Guarding Privileges and Saving the Day: Guatemalan Elites and the Settlement of the Serranazo

Abstract

In retrospect, it seems apparent that the government of Jorge Elias Serrano (1991–1993) was bound to break down. Political analysts, journalists, and other observers recognized the signs from Serrano’s first day in power: only 18 of the 116 members of Congress belonged to the President’s recently constituted party, the Solidarity Action Movement (Movimiento de Acción Solidaria, MAS). His presidency reads like a tale of a breakdown foretold.