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- Guatemala, with 30 volcanoes spread throughout the highlands and featuring Atitlán Lake, is a beautiful country full of wonders and legends.
- However, the country has suffered from civil wars, corruption, and natural disasters for many years.
- 50,000 to 60,000 people were killed during the political violence of the 70s.
- 1976, a severe earthquake killed about 22,000 people and left around a million people homeless.
- During the civil war of the 1980s, it was estimated that 15,000 civilians died and 100,000 refugees (mostly indigenous Mayan) fled over the border to Mexico.
- The Peace accords were signed on the 29th of December 1996, putting an end to the 36-year civil war.
- In November 1999, the country held its first peacetime elections in nearly 40 years. However, it didn’t put an end to discrimination, political violence and corruption.
- The new government will be elected at the end of 2007 and hopefully with a new political direction, the violence will be reduced, the education system will be improved, more opportunities will be offered to people in rural area and less discriminations.
- About 13 million people live in Guatemala and over 50% are of Mayan origin. Most of them are living in poverty and suffer from malnutrition. They are discriminated against and have been deprived of education.
- The official average rate of adult illiteracy in Guatemala is 37% for males and 53% for females, the second highest in the Western Hemisphere. A Guatemalan organization specializing in Mayan women’s concerns estimates that 95% of rural women (mostly Mayan) are illiterate.
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