Waging Peace:  Guatemala

Monitoring Elections

2003 Elections
A small Carter Center delegation observed Guatemala's 2003 electoral process, focusing on human rights and campaign finance issues relevant to the presidential, legislative, and mayoral elections. The Center's election project sought to heighten domestic and international attention to a broad range of issues, including concerns about voters' access to the polls, access to the media and public resources for all political parties, and significant pre-electoral intimidation and violence.

The November 2003 elections demonstrated an urgent need for full protection of all human rights; economic justice for rural and indigenous people; legislative action, including campaign finance reform; and comprehensive civic education programs. Read full text >

Election Reports

View Carter Center election reports for Guatemala >

Honoring Human Rights

The Carter-Menil Human Rights Prize was awarded in 1986 to Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo, a Guatemala human rights group founded by relatives of the disappeared. In 1990, the prize was awarded to The Consejo de Comunidades Etnicas Runujel Junam, a group formed in 1988 by a Mayan community to monitor and defend human rights and fundamental freedoms.

President Carter and Dominique de Menil established the $100,000 prize to enable human rights activists to continue their work and focus global attention on their struggles for justice. The prize was awarded annually until 1994 to individuals or organizations for their outstanding efforts on behalf of human rights.

Urging a Moratorium on Arms Sales

Although Latin America spends relatively less on defense than most other regions, expenditures on expensive weapons systems divert scarce foreign exchange from more effective investments, and compel neighbors to spend more on defense and, by doing so, generate international tensions. Concerned about an arms race in Latin America, the Carter Center's Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas urged governments in the region to pause before embarking on major arms purchases. Between April 1997 and March 1998, 28 current heads of government and 14 former heads of government signed a written pledge to accept a moratorium of two years on purchasing sophisticated weapons. Among the signatories were Guatemala President Alavaro Enrique Arzu Irigoyen and former President Vinicio Cerezo.

Learn more about the Carter Center's Americas Program >