Guatemala Government

What is the capital of Guatemala?

Country Name	Guatemala
Full Country Name	Republic of Guatemala
Local - Long	Republica de Guatemala
Local - Short	Guatemala
Etymology- history of name	name derives from the Maya word meaning "Land of Trees"
Government Type	presidential republic
Capital Name	Guatemala City
Capital - geographic coordinate	14 37 N, 90 31 W
Capital Time Difference	UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Independence	15 September 1821 (from Spain)
National Holiday	Independence Day, 15 September (1821)
Constitution	history: several previous; latest adopted 31 May 1985, effective 14 January 1986; suspended and reinstated in 1994 amendments: proposed by the president of the republic, by agreement of 10 or more deputies of Congress, by the Constitutional Court, or by public petition of at least 5,000 citizens; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote by the Congress membership and approval by public referendum, referred to as "popular consultation"; constitutional articles such as national sovereignty, the republican form of government, limitations on those seeking the presidency, or presidential tenure cannot be amended; amended 1994

Guatemala Capital City Map

Source: Google Maps

Guatemala Government and Politics

Who is the president of Guatemala?

Executive Branch:	chief of state: President Alejandro GIAMMATTEI (since 14 January 2020); Vice President Cesar Guillermo CASTILLO Reyes (since 14 January 2020); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government head of government: President Alejandro GIAMMATTEI (since 14 January 2020); Vice President Cesar Guillermo CASTILLO Reyes (since 14 January 2020) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections/appointments: president and vice president directly elected on the same ballot by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 4-year term (not eligible for consecutive terms); election last held on 16 June 2019 with a runoff on 11 August 2019 (next to be held in June 2023) election results: Alejandro GIAMMATTEI elected president; percent of vote in first round - Sandra TORRES (UNE) 25.54%, Alejandro GIAMMATTEI (VAMOS) 13.95%, Edmond MULET (PHG) 11.21%, Thelma CABRERA (MLP) 10.37%, Roberto ARZU (PAN-PODEMOS) 6.08%; percent of vote in second round - Alejandro GIAMMATTEI (VAMOS) 58%, Sandra TORRES (UNE) 42%
Citizenship Criteria:	citizenship by birth: yes citizenship by descent: yes dual citizenship recognized: yes residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years with no absences of six consecutive months or longer or absences totaling more than a year
Legal System:	civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts
Suffrage:	18 years of age; universal; note - active duty members of the armed forces and police by law cannot vote and are restricted to their barracks on election day
Legislative Branch:	description: unicameral Congress of the Republic or Congreso de la Republica (158 seats; 127 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies in the country's 22 departments by simple majority vote and 31 directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by closed-list, proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms); note - two additional seats will be added to the new congress when it is seated in January 2020 elections: last held on 16 June 2019 (next to be held on June 2023) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UNE 53, VAMOS 16, UCN 12, VALOR 9, BIEN 8, FCN-NACION 8, SEMILLA 7, TODOS 7, VIVA 7, CREO 6, PHG 6, VICTORIA 4, Winaq 4, PC 3, PU 3, URNG 3, PAN 2, MLP 1, PODEMOS 1 note: current seats by party as of 1 June 2019 - FCN 37, UNE 32, MR 20, TODOS 17, AC 12, EG 7, UCN 6, CREO 5, LIDER 5, VIVA 4, Convergence 3, PAN 3, PP 2, FUERZA 1, PU 1, URNG 1, Winaq 1, independent 1; composition - men 136, women 22, percent of women 13.9%
Judicial Branch:	highest courts: Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (consists of 13 magistrates, including the court president and organized into 3 chambers); note - the court president also supervises trial judges countrywide; Constitutional Court or Corte de Constitucionalidad (consists of 5 titular magistrates and 5 substitute magistrates) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court magistrates elected by the Congress of the Republic from candidates proposed by the Postulation Committee, an independent body of deans of the country's university law schools, representatives of the country's law associations, and representatives of the Courts of Appeal; magistrates elected for concurrent, renewable 5-year terms; Constitutional Court judges - 1 elected by the Congress of the Republic, 1 by the Supreme Court, 1 by the president of the republic, 1 by the (public) University of San Carlos, and 1 by the Assembly of the College of Attorneys and Notaries; judges elected for renewable, consecutive 5-year terms; the presidency of the court rotates among the magistrates for a single 1-year term subordinate courts: numerous first instance and appellate courts
Regions or States:	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
Political Parties and Leaders:	Commitment, Renewal, and Order or CREO [Roberto GONZALEZ Diaz-Duran] Convergence [Sandra MORAN] Encounter for Guatemala or EG [Nineth MONTENEGRO Cottom] Everyone Together for Guatemala or TODOS [Felipe ALEJOS] Force or FUERZA [Mauricio RADFORD] Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity or Winaq-URNG [Gregorio CHAY Laynez] National Advancement Party or PAN [Harald JOHANNESSEN] National Convergence Front or FCN National Unity for Hope or UNE [Sandra TORRES] Nationalist Change Union or UCN [Mario ESTRADA] Patriotic Party or PP Political Movement Winaq or WINAQ [Sonia GUTIERREZ Raguay] Reform Movement or MR Renewed Democratic Liberty or LIDER (dissolved mid-February 2016) Unionista Party or PU [Alvaro ARZU Escobar] Vision with Values or VIVA [Armando Damian CASTILLO Alvarado] note: parties represented in the last election, but have since dissolved - FCN (2017), LIDER (2016), and PP (2017)
International Law Organization Participation:	has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
International Organization Participation:	BCIE, CACM, CD, CELAC, EITI (compliant country), FAO, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUSCO, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, Pacific Alliance (observer), PCA, Petrocaribe, SICA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNISFA, UNITAR, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic Representation in the US:	chief of mission: Ambassador Manuel Alfredo ESPINA Pinto (since 8 September 2017) chancery: 2220 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 745-4952 FAX: [1] (202) 745-1908 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Lake Worth (FL), Los Angeles, McAllen (TX), Miami, New York, Phoenix, Providence (RI), San Francisco, Silver Spring (MD), Tucson (AZ) consulate(s): Del Rio (TX), San Bernardino (CA), Silver Spring (MD), Tucson (AZ)
Diplomatic Representation from US:	chief of mission: Ambassador Luis E. ARREAGA (since 4 October 2017) embassy: 7-01 Avenida Reforma, Zone 10, Guatemala City mailing address: DPO AA 34024 telephone: [502] 2326-4000 FAX: [502] 2326-4654

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