Government (Guatemala)
======================


     Long-form name:
         Republic of Guatemala
     Type:
         republic
     Capital:
         Guatemala
     Administrative divisions:
         22 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Alta Verapaz, Baja
         Verapaz, Chimaltenango, Chiquimula, El Progreso, Escuintla, Guatemala,
         Huehuetenango, Izabal, Jalapa, Jutiapa, Peten, Quetzaltenango, Quiche,
         Retalhuleu, Sacatepequez, San Marcos, Santa Rosa, Solola, Suchitepequez,
         Totonicapan, Zacapa
     Independence:
         15 September 1821 (from Spain)
     Constitution:
         31 May 1985, effective 14 January 1986
     Legal system:
         civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted
         compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
     National holiday:
         Independence Day, 15 September (1821)
     Executive branch:
         president, vice president, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
     Legislative branch:
         unicameral Congress of the Republic (Congreso de la Republica)
     Judicial branch:
         Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia)
     Leaders:
       Chief of State and Head of Government:
         President Jorge SERRANO Elias (since 14 January 1991); Vice President
         Gustavo ESPINA Salguero (since 14 January 1991)
     Political parties and leaders:
         National Centrist Union (UCN), Jorge CARPIO Nicolle; Solidarity Action
         Movement (MAS), Jorge SERRANO Elias; Christian Democratic Party (DCG),
         Alfonso CABRERA Hidalgo; National Advancement Party (PAN), Alvaro ARZU
         Irigoyen; National Liberation Movement (MLN), Mario SANDOVAL Alarcon; Social
         Democratic Party (PSD), Mario SOLARZANO Martinez; Popular Alliance 5 (AP-5),
         Max ORLANDO Molina; Revolutionary Party (PR), Carlos CHAVARRIA; National
         Authentic Center (CAN), Hector MAYORA Dawe; Democratic Institutional Party
         (PID), Oscar RIVAS; Nationalist United Front (FUN), Gabriel GIRON;
         Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG), Efrain RIOS Montt
     Suffrage:
         universal at age 18
     Elections:
       Congress:
         last held on 11 November 1990 (next to be held 11 November 1995); results -
         UCN 25.6%, MAS 24.3%, DCG 17. 5%, PAN 17.3%, MLN 4.8%, PSD/AP-5 3.6%, PR
         2.1%; seats - (116 total) UCN 38, DCG 27, MAS 18, PAN 12, Pro - Rios Montt
         10, MLN 4, PR 1, PSD/AP-5 1, independent 5
       President:
         runoff held on 11 January 1991 (next to be held 11 November 1995); results -
         Jorge SERRANO Elias (MAS) 68.1%, Jorge CARPIO Nicolle (UCN) 31.9%
     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