On December 29, 1996, the Government of Guatemala and the "Unidad Nacional Revolucionaria Guatemalteca" (URNG) signed the "firm and lasting peace agreement" that put an end to the internal conflict that devastated Guatemala for more than three decades. The file contains the agreements signed by the Government of Guatemala and the URNG seeking a peaceful solution to the internal armed conflict that ravaged the country between 1960 and 1996. This conflict confronted Guatemalans in a fratricidal war, leaving as a result 200,000 people dead and disappeared, a million and a half displaced to other countries as well as internal population uprooted from their natural environment.
The peace agreements constitute the culmination of thirteen years of negotiations to find human and legal mechanisms for dialogue between the state and the opposition groups, and make possible to examine the conditions that generated the conflict. The objective was to instigate, through negotiation, dialogue and consensus on commitments of a social, military and economic nature that would lead the country towards peace.
The URNG, composed of four insurgent organizations opposed to the government, became the interlocutor of the State for the final signing of the ceasefire. It was necessary to include the opinion of organised civil society in the instances of dialogue, and this was formalized with the creation of the Civil Society Assembly comprised of 54 organizations. Its contributions are contained in this file, which includes the creation of the Commission for the clarification of human rights violations, the resettlement of the communities, matters regarding the identity and rights of indigenous peoples, and the role of the army in a democratic society.
