He was a moderate of Guatemala's Liberal Party, who worked to solidify the less controversial of the reforms of late president Justo Rufino Barrios.

In July 1871, Barrios, together with other generals and dissidents, issued the " Plan for the Fatherland " proposing to overthrow Guatemala's long entrenched Conservadora ( conservative ) administration ; soon after, they succeeded in doing so, and General García Granados was declared president and Barrios commander of the armed forces.

Due to concerns over serious worker rights protection issues, however, Guatemala's benefits under both the CBTPA and GSP are currently under review.

As a further sign of the seriousness with which the United States views these issues, Ambassador Barshefsky is initiating immediately a review of Guatemala's eligibility as a beneficiary country under the Generalized System of Preferences ( GSP ).

The only civilian to occupy Guatemala's presidency during the long period of military rule between 1954 and 1986, Méndez was not allowed to act independently of the military and was widely considered to be a military puppet ; Mendez had assumed the presidency under a pact in July, 1966 that gave the armed forces carte blanche with respect to internal security matters and an effective veto over governmental policy.

* Justo Rufino Barrios Monument ( Monument of one of Guatemala's much acclaimed past President, responsible for the introduction of the railroads among other services to the country.

It was Guatemala's main port on the Caribbean Sea before the construction of nearby Puerto Barrios.

The small town of Izabal is on the south shore of the lake ; before the construction of the ports of Livingston and Puerto Barrios in the 19th century this was Guatemala's main Caribbean Sea port and was the original seat of Izabal department ; nowadays, however, Izabal town is a remote village that gets little traffic.

The department of Izabal includes the ports of Puerto Barrios ( the departmental seat ), Santo Tomás de Castilla, Livingston and Guatemala's free trade zone Zolic.

Guatemala's incumbent telephone company is TELGUA, who won the bidding of the privatization of the government run GUATEL.

In contrast to his popularity, he is at times rejected by Maya cultural activists who consider his status as a national hero a source of irony, considering the long history of mistreatment of Guatemala's native population.

In the 1990 and 1995 elections its presidential candidate was Álvaro Arzú who won in 1995, becoming Guatemala's 32nd president ( 1996 – 2000 ).

The city is home of the football club Deportivo Marquense who play in Guatemala's Premier League in the Estadio Marquesa de la Ensenada.

Dulce Nombre de Maria was established in 1790 by several Spanish families who were sent by Baron Carandelet, general captain of Guatemala's Kingdom.

He also stated that he would modernize Guatemala's infrastructure and do so without the aid of foreign capital.

Menchú has dedicated her life to publicizing the plight of Guatemala's indigenous peoples during and after the Guatemalan Civil War ( 1960 – 1996 ), and to promoting indigenous rights in the country.

The two sky blue stripes represent the fact that Guatemala is a land located between two oceans, the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean ( Caribbean sea ); and the sky over the country ( see Guatemala's National Anthem ).

On May 18, 2006, Guatemala's Congress ratified CAFTA-DR and on July 1, 2006, the treaty went into effect for that country.

Arévalo's 1944 election is considered by historians the first fair and democratic election in Guatemala's republican history ; since independence from Spain, the country had seen a series of dictatorships.

The review of Guatemala's eligibility for the enhanced CBI preferences involved extensive consideration of the worker rights situation in that country.

In their responses to U. S. concerns, Guatemala's Vice President, Minister of Labor, and other officials have demonstrated considerable good faith in seeking to improve the worker rights situation in their country.

With close to a million speakers ( some 7 % of Guatemala's population ), the K ' iche ' complex is the second-most widely spoken language in the country after Spanish.

Within days of Mendez taking office, US Colonel John Webber Jr. was dispatched to the country to assist in modernizing Guatemala's counterinsurgency apparatus.

It appears, however, that Covenant House has sponsored a new organization in Guatemala, however-Asociacion La Alianza-which is in the process of relaunching activities based out of Casa Alianza Guatemala's former facilities.

Since then, Guatemala's history has been divided into periods of democratic rule and periods of civil war and military juntas.

Guatemala's Rafael Carrera was instrumental in leading the revolt against the federal government and breaking apart the Union.

President Portillo pledged to maintain strong ties to the United States, further enhance Guatemala's growing cooperation with Mexico, and participate actively in the integration process in Central America and the Western Hemisphere.

Most of Guatemala's population is rural, though urbanization is accelerating.

Guatemala's 1985 Constitution provides for a separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.

Given Guatemala's large expatriate community in the United States, it is the top remittance recipient in Central America, with inflows serving as a primary source of foreign income equivalent to nearly two-thirds of exports.

Guatemala's Gross domestic product for 2000 was estimated at $ 19. 1 billion, with real growth slowing to approximately 3. 3 %.

Guatemala's economy is dominated by the private sector, which generates about 85 % of GDP.

The United States is the country's largest trading partner, providing 36 % of Guatemala's imports and receiving 40 % of its exports.

Import tariffs have been lowered in conjunction with Guatemala's Central American neighbors so that most fall between 0 % and 15 %, with further reductions planned.

Responding to Guatemala's changed political and economic policy environment, the international community has mobilized substantial resources to support the country's economic and social development objectives.

Guatemala's social indicators, such as infant mortality and illiteracy, are successively improving, but remain in low growth and are still among the worst in the hemisphere.

Colom stated that the situation is the combined result of a number of factors, including a severe drought and global warming, which have reduced the domestic food supply, and the Global financial crisis, which has reduced Guatemala's ability to import food.

A number of international organizations have expressed concern with Guatemala's current economic status in 2009.

An officer cadet from Guatemala's military academy, Escuela Politécnica.

Guatemala's major diplomatic interests are regional security and, increasingly, regional development and economic integration.

USAID / Guatemala's current program builds on the gains of the peace process that followed the signing of the peace accords in December 1996, as well as on the achievements of its 1997-2004 peace program.

The current program works to advance U. S. foreign policy objectives by focusing on Guatemala's potential as Central America's largest economy and trading partner of the United States, but also recognizes the country's lagging social indicators and high rate of poverty.