Guatemala, the country of the future

by Charles M. Pepper

The executive power is exercised by the President of the Republic, who, for the transaction of public business, appoints six Ministers or Secretaries of State, who have charge of the portfolios of Foreign Relations, Government and Justice, the Treasury and Public Credit, War, Public Works, and Public Instruction.

There is also a Council of State, a purely advisory body, which is composed of the Cabinet Ministers and nine other members, of whom five are appointed by the Assembly and four by the President. These appointments are for two years.

The judicial power is exercised by the courts and judges of the Republic, organized as follows:

The Supreme Court of Justice, which sits at the capital of Guatemala and is composed of the President of the Judicial Power, four Magistrates, and an Attorney (Fiscal).

Six Courts or Tribunals of Appeals, composed of three Magistrates, of whom one presides, and an Attorney (Fiscal). Three of these Courts sit at the Capital and one in each of the capitals of the Departments of Quezaltenango, Alta Verapaz, and Jalapa. The Magistrates and Attorneys are elected, by popular vote.

The Judges of the Courts of First Instance, of whom there are six in the Capital, three in Quezaltenango, two in San Marcos, and one in each of the remaining Departments of the Republic. These Judges are appointed by the Executive from three names proposed by the Supreme Court of Justice.

Finally, the Justices of the Peace who pronounce oral judgments and are elected by the people of the districts in which they exercise their functions.

For the exercise of the political, civil, and military administration of the country it is divided into twenty-two Departments, each of which has a Governor (Jefe Politico) invested with the executive functions. For the administration of the local affairs of each district there are popularly elected Municipal Councils. The service of the members of the Councils is for one year, is obligatory for the citizens of the respective districts, and is not remunerated.

The Constitution of the Republic gives to all those who live in the country the most ample guaranties of liberty, equality, and security of their persons, their honor, and their property; of freedom of movement and of assembly, of professions, of industries, and of commerce; of the right to dispose of their property, to address petitions to the authorities and to defend their interests before them; of liberty of conscience, inasmuch as there is no official religion; of the right to freely express their opinions, whether by speech, or by writing, or by means of the press, without being subject to censure; of liberty to give or receive instruction, if they should so prefer, in private educational establishments; of the right to have their residences, their property, their correspondence, and other papers respected as inviolable; of the right of habeas corpus; of liberty of defence in judicial proceedings, etc.