Military Reform – 2000

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Military Reform – 2000

2000

Intermediate Implementation Intermediate implementation

The Government began to make progress toward dissolving the Presidential General Staff (EMP), which was responsible for many human rights violations during the armed conflict. As an alternative, the Government created the Secretariat of Administrative Affairs and Security (SAAS).1

The posture of the Armed Forces toward civilian affairs was not conducive to the relationship envisioned by the agreements. The Guatemalan military still operated as a counter-insurgency force in many ways, and as such tended to treat the civilian population as potential enemies. Civilian affairs in the military spent their time tracking the political leanings of civilians and continued to deploy “psychological operations squadrons” and “ideological operators.” The Armed Forces also continued their involvement in matters of public safety, bolstered by the Support for Civil Security Forces Act passed by Congress. These trends defied the demilitarization of public security mandated in the peace agreements.2

The time line of the peace agreements originally stipulated the end of 2000 as the deadline for compliance with military reform components. Since the Government had fallen too far behind to meet this deadline, the Follow-up Commission rescheduled the final deadline for 2004. Among the delayed commitments were the creation of a new military doctrine, changes to the military education system and intelligence programs, and the termination of the EMP.3

While the 2000 budget was set to allocate the appropriate amount for military spending (0.66% of GDP), the Executive ended up transferring so much more money to the Ministry of Defense that actual expenditures reached 0.83%.4

As of 2000, the military strength of Guatemala was 31,000 personnel, which was an increase of 1,000 personnel from 1999.5

  1. “Verification Report: Status of the Commitments of the Peace Agreements Relating to the Armed Forces.”
  2. “United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala: Report of the Secretary-General,” United Nations General Assembly (A/55/175), July 26, 2000.
  3. “Verification Report: Status of the Commitments of the Peace Agreements Relating to the Armed Forces.”
  4. Ibid.
  5. D. Scott Bennett and Allan Stam, “EUGene: A Conceptual Manual.”