 5.7%; real growth rate 1985, - 1.0%

Government leader

Marco Vinicio CEREZO Arevalo, President (since January 1986)

Highways

1,954 km total; 1,600 km paved, 340 km gravel and earth

26,429 km total; 2,868 km paved, 11,421 km gravel, and 12,140 unimproved

Imports

$1.3 billion (c.i.f., 1984); manufactured products, machinery, transportation equipment, chemicals, fuels

Infant mortality rate

66/1,000 (1982)

Inland waterways

260 km navigable year round; additional 730 km navigable during high-water season

Land boundaries

1,625 km Water

Language

Spanish, but over 40% of the population speaks an Indian language as a primary tongue (18 Indian dialects, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi)

Legal system

civil law system; constitution came into effect 1966 but suspended following March 1982 coup; Constituent Assembly elected in July 1984 completed drafting new constitution and other electoral laws in June 1985; elections held 2 November and 8 December 1985; the new President, Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arevalo, inaugurated 14 January 1986; judicial review of legislative acts; legal education at University of San Carlos of Guatemala; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Life expectancy

60

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm (200 nm exclusive economic zone)

Literacy

50% Labor force (1985): 2.5 million; 57.0% agriculture, 14.0% manufacturing, 13.0% services, 7.0% commerce, 4.0% construction, 3.0% transport, 0.8% utilities, 0.4% mining; unemployment and underemployment 40%

Major industries

food processing, textiles and clothing, furniture, chemicals, nonmetallic minerals, metals

Major trade partners

exports (1985)— 35% US, 17% El Salvador, 6% Honduras, 5% Costa Rica; imports (1983)— 33% US, 10% El Salvador, 8% Netherland Antilles, 7% Mexico, 7% Venezuela

Member of

CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDE — Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ISO, ITU, IWC— International Wheat Council, OAS, ODECA, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPEB, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO Economy

Military budget

proposed for fiscal year ending 31 December 1985, $198.4 million; 15.5% of central government budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, 89,000 North Pacific Ocean See regional mtp III Land 108,780 km2; the size of Tennessee; 57% forest; 14% cultivated; 10% pasture; 19% other

males 15-49, 1,985,000; 1,347,000 fit for military service; about 77, 000 reach military age (18) annually

Monetary conversion rate

1 quetzal=US$l (official; December 1985); 3.30 quetzals= US$1 (unofficial; December 1985)

National holiday

Independence Day, 15 September

Nationality

noun — Guatemalan(s); adjective— Guatemalan

Natural resources

oil, nickel, rare woods, fish, chicle

Official name

Republic of Guatemala

Organized labor

10% of labor force (1985) Government

Other political or pressure groups

Federated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACIF), Mutual Support Group (GAM)

Pipelines

crude oil, 48 km

Political subdivisions

22 departments

Population

8,600,000 (July 1986), average annual growth rate 3.0%

Ports

1 major (Pointe-a-Pitre), 3 minor

2 major (San Jose East [Puerto Quetzal], Santo Tomas de Castilla), 3 minor

Railroads

870 km 0.914-meter gauge, single track; 780 km government owned, 90 km privately owned

Religion

predominantly Roman Catholic; also Protestant, traditional Mayan

Suffrage

universal over age 18, compulsory for literates, optional for illiterates

Telecommunications

domestic facilities inadequate; 57,300 telephones (17.4 per 100 popl.); interisland radio-relay to Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, and Martinique; 2 AM, 3 FM, 9 TV stations; 1 INTELSAT satellite station Defense Forces Defense is responsibility of France

fairly modern telecom network centered on Guatemala; 97,670 telephones (1.6 per lOOpopl.); 93 AM, 24 TV stations; connection into Central American microwave net; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station Defense Forces

Type

republic

Voting strength

(November 1985) DCG 648,681 (38.65%), UCN 339,522(20.23%), PDCN/PR 231,397 (13.78%), MLN/PID 210,806 (12.56%), CAN 105,473 (6.28%), PSD 57,362 (3.41%), PNR 52,941 (3.15%), PUA/FUN/MEC 32,1 18 (1.91%); (December 1985) DCB 51 seats, UCN 22 seats, MLN 12 seats, PDCN/PR 11 seats, PSD 2 seats, PNR 1 seat, CAN 1 seat