Guatemala’s Peace Accords turn 30 on 29 December 2026. On 29 December 1996 the government and the URNG guerrilla coalition signed the Agreement on a Firm and Lasting Peace, the last of 18 agreements in the peace process. As of 9 November 2026 the government has launched a commemorative campaign, and AGN, the state news agency, had reported no programme for the anniversary day.

In short: Anniversary: 29 December 2026 (30 years). What was signed: the Agreement on a Firm and Lasting Peace between the Government of Guatemala and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG), on 29 December 1996. The UN says this ended 36 years of internal conflict. The full set: the PA-X database lists 18 agreements signed between 30 March 1990 and 29 December 1996. Announced for the 30th: COPADEH’s Acuerdos de Paz 2026-2027 campaign, launched on 24 April 2026. Not in AGN’s coverage: a place or time for an event on 29 December 2026 (AGN site search, 9 November 2026).

What was signed on 29 December 1996

The UN Peacekeeping background page on MINUGUA opens with the basic fact: “Thirty-six years of internal conflict in Guatemala came to an end on 29 December 1996”. On that date the Government of Guatemala and the URNG signed the Agreement on a Firm and Lasting Peace. The same page explains why this one text matters so much: it “brought into effect a number of previous agreements negotiated over a period of six years under United Nations auspices”.

So the Peace Accords (Acuerdos de Paz) are a package, not a single treaty. The substantive agreements on human rights, indigenous peoples, land and the economy, the army, the constitution and the reintegration of the URNG were negotiated separately between 1994 and 1996. The final agreement switched them all on.

The 18 agreements, in order

This list comes from the PA-X Peace Agreements Database (University of Edinburgh), filtered to the Guatemala peace process. Names are PA-X’s English titles (URNG abbreviated); dates are the signing dates PA-X records.

Date signedAgreement (PA-X title)
30 March 1990Basic Agreement for the Search for Peace by Political Means (Oslo Agreement)
1 June 1990El Escorial Agreement
26 April 1991Agreement on a General Agenda
26 April 1991Agreement on the Procedure for the Search for Peace by Political Means (The Mexico Agreement)
25 July 1991Framework Agreement on Democratization in the Search for Peace by Political Means (The Queretaro Agreement)
10 January 1994Framework Agreement for the Resumption of the Negotiating Process between the Govt of Guatemala and the URNG
29 March 1994Agreement on a Timetable for Negotiations of a Firm and Lasting Peace in Guatemala
29 March 1994Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights
17 June 1994Agreement on Resettlement of the Population Groups uprooted by the Armed Conflict
23 June 1994Agreement to establish Commission to clarify past human rights violations and acts of violence that caused the Guatemalan population to suffer
31 March 1995Agreement on the Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples
6 May 1996Agreement on the Social and Economic Aspects and Agrarian Situation
19 September 1996Agreement on the Strengthening of Civilian Power and on the Role of the Armed Forces in a Democratic Society
4 December 1996Agreement on a Definitive Ceasefire
7 December 1996Agreement on Constitutional Reforms and the Electoral Regime (Stockholm Agreement)
12 December 1996Agreement on the Basis for the Legal Integration of the URNG
29 December 1996Agreement on a Firm and Lasting Peace
29 December 1996Agreement on the Implementation, Compliance and Verification Timetable for the Peace Agreements

The UN’s MINUGUA page dates the ceasefire to 4 December 1996, the same date PA-X records, and places its signing in Oslo.

The UN’s role, with its numbers

According to the UN Peacekeeping background page:

  • 19 September 1994: the UN General Assembly (resolution A/RES/48/267) created MINUGUA, the mission to verify the 1994 Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights. It did this at the parties’ request, without waiting for a ceasefire or for the negotiations to finish.
  • 20 January 1997: after the ceasefire agreement, Security Council resolution 1094 (1997) attached a group of 155 military observers to MINUGUA for three months.
  • 3 March 1997: the observer group became fully operational, and the formal ceasefire took effect that day.
  • Demobilization: 2,928 URNG combatants were demobilized and given temporary identification cards, and 535,102 weapons and rounds of ammunition were handed over to MINUGUA.
  • 14 May 1997: URNG weapons, munitions and equipment were delivered to the Ministry of the Interior, which completed the military observers’ mandate.

The UN’s separate mission page dates the observer component to January to May 1997.

What has been announced for the 30th anniversary

The COPADEH campaign (24 April 2026). AGN reported that the Comisión Presidencial por la Paz y los Derechos Humanos (COPADEH) launched the communication campaign Acuerdos de Paz 2026-2027 in the Patio de la Paz of the Palacio Nacional de la Cultura. AGN described it as the start of the commemorative activities for the 30 years since the signing. The campaign has five pillars:

  1. Peace and democracy as inseparable.
  2. A living peace, practised day to day.
  3. Human rights applied in daily life.
  4. Historical memory as a guarantee of non-repetition.
  5. Young people as protagonists of the present and the future.

AGN lists the planned activities as national and local forums, dialogues with young people, conferences, educational materials, murals and cultural events, plus digital and social-media outreach. The article gives no dates or venues for these activities.

At the UN (September 2026). AGN’s report on Guatemala’s speech to the 81st UN General Assembly says Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martínez reminded the Assembly that Guatemala will commemorate 30 years of the Peace Accords in December.

What is not announced. As of 9 November 2026, AGN’s coverage (site search for acuerdos de paz 30, pages 1-2, that day) includes no published programme, venue or time for 29 December 2026. This page does not list an event for that day because AGN’s coverage carried none. It will be updated when the Presidency or COPADEH announces one.

How the anniversary has been marked recently

The most recent detailed account is the 28th anniversary. AGN reported that on 29 December 2024 President Bernardo Arévalo and Vice President Karin Herrera led the commemoration in the Patio de la Paz of the Palacio Nacional de la Cultura. The ceremony included the Cambio de la Rosa de la Paz (the changing of the peace rose), an act of honour that went that year to the young indigenous activist Margarita Cecilia Gutiérrez Tzoy. AGN’s report also says the agreement was backed by the United Nations and ended an internal armed conflict that lasted 36 years. The same courtyard was used for COPADEH’s April 2026 launch.

For background reading, see our books and films about Guatemala, and the department and town guides for Quiché and Nebaj. See also Garífuna Day in Livingston. For everything else on the late-December calendar, see Guatemala in December.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

When were the Guatemala Peace Accords signed?

The final accord, the Agreement on a Firm and Lasting Peace, was signed on 29 December 1996 by the Government of Guatemala and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG). The United Nations’ MINUGUA background page says this ended 36 years of internal conflict. The 30th anniversary falls on 29 December 2026.

How many agreements make up the Guatemalan peace accords?

The PA-X Peace Agreements Database lists 18 agreements in the Guatemala peace process, from the Oslo basic agreement of 30 March 1990 to the two final texts of 29 December 1996. The UN describes the 29 December 1996 agreement as bringing into effect a number of previous agreements negotiated over six years under UN auspices.

What is planned for the 30th anniversary in December 2026?

As of 9 November 2026, AGN, the state news agency, had published no programme for 29 December 2026 (agn.gt searched for acuerdos de paz 30 that day). On 24 April 2026, COPADEH, the presidential commission for peace and human rights, launched the Acuerdos de Paz 2026-2027 campaign, with forums, youth dialogues, conferences, educational materials, murals and cultural events. In September 2026, Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martínez told the UN General Assembly that Guatemala would commemorate the 30 years in December.

How is the anniversary usually marked?

With a state ceremony. For the 28th anniversary, on 29 December 2024, President Bernardo Arévalo and Vice President Karin Herrera led an event in the Patio de la Paz of the Palacio Nacional de la Cultura, including the Cambio de la Rosa de la Paz ceremony, according to AGN.

What did the UN do in the Guatemalan peace process?

The UN General Assembly created MINUGUA on 19 September 1994 to verify the 1994 Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights. After the ceasefire agreement of 4 December 1996, Security Council resolution 1094 (1997) added 155 military observers. According to the UN, 2,928 URNG combatants were demobilized in all.