The World Factbook (1982)/Guatemala

by the Central Intelligence Agency

GUATEMALA

(See reference map III)

LAND

108,880 km²; 14% cultivated, 10% pasture, 57% forest, 19% other

Land boundaries: 1,625 km

WATER

Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 12 nm (fishing 200 nm; 200 nm exclusive economic zone)

Coastline: 400 km

PEOPLE

Population: 7,537,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 3.1%

Nationality: noun—Guatemalan(s); adjective—Guatemalan

Ethnic divisions: 58.6% Ladino (mestizo and westernized Indian), 41.4% Indian

Religion: predominantly Roman Catholic

Language: Spanish, but over 40% of the population speaks an Indian language as a primary tongue

Literacy: about 30%

Labor force (1974): 1.8 million; 52.5% agriculture, 10.1% manufacturing, 21.7% services, 7.9% commerce, 3.9% construction, 2.1% transport, 0.7% mining, 1.2% electrical, 0.8% other; unemployment estimates vary from 3% to 25%

Organized labor: 6.4% of labor force (1975)

GOVERNMENT

Official name: Republic of Guatemala

Type: republic

Capital: Guatemala

Political subdivisions: 22 departments

Legal system: civil law system; constitution came into effect 1966; constitution suspended following March 1982 coup; judicial review of legislative acts; legal education at University of San Carlos of Guatemala; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Independence Day, 15 September

Branches: traditionally dominant executive; elected unicameral legislature; seven-member (minimum) Supreme Court

Government leader: military junta under the presidency of Gen. (Ret.) Efrain RIOS MONTT following coup of 23 March 1982, which removed President Maj. Gen. Fernando Romeo Lucas García; Gen. Angel Anibal Guevara had been elected president in the March 1982 election and was scheduled to take office on 1 July 1982

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

Elections: last elections (President and Congress) 7 March 1982

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Institutional Party (PID), Donaldo Alvarez Ruiz; Revolutionary Party (PR), Jorge García-Granados Quiñonez (secretary general); National Liberation Movement (MLN), Mario Sandoval Alarcón; Guatemalan Christian Democratic Party (DCG), Vinicio Cerezo Arevalo (secretary general); René de Léon Schlotter (honorary president and party strongman); Nationalist Authentic Central (CAN), Luis Alfonso López (secretary general), Gustavo Anzueto Vielman (secretary and 1982 presidential candidate), Gen. Carlos Arana Osorio (party strongman); National United Front (FUN), Col. Enrique Peralta Azurdia; Nationalist Renovator Party (PNR), Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre; United Revolutionary Party (FUR); suspended political activity of all parties following March 1982 coup

Voting strength: (1978) for President—PID/PR, 269,973 (42.3%); MLN, 211,393 (33.1%); DCG, 156,730 (24.6%); for congressional seats—PID/PR, 34 seats; MLN, 20 seats; DCG, 7 seats

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

Other political or pressure groups: Federated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACIF)

Member of: CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, ISO, ITU, IWC—International Wheat Council, OAS, ODECA, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPEB, UPU, WHO, WMO

ECONOMY

GNP: $7.8 billion (1980 est.), $1,080 per capita; 76% private consumption, 7% government consumption, 22% domestic investment (1978), -5% net foreign balance (1978); average annual real growth rate (1974-80), 4.3%

Agriculture: main products—coffee, cotton, corn, beans, sugarcane, bananas, livestock; caloric intake, 2,156 calories per day per capita (1977)

Major industries: food processing, textiles and clothing, furniture, chemicals, nonmetallic minerals, metals

Electric power: 420,000 kW capacity (1980); 1.43 billion kWh produced (1980), 200 kWh per capita

Exports: $1,757 million (f.o.b., 1980); coffee, cotton, sugar, bananas, meat

Imports: $1,971 million (c.i.f., 1980); manufactured products, machinery, transportation equipment, chemicals, fuels

Major trade partners: exports (1979)—31% US, 26% CACM, 10% West Germany, 9% Japan; imports (1979)—33% US, 15% CACM, 10% Venezuela, 10% Japan, 6% West Germany

Aid: economic commitments—US, including Ex-Im (FY70-80), $241 million; from other Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF, $99 million; military—assistance from US (FY70-79), $22 million

Central government budget (1981 est.): expenditures, $1,280 million; revenues, $815 million

Monetary conversion rate: 1 quetzal=US$1 (official)

Fiscal year: calendar year

COMMUNICATIONS

Railroads: 909 km, 0.914-meter gauge, single tracked; 819 km government owned, 90 km privately owned

Highways: 26,429 km total; 2,851 km paved, 11,438 km gravel, and 12,140 unimproved

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

Pipelines: crude oil, 48 km

Ports: 2 major (San Jose, and Santo Tomas de Castilla), 3 minor

Civil air: 14 major transport aircraft, including 1 leased in

Airfields: 532 total, 527 usable; 10 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 17 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: modern telecom facilities limited to Guatemala City; 70,600 telephones (1.4 per 100 popl.); 97 AM, 20 FM, and 25 TV stations; connection into Central American microwave net; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station

DEFENSE FORCES

Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,750,000; 1,189,000 fit for military service; about 82,000 reach military age (18) annually

Military budget: proposed for fiscal year ending 31 December 1981, $79.0 million; 5.4% of central government budget