Human Rights Watch has been monitoring human rights conditions in Guatemala for over twenty years. The
situation we find there today is both frustrating and alarming. It is frustrating because, seventeen years after the
return of civilian rule and seven years after the signing of peace accords, Guatemala has made little progress
toward securing the protection of human rights and rule of law that are essential features of a functioning
democracy. It is alarming because on-going acts of political violence and intimidation threaten to reverse the
little progress that has been made in recent years.