Guatemala, 1989 — military coup attempt

Event Summary

On 9 May 1989 a second coup attempt was mounted against President Vinicio Cerezo of Guatemala, following a first attempt exactly a year earlier in May 1988. Cerezo, the Christian Democrat who in 1986 had become Guatemala's first elected civilian president after decades of military rule, continued to govern under the tutelage of a powerful army that fiercely guarded its autonomy and prosecuted a brutal counterinsurgency war. The May 1989 attempt was led by hardline air force and army officers opposed to Cerezo's government, who resented civilian oversight, the economic crisis, and any prospect of accountability or negotiation with the leftist insurgency.

As in 1988, the coup was suppressed with the backing of loyalist commanders who, while sharing many of the rebels' grievances, were unwilling to overturn the constitutional order outright. Cerezo survived this second challenge and, against considerable odds, completed his term, handing power in 1991 to an elected successor, Jorge Serrano, in a landmark if fragile continuation of civilian rule, even as the army retained decisive power and the long civil war continued until the peace accords of 1996.