Guatemala 1985 Constitution (reviewed 1993)

TITLE II. Human Rights

CHAPTER I. Individual Rights

Article 3. [The] Right to Life

The State guarantees and protects the human life from its conception, as well as the integrity and security of the person.

Article 4. Freedom and Equality

In Guatemala[,] all [of the] human beings are free and equal in dignity and rights. The man and the woman, whatever their civil status may be, have equal opportunities and responsibilities. No person can be subject to servitude or to another condition that diminishes his or her dignity. The human beings must exercise [guardar] brotherly behavior among them.

Article 5. [The] Freedom of Action

All persons have the right to do what the law does not prohibit; [the persons] are not obligated to obey orders that are not based in law or issued in accordance to it. Neither may they be persecuted or harassed for their opinions or for acts that do not imply an infraction of it.

Article 6. Legal Detention

No person may be arrested or detained, except for cause of [a] crime or [a] offense [falta] and by virtue of a order issued in accordance to the law [and] by a competent judicial authority. The cases of flagrant crime or offense are excepted. The detained [person] will be placed at the provision of the competent judicial authority within a time limit not exceeding six hours, and may not be subject to any other authority.

The functionary, or agent of the authority who infringes what is established in this Article will be sanctioned according to the Law, and the tribunals, of office, will initiate the corresponding process.

Article 7. Notification of the Cause of Detention

Any person [who is] detained must be notified immediately, in a verbal or written form, of the cause that motivated his [or her] detention, [the] authority which ordered it and the place where he [or she] will remain. The same notification must be made through the most rapid means to the person designated by the detained [person] and the authority will be responsible for the effectiveness of the notification.

Article 8. Rights of the Detained

All detained [persons] must be informed immediately of their rights in a form that will be understandable, especially [of the right] to use a defender [defensor], who may be present at all police and judicial diligences. The detained [person] cannot be obligated to testify except before a competent judicial authority.

Article 9. Interrogation [Interrogatorio] of Those Detained or Imprisoned

The judicial authorities are the only ones competent to interrogate those [who are] detained or imprisoned. This diligence must be practiced within a time that does not exceed twenty-four hours.

Extrajudicial questioning lacks any probatory value.

Article 10. Legal Detention Center

The persons apprehended by the authority may not be taken to places of detention, arrest, or imprisonment different from those which are legally and publicly designated to that effect. The provisional centers of detention, arrest, or imprisonment, shall be different from those where the sentences [condenas] are to be fulfilled.

The authorities and their agents, who violate what is established in this Article, will be personally responsible.

Article 11. Detention for Faults [Faltas] or Infractions

The persons whose identities can be established by means of documents, [through] the testimony of witnesses of substance [de persona de arraigo], or by [its] own authority, may not remain detained for faults or infractions.

In such cases, under the penalty of the corresponding sanction, the authority will limit its duty [cometido] to report the evidence to the competent judge and to warn the offender, as to appear before the same within the subsequent 48 business [hábiles] hours. To that effect, all of the days of the year, and within the hours comprehended between eight and eighteen hours[,] are business [hours].

Whoever disobeys the summons [emplazamiento] will be sanctioned according to the law. The person who may not be identified according to what is established in this Article, will be placed at the provision of the nearest judicial authority, within the first hour following his [or her] detention.

Article 12. Right to Defense

The defense of the person and his [or her] rights are inviolable. No one may be sentenced or deprived from his [or her] rights, without being summoned, heard and defeated in a legal process before a competent and pre-established judge and tribunal.

No person may be tried by Special or Secret Tribunals, nor through proceedings that are not pre-established legally.

Article 13. Motives for a Order [Auto] of Imprisonment

A order of imprisonment may not be dictated, without previous information of a crime having been committed and without the concurrence [of] sufficient rational motives to believe that the detained person has committed it or [has] participated in it.

The police authorities may not present[,] of office, before the media of social communication, any person who has not been previously investigated [indagada] by a competent tribunal.

Article 14. Presumption of Innocence and Publicity of the Process

Any person is innocent, while not being judicially declared responsible, in a duly executory sentence.

The detained, the offended, the Public Ministry and the attorneys who have been designated by the interested [persons], in a verbal or written form, have the right to take cognizance of, personally, all the actions, documents, and penal diligences without any reservation and in an immediate form.

Article 15. Non-retroactivity of the Law

The law does not have retroactive effect, except in penal matters when it favors the defendant [reo].

Article 16. Declaration against Oneself and [against] Relatives

In a penal process, no person can be obligated to testify against oneself, against his [or her] spouse or person of legal union, or against relatives within the levels [grados] of law.

Article 17. There Is No Offense or Penalty without a Prior Law

The actions or omissions that are not qualified as crimes or faults and that [are] punishable [penadas] by a law [that is] prior to their perpetration[,] are not punishable.

There is no prison for debt.

Article 18. Death Penalty

The death penalty may not be imposed in the following cases:

1. With basis on presumptions;
2. On women;
3. On those older than sixty years of age;
4. On those convicted of political and common crimes connected with political [ones]; and
5. On [those] convicted and whose extradition has been granted under such condition.

Against a sentence that imposes the death penalty, all of the pertinent legal recourses [recursos], including that of cassation[,] will be admissible; this [recourse] will always be admitted for its processing. The penalty will be executed after all of the recourses are exhausted.

The Congress of the Republic can abolish the death penalty.

Article 19. Penitentiary System

The penitentiary system must tend to the social rehabilitation and reeducation of the prisoners [reclusos] and to comply[,] in their treatment, with [observance to] the following minimum norms:

1. They must be treated as human beings; they must not be discriminated against for any reason whatsoever, or be infringed with cruel treatment, physical, moral, [or] psychic tortures, duress or harassments, labor incompatible with their physical state, actions that denigrate their dignity, or make them victims of exactions, or be submitted to scientific experiment.
2. They must fulfill the penalties in the places designated to such effect. The penal centers are of civil character and with specialized personnel; and
3. They have the right to communicate, when they so request, with their families, defense attorney, religious assistant or physician [medico], and in its case, with the diplomatic or consular representative of their own nationality.

The infraction of any of the norms established in this Article, gives the right to the detained [person] to claim of the State an indemnification for the damages caused[,] and the Supreme Court of Justice will order his [or her] immediate protection.

The State must create and promote the conditions for the exact fulfillment of what is provided for [perceptuado] in this Article.

Article 20. Minors of Age

The minors of age who violate [transgredan] the law are not imputable. Their treatment must be directed towards an integral education [that is] proper for childhood and adolescence.

The minors, whose conduct violates a penal law, will be assisted by specialized institutions and personnel. For no reason can they be incarcerated in penal centers or [centers] of detention [that are] intended for adults. A specific law will regulate this matter.

Article 21. Sanctions for Public Functionaries or Employees

The public functionaries or employees or [the] other persons who give or execute orders against the provisions in the two previous Articles, in addition to the sanctions imposed on them by the law, will be immediately removed [destituidos] from their offices [cargos], as the case may be, and disqualified from the holding of any public office or employment.

The custodian who makes inappropriate use of measures or arms against a detained or imprisoned [person], will be held responsible in accordance with the Penal Law. The crime committed in such circumstances is imprescriptible.

Article 22. Penal and Police Records

The penal and police records are not a cause for persons to be restricted in the exercise of their rights which are guaranteed by this Constitution and the laws of the Republic, except when they limited by the law, or in a final [firme] sentence, and for the term established in it.

Article 23. Inviolability of the Home

The home [vivienda] is inviolable. No one may penetrate the dwelling of someone else without the permission of the resident who inhabits it, except by the written order of a competent judge in which the reason for the diligence is specified and never before six or after eighteen hours. Such diligence will always be carried out in the presence of the interested party, or his [or her] representative [mandatario].

Article 24. Inviolability of Correspondence, Documents, and Books

The correspondence of any person, his [or her] documents, and books are inviolable. They may only be inspected or seized, by virtue of a firm resolution dictated by a competent judge and with the legal formalities. The secrecy of correspondence and telephone, radio, and cablegram communications and of other products of the modern technology is guaranteed.

The books, documents and archives related with the payment of taxes, rates, charges [arbitrios], and contributions, may be revised by the competent authority in accordance with the law. It is punishable to disclose the amount of taxes paid, [the] earnings, losses, expenses, and any other data referring to the revised accounts of individual or juridical persons, with the exception of general balances, of which publication is ordered by the law.

The documents or [the] information obtained in violation of this Article neither produce faith nor may be used as evidence in trial.

Article 25. Registry of Persons and Vehicles

The registry of the persons and of the vehicles, can only be drawn up [efectuarse] by the elements of the security forces when a justifying cause is established for the same. For that effect, the elements of the security forces must appear wearing the appropriate uniform and belong to the same sex as the subjects [being] requisitioned, having to keep the respect for the dignity, privacy and decorum of the persons.

Article 26. Freedom of Movement [Locomoción]

Any person has [the] freedom to enter, remain, transit, and exit from the national territory and change domiciles or residences, without other limitations than those established by the law.

No Guatemalan may be exiled or forbidden from entering the national territory or be denied a passport or other identification documents.

Guatemalans can enter and exit the country without fulfilling the requirement of a visa.

The law will determine the responsibilities incurred by those who infringe this provision.

Article 27. Right of Asylum

Guatemala recognizes the right of asylum and grants it in accordance with the international practices.

The extradition is regulated by that provided in the international treaties.

The extradition of Guatemalans will not be initiated for political crimes, and they will not be handed over to a foreign government, except for what is established in [the] treaties and conventions regarding crimes against humanity or against the international law.

The expulsion from the national territory of a political refugee will not be accorded, with destination to the country that seeks him [or her].

Article 28. Right of Petition

The inhabitants of the Republic of Guatemala have the right to direct, individually or collectively, petitions to the authority, who is obligated to process them and resolve them according to the law.

In administrative matters the term to resolve the petitions and to notify the resolutions may not exceed thirty days.

In fiscal matters, to challenge administrative resolutions in those procedures [expedientes] that originate in exceptions [reparos] or adjustments for any tax, the previous payment of the tax or any guarantee will not be required of the taxpayer [contribuyente].

Article 29. Free Access to Tribunals and Dependencies of the State

Every person has free access to the tribunals, dependencies and offices of the State, in order to exercise their actions and enforce their rights in accordance with the law.

Only foreigners may avail themselves of diplomatic channels in case of a denial of justice.

The sole fact that a resolution [fallo] may be adverse to their interests[,] is not qualified as such a denial[,] and in any case, the legal recourses established by the Guatemalan laws must have been exhausted.

Article 30. Publicity of the Administrative Acts

All of the acts of the administration are public. The interested [persons] are entitled to obtain, at any time, reports, copies, reproductions, and certifications that they [may] request and the display of the dossiers [expedientes] that they may wish to consult, except when dealing with military or diplomatic matters relating to national security, or details provided by individuals under the guarantee of confidentiality.

Article 31. Access to Archives and State Registries

All persons have the right to take cognizance of what the archives, records, or any other form of State registries contain about them, and [regarding] the purpose for which such data is used, as well as their correction, rectification, and updating [actualización]. Registries and records of political affiliation, except for those pertaining to the electoral authorities and to the political parties[,] are prohibited.

Article 32. Objective of [the] Summons

The appearance before an authority, functionary, or public employee is not obligatory, if in the corresponding summons the objective of the diligence is not expressly stated.

Article 33. Right of Assembly and Demonstration [Manifestación]

The right of peaceful assembly and without weapons is recognized.

The rights of assembly and of public demonstration may not be restricted, diminished, or restrained; and the law shall regulate them with the sole purpose of guaranteeing the public order.

The religious manifestations outside of temples are permitted and are regulated by the law.

For the exercise of these rights a prior notification by the organizers before the competent authority will suffice.

Article 34. Right of Association

The right of free association is recognized.

No one is obligated to associate [with] or to form part of mutual-interest [autodefensa] or similar groups or associations. The case of professional associations is excepted.

Article 35. Freedom of Expression of Thought

The expression of thought through any means of dissemination, without censorship or prior permission, is free. This constitutional right may not be restrained by [the] law or by any governmental provision. [The person] who by using the freedom should fail to respect private life or morals, will be held responsible in accordance with the law. Whoever may feel offended has the right of publication of his [or her] defense, clarifications, and rectifications.

The publications which contain denunciations, criticisms, or accusations [imputaciones] against functionaries or public employees for actions conducted in the performance of their duties[,] do not constitute a crime or a fault.

The functionaries and [the] public employees can request a tribunal of honor, composed in the form determined by the law, to declare that the publication that affects them is based on inaccurate facts or that the charges made against them are unfounded. A court ruling [fallo] that vindicates the offended, must be published in the same media of social communication where the accusation appeared.

The activity of the means of social communication is of public interest and in no case may they be expropriated. They may not be closed, attached [embargados], interfered with, confiscated, or seized [decomisados], nor may the enterprises, plants, equipment, machinery, and gear [enseres] of the means of communication be interrupted in their functioning, for faults or crimes in the expression of thought.

The access to the sources of information is free and no authority may limit this right.

The authorization, limitation or cancellation of the concessions granted by the State to persons, may not be used as elements of pressure or duress [coacción] to limit the exercise of the freedom of expression of thought.

A jury will take exclusive cognizance of the crimes or faults to which this Article refers.

Everything that relates to this constitutional right is regulated in the Constitutional Law for the Expression of Thought [Ley Constitucional de Emisión del Pensamiento].

The owners of the means of social communication must provide socio-economic coverage to their reporters, through the contracting of life insurance.

Article 36. Freedom of Religion

The exercise of all the religions is free. Any person has the right to practice his [or her] religion or belief, in public and in private, through teaching, cult and observance, without other limits than the public order and the due respect for the dignity of the hierarchy and the faithful [followers] of [the] other beliefs [credos].

Article 37. Juridical Personality of the Churches

The juridical personality of the Catholic Church is recognized. The other churches, cults, entities, and associations of religious character will obtain the recognition of their juridical personality in accordance with the rules of their institution[,] and the Government may not deny it[,] aside from reasons of public order.

The State will extend to the Catholic Church, without any cost, [the] titles of ownership of the real assets which it holds peacefully for its own purposes, as long as they have formed part of the patrimony of the Catholic Church in the past. The property assigned to third parties or those which the State has traditionally assigned to their services[,] may not be affected.

The real assets of the religious entities assigned [destinados] to cult, to education, and to social assistance, enjoy exemption from taxes, assessments, and contributions.

Article 38. Possession and Bearing of Arms

The right to own [tenencia] weapons for personal use, not prohibited by the law, in the place of inhabitation, is recognized. There will not be an obligation to hand them over, except in cases ordered by a competent judge.

The right to bear arms is recognized, [and is] regulated by the law.

Article 39. Private Property

Private property is guaranteed as a right inherent to the human person. Any person can freely dispose of his [or her] property in accordance with the law.

The State guarantees the exercise of this right and must create the conditions that enable [faciliten] the owner to use and enjoy his [or her] property, in such a way as to achieve individual progress and the national development to [the] benefit of all Guatemalans.

Article 40. Expropriation

In specific cases, private property can be expropriated for reasons of duly proven collective utility, social benefit or public interest. The expropriation must be subject to the proceedings specified by the law, and the affected asset will be appraised by experts taking its actual value as a basis.

The indemnification must be prior and in an effective currency of legal tender, unless another form of compensation is agreed upon with the interested party.

Only in [the] cases of war, public calamity, or serious disruption of peace can a property be occupied or intervened, or be expropriated without prior compensation, but the latter must be made immediately following the end of the emergency. The law will establish the norms to be followed with enemy property.

The form of payment of the indemnifications due to the expropriation of idle [ociosas] lands will be determined by the law. In no case will the deadline [término] to make such payment effective exceed ten years.

Article 41. Protection of the Right of Ownership

The right of ownership may not be limited in any form due to political activity or crime. The confiscation of property and the imposition of confiscatory fines are prohibited. In no case may the fines exceed the value of the unpaid tax.

Article 42. [The] Right of the Author or Inventor

The right of an author and an inventor is recognized; the titleholders of the same will enjoy the exclusive ownership of their work or invention, in accordance with the law and the international treaties.

Article 43. Freedom of Industry, Trade, and Work

The freedom of industry, trade, and work is recognized, except for the limitations that due to social motives or the national interest are imposed by the law.

Article 44. [The] Rights Inherent to the Human Person

The rights and [the] guarantees granted by the Constitution do not exclude others that, even though they are not expressly mentioned in it, are inherent to the human person.

The social interest prevails over the individual [particular] interest.

The laws and the government provisions or [those of] any other order that reduce, restrict, or distort the rights guaranteed by the Constitution are void ipso jure.

Article 45. Action Against Offenders [Infractores] and Legitimacy of Resistance

The action to prosecute the violators of human rights is public and may be exercised through a simple denunciation, without any guarantee or formality whatsoever. The resistance of the people for the protection and defense of the rights and guarantees granted in the Constitution[,] is legitimate.

Article 46. Preeminence of [the] International Law

The general principle that within matters of human rights, the treaties and agreements approved and ratified by Guatemala, have preeminence over the internal law[,] is established.

CHAPTER II. Social Rights

FIRST SECTION. The Family

Article 47. Protection of the Family

The State guarantees the social, economic, and juridical protection of the family. It will promote its organization on the legal basis of marriage, the equal rights of the spouses, [the] responsible paternity and the right of the persons to decide freely the number and the spacing [espaciamiento] of their children.

Article 48. De facto Unions

The State recognizes de facto unions and the law will regulate [perceptuará] everything relative to it.

Article 49. Matrimony

The [state of] matrimony may be authorized by the mayors [alcaldes], council members, notaries in exercise [of their function] and [by] religious ministers authorized [facultados] by the corresponding administrative authority.

Article 50. Equality of the Children

All of the children are equal before the law and they have the same rights. Any discrimination is punishable.

Article 51. Protection of [the] Minors and [of] the Elderly

The State will protect the physical, mental, and moral health of the minors of age and of the elderly. It will guarantee to them their right to food, health, education, and security and social prevision.

Article 52. Maternity

The [state of] maternity has the protection of the State, which in special form will see to the strict compliance of the rights and obligations that derive from it.

Article 53. [The] Disabled [Minusválidos]

The State guarantees the protection of the disabled and of those persons who suffer from physical, psychic, or sensory limitations. Their medical-social care, as well as the promotion of the policies and the services that make their rehabilitation and their integral reincorporation into society possible, are declared to be of national interest. The law will regulate this matter and will create the technical and executory organs that are necessary.

Article 54. Adoption

The State recognizes and protects adoption. The adopted [person] acquires the status of child of the adopter. The protection of orphaned children and of abandoned children is declared of national interest.

Article 55. Obligation to Provide Food

The refusal to supply food in the form prescribed by the law is punishable.

Article 56. Actions Against Causes of Family Disintegration

The actions against alcoholism, drug addiction, and other causes of family disintegration[,] are declared to be of social interest. The State must take the adequate measures of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation to make said actions effective, for the well being of the individual, the family, and the society.

SECOND SECTION. Culture

Article 57. Right to Culture

Every person has the right to participate freely in the cultural and artistic life of the community, as well as [to] benefit from the scientific and technological progress of the Nation.

Article 58. Cultural Identity

The right of the persons and of the communities to their cultural identity in accordance to their values, their language, and their customs[,] is recognized.

Article 59. Protection and Research of the Culture

It is [a] primary obligation of the State to protect, promote, and disseminate [divulgar] the national culture; [to] issue the laws and provisions that tend to its enrichment, restoration, preservation, and recuperation; [to] promote and regulate its scientific research, as well as the creation and [the] application of [the] appropriate technology.

Article 60. Cultural Heritage [Patrimonio]

The paleontological, archeological, historical, and artistic assets [bienes] and values of the country form [part of] the cultural heritage of the Nation and are under the protection of the State. Their transfer, export, or alteration, except in the cases determined by the law, is prohibited.

Article 61. Protection of the Cultural Heritage

The archaeological sites, [the] collections of monuments and the Cultural Center of Guatemala [Centro Cultural de Guatemala], will receive special attention from the State, with the purpose of preserving its characteristics and safeguarding [resguardar] its historical value and cultural assets. The Tikal National Park, the Archeological Park of Quiriguá, and the city of Ancient [Antigua] Guatemala, will be subject to a special conservation regime because they have been declared [part of the] Heritage of the World [Patrimonio Mundial], as well as those that acquire a similar recognition.

Article 62. Protection of Traditional Art, Folklore, and Handicrafts

The national artistic expression, the popular art, the folklore, and the autochthonous handicrafts and industries, must be [the] object of special protection by the State, with the purpose of preserving their authenticity. The State will propitiate the opening of national and international markets for the free commercialization of the work of the artists and artisans, promoting their production and adequate technification [tecnificación].

Article 63. Right to Creative Expression

The State guarantees free creative expression, [it] supports and encourages the scientist, the intellectual and the national artist, promoting their formation and professional and economic improvement.

Article 64. Natural Heritage

The conservation, protection and improvement of the natural heritage of the Nation[,] is declared [to be] of national interest. The State will promote the creation of national parks, reservations, and natural sanctuaries [refugios], which are inalienable. A law will guarantee their protection and that of the fauna and the flora that exists within them.

Article 65. Preservation and Promotion of Culture

The activity of the State with regards to the preservation and promotion of the culture and its manifestations, will be the charge [cargo] of a specific organ with its own budget.

THIRD SECTION. Indigenous Communities

Article 66. Protection of Ethnic Groups

Guatemala is formed by diverse ethnic groups among which are found the indigenous groups of Mayan descent. The State recognizes, respects, and promotes their forms of life, customs, traditions, forms of social organization, the use of the indigenous attire by men and women, [and their] languages and dialects.

Article 67. Protection of the Indigenous Agricultural Lands and Cooperatives

The lands of the cooperatives, [the] indigenous communities or any other forms of communal or collective possession of agrarian ownership, as well as the family patrimony and the people’s housing, will enjoy special protection of the State, [and] of preferential credit and technical assistance, which may guarantee their possession and development, in order to assure an improved quality of life to all of the inhabitants.

The indigenous communities and others that hold lands that historically belong to them and which they have traditionally administered in special form, will maintain that system.

Article 68. Lands for Indigenous Communities

Through special programs and adequate legislation, the State will provide state lands to the indigenous communities who may need them for their development.

Article 69. Transfer [Traslación] of Workers and their Protection

The labor activities that involve the transfer of workers outside of their communities, will be the object of protection and legislation to assure adequate conditions of health, security, and social prevision that prevent the payment of wages [that are] not adjusted to the law, the disintegration of those communities and in general all of discriminatory treatment.

Article 70. Specific Law

A law will regulate the matters related to this section.

FOURTH SECTION. Education

Article 71. Right to Education

The freedom of education and educational [docente] criteria is guaranteed. It is the obligation of the State to provide and facilitate education to its inhabitants without any discrimination whatsoever. The foundation and maintenance of cultural educational centers and museums is declared to be of public utility and necessity.

Article 72. Objectives [Fines] of Education

Education has as its primary objective the integral development of the human person, the knowledge of reality and national and universal culture.

Education, instruction, social development and the systematic teaching of the Constitution of the Republic and of the human rights are declared to be of national interest.

Article 73. Freedom of Education and the Economic Assistance of the State

The family is the source of the education and the parents are entitled to choose what is to be taught [impartirse] to their minor children. The State may subsidize the gratuitous private educational centers and the law will regulate what is relative to this matter. The private educational centers shall function under the inspection of the State. They are obligated to fulfill [llenar], at least, [the] official study plans and programs. As cultural centers they will be enjoy the exemption of all types of taxes and assessments.

Religious education is optional in the official establishments and can be taught during ordinary hours, without any discrimination.

The State will contribute to the maintenance of religious education without any discrimination.

Article 74. Obligatory Education

The inhabitants have the right and the obligation to receive initial, pre-primary, primary and basic education, within the age limits established by the law.

The education provided by the State is gratuitous.

The State will provide and promote scholarships and educational credits.

Scientific, technological, and humanistic education constitute objectives that the State must guide and develop [ampliar] permanently.

The State shall promote special education, diversified [education] and extracurricular [extraescolar] [education].

Article 75. Literacy

Literacy is declared [to be] of national urgency and it is a social obligation to contribute to it. The State will organize it and promote it with all the necessary resources.

Article 76. Educational System and Bilingual Education

The administration of the educational system must be decentralized and regionalized.

In the schools established in regions with a predominantly indigenous population, the education must be provided preferentially in [a] bilingual form.

Article 77. Obligations of Business Owners

The owners of the industrial, agricultural, livestock, and commercial businesses are obligated to establish and maintain, in accordance with the law, [the] schools, day care centers, and cultural centers for their workers and school population.

Article 78. Teaching Faculty [Magisterio]

The State will promote the economic, social, and cultural improvement of the teaching faculty, including the right to retirement that makes possible their effective dignification [dignificación].

The rights acquired by the national teaching faculty are of a minimal and irrenounceable character. The law will regulate these matters.

Article 79. Agricultural Education

Agricultural study, apprenticeship, explication, commercialization and industrialization are declared to be of national interest. The National Central School of Agriculture [Escuela Nacional Central de Agricultura] is created as an autonomous decentralized entity, with juridical personality and its own patrimony; it must organize, direct, and develop plans of agricultural, livestock, and forestry study of the Nation at the intermediate level; and it will be governed by its own organic law, with an allocation of an amount of no less than five percent of the regular budget of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Article 80. Promotion of the Science and the Technology

The State recognizes and promotes science and technology as fundamental bases of national development. The law will establish norms for [normará] what is pertinent.

Article 81. Titles and Diplomas

The titles and diplomas of which the issuance corresponds to the State, have full legal validity. The rights acquired for the exercise of the professions accredited by said titles, must be respected and no provisions of any kind may be issued that limit or restrict these rights.

FIFTH SECTION. Universities

Article 82. Autonomy of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala

The University of San Carlos de Guatemala, is an autonomous institution with juridical personality. In its character of [being] the only State university[,] it exclusively corresponds to it to direct, organize, and develop the superior education and the professional university education of the State, as well as the dissemination of the culture in all [of] its manifestations. It will promote by every means within its reach the research in every area of the human knowledge and will cooperate in the study and solution of the national problems.

It is governed by its Organic Law and by the statutes and regulations that it emits, having to observe in the conformation of its directive organs, the principle of representation of its titular professors [catedráticos], its graduates and its students.

Article 83. Government of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala

The government of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala corresponds to the Superior University Council [Consejo Superior Universitario], integrated by the Rector, who presides over it; the deans of the faculties; a representative of the professional association [colegio], graduated from the University of San Carlos de Guatemala, which corresponds to each faculty; a titular professor and a student for each faculty.

Article 84. Budgetary Allocation for the University of San Carlos de Guatemala

A specific [privativa] budgetary allocation corresponds to the University of San Carlos de Guatemala [that is] no less than five percent of the General Budget of Ordinary Revenues of the State, which must generate an adequate budgetary increase sufficient to cover the growth in the student population or the improvement of the academic level.

Article 85. Private Universities

To the private universities, which are independent institutions, corresponds the organization and development of the private superior education of the Nation, with the purpose of contributing to the professional formation, to the scientific research, to the cultural dissemination and to the study and solution of the national problems.

When the functioning of a private university is authorized, it will have juridical personality and [the] freedom to create its faculties and institutes, to develop its academic and teaching activities, as well as to elaborate its plans and programs of study.

Article 86. Council of the Superior Private Education

The Council of the Superior Private Education [Consejo de la Enseñanza Privada Superior] will have as its functions to see to the maintaining of the academic level in the private universities without undermining their independence and to authorize the creation of new universities; it is integrated by two delegates from the University of San Carlos de Guatemala, two delegates from the private universities and one delegate elected by the presidents of the professional colleges who do not hold any office [cargo] in any university.

The presidency will be exercised in a rotating form. The law will regulate this matter.

Article 87. Recognition of Degrees, Titles, Diplomas, and Incorporations

In Guatemala only degrees, titles, and diplomas granted by the legally established universities organized to function in the country[,] will be recognized, except for what is provided in international treaties.

The University of San Carlos de Guatemala, is the only one entitled [facultada] to resolve the incorporations of the professionals graduated from foreign universities and to set the prior requirements which must fulfilled for that purpose, as well as to recognize the titles and diplomas of university character protected by the international treaties. The titles granted by Central American universities will have full validity in Guatemala when the basic centralization of the study plans is achieved.

Legal provisions that grant privileges to the detriment of those exercising a profession with a title or who have been legally authorized to exercise it, may not be adopted.

Article 88. Tax Exemptions and Deductions

The universities are exempt from the payment of all types of taxes, assessments, and contributions without any exception whatsoever.

The donations given to universities, cultural or scientific institutions will be deductible from the net revenue prior to assessing the income tax.

The State can provide economic assistance to private universities, for the fulfillment of their own objectives.

The University of San Carlos de Guatemala and the private universities may neither be [the] object of processes of execution nor may they be intervened, except in those cases where the private universities assume obligations through civil, mercantile, or labor contracts.

Article 89. Granting of Degrees, Titles, and Diplomas

Only the universities that are legally authorized may grant degrees and issue titles and graduation diplomas within superior education.

Article 90. Professional Association [Colegiación]

The association of university professionals is obligatory and it will have as is its objectives the moral, scientific, technical, and material improvement of the university professions and the control of their exercise.

The professional associations, as work [gremiales] associations with a juridical personality, shall function in accordance with the Law of the Professional Association [Ley de Colegiación Profesional], obligatorily[,] and the statutes of each association will be approved with independence from the universities from which its members have graduated.

They will contribute to the strengthening of the autonomy of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala and for the purposes and goals of all the universities of the country.

In every matter related to the improvement of the scientific and the cultural- technical level of the university professions, the universities of the country will be able to require the participation of the professional associations.

SIXTH SECTION. Sports

Article 91. Budgetary Allocation for Sports

It is the duty of the State to encourage and promote physical education and [the practice of] sports. To that effect, a specific allocation no smaller than three percent of the General Budget of Ordinary Revenues of the State will be set. From such allocation[,] fifty percent will be destined to the federated sports sector through its administrative organs, in the form established by [the] law; twenty-five percent to physical education, recreation, and school sports; and twenty-five percent to non-federated sports.

Article 92. Autonomy of Sports

The autonomy of federated sports is recognized and guaranteed through its administrative [rectores] organs, the Autonomous Sports Confederation of Guatemala [Confederación Deportiva Autónoma de Guatemala] and the Guatemalan Olympic Committee [Comité Olímpico Guatemalteco], which have juridical personality and their own patrimony, being exempt from all types of taxes and assessments.

SEVENTH SECTION. Health, Security, and Social Assistance

Article 93. Right to Health

The enjoyment of health is a fundamental right of the human being, without any discrimination.

Article 94. Obligation of the State, Regarding Health and Social Assistance

The State will see to the health and the social assistance of all the inhabitants. It will develop, through its institutions, actions of prevention, promotion, recovery, rehabilitation, coordination and those complementary ones [that are] appropriate in order to procure [for them] the most complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing.

Article 95. Health, [a] Public Asset

The health of the inhabitants of the Nation is a public asset [bien]. All persons and institutions are obligated to see to its conservation and reestablishment.

Article 96. Quality Control of Products

The State will control the quality of food products, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and of everything that can affect the health and the well being of the inhabitants. It will see to the establishment and programming of the primary attention to health, and for the improvement of the conditions of the basic environmental sanitation [saneamiento] of the least protected communities.

Article 97. [The] Environment and [the] Ecological Balance

The State, the municipalities and the inhabitants of the national territory are obligated to promote [propiciar] the social, economic, and technological development that prevents the pollution [contaminación] of the environment and maintains the ecological balance. All the necessary regulations will be dictated to guarantee that the use [utilización y el aprovechamiento] of the fauna, [the] flora, [the] land, and [the] water, are conducted rationally, avoiding their depredation.

Article 98. Community Participation in Health Programs

The communities have the right and the duty to actively participate in the planning, execution, and evaluation of [the] health programs.

Article 99. Feeding and Nutrition

The State will see to it that the food and the nutrition of the population meet the minimum health requirements. The specialized institutions of the State must coordinate their actions among themselves or with [the] international organs dedicated to health, [in order] to achieve an effective national food system.

Article 100. Social Security

The State recognizes and guarantees the right to social security for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Nation. Its regime is instituted as a public function, in a national, unitary, and obligatory manner.

The State, the employers, and the workers covered by the regime, with the sole exception of that provided by Article 88 of this Constitution, have the obligation to contribute to the financing of such regime and [the] right to participate in its direction, seeking [procurando] its progressive improvement.

The application of the social security regime corresponds to the Guatemalan Social Security Institute [Instituto Guatemalteco de Seguridad Social], which is an autonomous entity with juridical personality, [and with] its own patrimony and functions; it enjoys a total exemption from taxes, contributions and assessments, whether established or to be established. The Guatemalan Social Security Institute must participate with the health institutions in [a] coordinated manner.

The Executive Organ will allocate annually in the Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the State, a specific portion [partida] to cover the share [cuota] that corresponds to the State as such and as an employer, which may not be transferred or canceled during the fiscal year [ejercicio] and [that] will be establish in accordance with the technical actuarial studies of the Institute.

Against the resolutions dictated in this matter, [the] administrative and contentious-administrative recourses proceed in accordance with the law. When dealing with benefits [prestaciones] that the regime must provide, the tribunals of labor and social prevision will take cognizance.

EIGHTH SECTION. Work

Article 101. [The] Right to Work

To work is a right and a social obligation of the person. The labor regime of the country must be organized in accordance with the principles of social justice.

Article 102. Minimum Social Rights of Labor Legislation

The minimum social rights that form the basis of the labor legislation and the activity of the tribunals and [the] authorities [are]:

1. The right to the free choice [elección] of work and the satisfactory economic conditions that guarantee a dignified existence for the worker and his [or her] family;
2. That all work be equitably remunerated, except with what the law determines in that regard;
3. The equality of salary for the same rendered work in equality of conditions, productivity, and seniority;
4. The obligation to pay the worker in currency of legal tender. However, the field worker [trabajador de campo] can receive, by choice [a su voluntad], food products until up to thirty percent of his [or her] salary. In this case the employer will provide those products at a price no superior than their cost;
5. The freedom from lien [inembargabilidad] of the salary in the cases determined by the law. The personal work implements may not be subject to a lien for any reason. Nevertheless, for the protection of the family of the worker and by judicial order, part of the salary can be retained and delivered to the corresponding [party];
6. The periodic establishment [fijación] of the minimum salary in accordance with the law;
7. The ordinary effective workday [jornada] can neither exceed eight hours of work per day, nor forty-four hours per week, equivalent to forty-eight hours for the exclusive purpose of the payment of the salary.The ordinary effective workday on the night shift can neither exceed six hours per day, nor thirty-six hours per week. The mixed ordinary effective workday can neither exceed seven hours per day, nor forty-two hours per week. All work effectively performed outside [of the] ordinary working hours, constitutes an extraordinary workday and must be remunerated as such. The law will determine the very qualified situations of exception where the provisions relative to the workdays are not applicable.

   Those that by provision of the law, by custom or by agreement with the employers work less than forty-four hours per week during the day, thirty-six hours during the night, or forty-two hours in mixed-schedule workdays, will have the right to receive the weekly salary in its entirety.

   It is understood that effective work means the entire time that the worker remains under the orders or at the disposal of the employer;

8. The right of the worker to a day of remunerated rest for each ordinary work week or for any six consecutive workdays. The holidays [días de asueto] recognized by the law will also be remunerated;
9. The right of the worker to fifteen working days of paid vacation after each year of continuous service, with the exception of agricultural enterprise workers, who will have the right to ten working days [of vacation]. The vacations must be effective and the employer may not compensate such right in a different manner, except when the labor relationship already acquired would cease;
10. The obligation of the employer to grant[,] every year[,] a bonus [aguinaldo] of no less than one hundred percent of the monthly salary, or the one already established if greater, to those workers who may have worked for an uninterrupted year prior to the date of the payment. The law will regulate the form of payment. For those workers with less than one year of service, such bonus will be covered proportionally to the time [of duration] of [the] work;
11. The protection of the working woman and [the] regulation of the conditions under which she must render her services.There may not be differences established between married and single women in terms of [the] work. The law will regulate the protection of the maternity rights of the working woman, who may not be required to [conduct any] work that may require an effort that puts her pregnancy in jeopardy [gravidez]. The working mother will enjoy a compulsory rest [period] [descanso forzoso] paid on the basis of one hundred percent of her salary, during the thirty days prior to giving birth and [during] the subsequent forty-five days. During the period of lactation she will have the right to two periods of extraordinary rest, during her workday. The prenatal and postnatal rest periods will be expanded according to her physical conditions, by medical prescription;
12. Minors under fourteen years of age may not be employed in any type of work, except for the exceptions established by the law. It is forbidden to employ [ocupar] minors in works that are incompatible with their physical capacity or that endanger their moral formation.The workers older than sixty years of age will be the object of a treatment [that is] adequate to their age;
13. The protection and [the] promotion [fomento] of the work of the blind, the disabled and the persons with physical, psychic, or nervous deficiencies.
14. The preference of Guatemalan workers over foreigners in equality of conditions and in the percentages determined by the law. In comparable [paridad] circumstances, no Guatemalan worker may earn a lesser salary than a foreigner, be subject to inferior conditions of employment, or obtain lesser economic advantages or other benefits [prestaciones];
15. The establishment of the norms of obligatory compliance for employers and workers in the individual and collective labor contracts. The employers and [the] employees will procure the economic development of their enterprise for [their] common benefit;
16. The obligation of the employer to indemnify with the salary of one month for each year of continuous service when unjustifiably or indirectly dismissing [despida] a worker, as long as the law does not establish another more appropriate [conveniente] system that would provide the worker with better provisions.For the effects of computing the continuous services[,] the date in which the work relation began will be taken into account, whichever it may be;
17. It is the obligation of the employer to provide to the spouse or partner, the minor children or the disabled [relatives] of a worker who may die while in service, a benefit [prestación] equivalent to the salary of one month for each year worked. This benefit will be covered by monthly payments and its amount will not be less than the final salary received by the worker.If death should occur for a reason of which risk is entirely covered by the social security regime, this obligation of the employer will cease. In case that this method should not cover the benefit completely, the employer must pay the difference;
18. The right to the free unionization [sindicalización] of the workers. This right can be exercised without any discrimination and without being subject to any previous authorization, having only to fulfill the requirements established by the law. The workers may not be dismissed for participating in the establishment of a [labor] union, [and] must be abler to enjoy such a right from the time that they notify the General Inspectorate of Labor [Inspección General de Trabajo].Only the Guatemalans by birth can intervene in the organization, direction and advising of [labor] unions. The cases of governmental technical assistance and what is provided in international treaties or in intra-union conventions authorized by the Executive Organ[,] are excepted;
19. The establishment of economic institutions and of social prevision which, in benefit of the workers, grant benefits of all types, especially for disability, retirement, and survival;
20. If the employer should not be able to prove a reasonable cause for the dismissal, he [or she] must pay the salary of one month to the worker to compensate for damages and losses if the case should be settled in a court of first instance, two monthly salaries if the sentence is appealed, and[,] if the legal process should last longer than two months, [the employer] must pay fifty percent of the salary of the worker for each month beyond that deadline, up to a maximum of six months in this case; and
21. The State will participate in international or regional agreements and treaties relating to labor matters and which grant better protection of conditions to [the] workers.In such cases, what is established in said agreements and treaties will be considered as part of the minimum rights enjoyed by the workers of the Republic of Guatemala.

Article 103. Protection [Tutelaridad] of the Labor Laws

The laws that regulate the relations between employers and workers are conciliatory, protective [tutelares] for the workers and [they] will attend to all the pertinent economic and social factors. For agricultural work[,] the law will especially take into account their needs and the zones in which it is executed.

All of the conflicts concerning [the] work [activity] are subject to a specific [privativa] jurisdiction. The law will establish the norms corresponding to that jurisdiction and the organs charged with [encargadas] putting them into practice.

Article 104. Right to Strike [Huelga] and to Work Stoppage [Paro]

The right to strike and to work stoppage exercised in accordance with the law, after all conciliation procedures have been exhausted, is recognized. These rights can be exercised solely for reasons of economic-social order. The laws shall establish the cases and situations where the strike and work stoppage will not be allowed.

Article 105. Housing of the Workers

The State, through the specific entities, will support the planning and construction of housing complexes [conjuntos], establishing the adequate systems for financing, which would make it possible to involve the different programs, so that the workers may opt for adequate housing and meet [the] health requirements.

The owners of enterprises [empresas] are obligated to provide to their workers, in the cases established by the law, [the] housing units that meet the aforementioned requirements.

Article 106. Irrenouncability of the Labor Rights

The rights consigned in this section are irrenounceable for the workers, susceptible of being exceeded [superado] through individual or collective contracting, and in the form established by the law. For this objective the State will encourage and protect collective negotiation. The stipulations that call for the renunciation, reduction, distortion [tergiversación], or limitation of the rights recognized for the workers in the Constitution, in the law, in the international treaties ratified by Guatemala, in the regulations or in [any] other provisions with regards to work, will be void ipso jure and will not obligate the workers, even if they are expressed in a collective or individual labor contract, in an agreement or in another document.

In case of doubt in the interpretation or scope of [the] legal provisions, regulations, or contractual [provisions] within the labor matters, they will be interpreted in the most favorable sense for the workers.

NINTH SECTION. [The] Workers of the State

Article 107. [The] Workers of the State

The workers of the State are at the service of the public administration and never of a political party, group, organization or [of] any person.

Article 108. Regime of the Workers of the State

The relations of the State and its decentralized or autonomous entities with its workers are governed by the Law of the Civil Service [Ley de Servicio Civil], with the exception of those governed by the own laws or provisions of such entities.

The workers of the State or of its decentralized or autonomous entities which by law or by custom receive benefits [prestaciones] that exceed those established in the Law of the Civil Service, will retain that treatment.

Article 109. Payroll Workers

The workers of the State and its decentralized or autonomous entities who work [with payment] through payroll, will receive [the] salaries, benefits, and rights that are equal to those of the other workers of the State.

Article 110. Indemnification

When the workers of the State are dismissed without a reasonable cause, [they] will receive the equivalent of the salary of one month for each year of continuous service rendered. In no case will this right exceed ten months of salary.

Article 111. [The] Regime of Decentralized Entities

The decentralized entities of the State, which perform economic functions similar to [those of] enterprises of [a] private character, will be governed in their working relations with the personnel at their service by the common labor laws, as long as they do not diminish other acquired rights.

Article 112. Prohibition of Performing [Desempeñar] More Than One Public Office

No person may perform more than one remunerated employment or public office, with the exception of those who render services in educational centers or [in social] assistance institutions and as long as the [time] schedules are compatible.

Article 113. Right to Opt for Public Employment or Office

The Guatemalans have the right to opt for public employment or office and to do so only their capabilities, fitness, and honesty will be taken into account.

Article 114. Revision to Retirement

When a worker of the State who enjoys the benefit of retirement, returns to a public office, such retirement will cease immediately, but at the end of the new work relationship, he [or she] has the right to opt for the revision of the corresponding benefit [expediente] and to the granting of the benefit derived from the time served and of the last wage received, during the new office.

In accordance to the possibilities of the State, it will proceed to periodically revise the amounts assigned for retirements, pensions and allowances [montepíos].

Article 115. Free Coverage by the Guatemalan Social Security Institute to Retirees

The persons[,] who enjoy retirement, pension, or allowance payments from the State and the autonomous and decentralized entities, have the right to receive gratuitously the complete coverage for the medical services by the Guatemalan Social Security Institute.

Article 116. Regulation of the Strike for the Workers of the State

The associations, groups, and unions formed by the workers of the State and its decentralized and autonomous entities, may not participate in partisan political activities.

The right to strike of the workers of the State and its decentralized and autonomous entities is recognized. This right can only be exercised in the form provided by the law of the matter and in no case may it affect the provision [atención] of the essential public services.

Article 117. Option for the Passive Classes Regime

The workers of the decentralized or autonomous entities who are neither subject to deductions for the passive classes fund [fondo de clases pasivas], nor enjoy the corresponding benefits, may attach [themselves] to this regime and, the respective dependency, in this case, must accept the request of the interested [person] and order the one responsible to make the corresponding deductions.

TENTH SECTION. Economic and Social Regime

Article 118. Principles of the Economic and Social Regime

The economic and social regime of the Republic of Guatemala is based on the principles of social justice.

It is the obligation of the State to guide the national economy to achieve the utilizations of the natural resources and the human potential, to increase wealth and to try to achieve full employment and the equitable distribution of the national income.

When deemed as necessary, the State will act by complementing private initiative and activity, for the achievement of the stated purposes.

Article 119. [The] Obligations of the State

The following are the fundamental obligations of the State:

1. To promote the economic development of the Nation, stimulating the initiative in agricultural, livestock, industrial, tourist, and other types of activities.
2. To promote in a systematic manner the administrative economic decentralization, to achieve an adequate regional development of the country;
3. To adopt the means that may be necessary for the conservation, development and exploitation [aprovechamiento] of the natural resources in an efficient form;
4. To see to the raising of the standard of living of all the inhabitants of the country, securing [procurando] the wellbeing of the family;
5. To promote and protect the creation and functioning of [the] cooperatives, providing them with the necessary technical and financial aid;
6. To grant incentives, in accordance to the law, to the industrial enterprises [empresas] that may be established in the interior of the Republic and who contribute to decentralization;
7. To promote with priority the construction of popular housing [projects], through financing systems which are adequate so that the greatest number of Guatemalan families may enjoy them in ownership. When concerning emerging or cooperatively-held housing, the system of possession [tenencia] may be different;
8. To prevent the functioning of excessive practices leading to the concentration of assets and means of production in detriment of the collectivity;
9. The defense of the consumers and [the] users with regards to the preservations of the quality of the domestic and export consumer products to guarantee their health, security, and legitimate economic interests;
10. To actively promote programs of rural development which tend to increase and diversify the national production based on the principle of private property and of the protection of family patrimony. The peasant [campesino] and the artisan must be provided with technical and economic assistance;
11. To protect the formation of capital, savings and investment;
12. To promote the ordered and efficient development of the domestic and foreign trade of the country, promoting markets for national products;
13. To maintain within the economic policy, a congruent relationship between the public spending and the national production; and
14. To create the conditions adequate to promote the investment of national and foreign capital.

Article 120. Intervention in [the] Enterprises that Provide Public Services

In case of force majeure and for the strictly necessary time period, the State can intervene in the enterprises that provide essential public services for the community, if their functioning is obstructed.

Article 121. [The] Assets of the State

The following are assets of the State:

1. Those of public domain;
2. The waters of the maritime zone that border the shores of its territory, the lakes, the navigable rivers and their banks, the secondary rivers [ríos vertientes] and the streams that serve as the international limit of the Republic, the waterfalls and headwaters for hydroelectric exploitation, the underground waters and [the] others that are susceptible to regulation by the law and the waters not exploited by individuals to the extent and limit set by the law.
3. Those which constitute the patrimony of the State, including those of the municipality and of the decentralized or autonomous entities;
4. The terrestrial maritime zone, the continental shelf and the air space, in the extension and the form determined by the laws or the international treaties ratified by Guatemala;
5. The subsoil, the deposits of hydrocarbons and minerals, as well as any other organic or inorganic substances of the subsoil;
6. The archeological monuments and relics;
7. The fiscal and municipal revenues, as well as those of a private character which are assigned by the laws to the decentralized and autonomous entities; and
8. The radio-electric frequencies.

Article 122. [The] Territorial Reserves of the State

The State reserves for itself the dominion over a strip of land [faja terrestre] of three kilometers along the oceans, counted from the superior line of the tide; of two hundred meters around the shores of the lakes; of one hundred meters on each bank of the navigable rivers; and of fifty meters around the sources and springs supplying water to the populated places [poblaciones].

[The following] are excepted from the stated reserves:

1. The real property located in the urban areas; and
2. The assets over which there are rights registered in the Registry of Property [Registro de la Propiedad], prior to March first of nineteen fifty-six.

The foreigners will need [the] authorization of the Executive, to acquire in ownership, real property comprehended in the exceptions of the two aforementioned paragraphs. When they concern properties declared as national monuments or when they are located among a set of monuments, the State will enjoy preferential right in any transfer of ownership.

Article 123. Limitations in the Border Strips

Only Guatemalans of origin, or the communities [sodiedades] whose members possess the same qualities, may own and possess real property located in a strip of fifteen kilometers wide along the borders, measured from the dividing line. The urban property and [the] property of which title was registered prior to March first of nineteen fifty-six is excepted.

Article 124. Transfer [Enajenación] of National Property

The national property may only be transferred in the form determined by the law, which will establish the limitations and formalities to which the operation and its fiscal objectives must be subject.

The decentralized or autonomous entities, will be regulated according to their laws and regulations.

Article 125. Exploitation of Non-Renewable Natural Resources

The technical and rational exploitation of hydrocarbons, minerals, and other non-renewable natural resources is declared to be of public utility and necessity.

The State will establish and propitiate the conditions for their exploration, exploitation, and commercialization.

Article 126. Reforestation

The reforestation of the country and the conservation of [the] forests is declared to be a matter of national urgency and social interest. The law will determine the form and [the] requirements for the rational exploitation of [the] forestry resources and their renewal, including the resins, rubber, uncultivated wild forest vegetal products and other similar products, and will promote their industrialization. The exploitation of all these resources will correspond exclusively to Guatemalan persons, individual or juridical.

The forests and the vegetation on the banks of the rivers and lakes, and in the vicinities of the water fountains, will enjoy special protection.

Article 127. Water Regime

All the waters belong to the public domain, [they are] inalienable and imprescriptible. Their exploitation, use and enjoyment are granted in the form established by the law, in accordance with the social interest. A specific law will regulate this matter.

Article 128. Exploitation [Aprovechamiento] of Waters, Lakes, and Rivers

The exploitation of the waters of the lakes and rivers, for agricultural, livestock, tourism, or [purpose] of any other nature that contributes to the development of the national economy, is at the service of the community and not that of any particular person whatever, but the users are obligated to reforest the banks and corresponding courses, as well as to facilitate access roads [vías].

Article 129. Electrification

The electrification of the country, based on the plans formulated by the State and the municipalities, in which the private initiative may participate, is declared a matter of national urgency.

Article 130. Prohibition of Monopolies

Monopolies and privileges are prohibited. The State, shall limit the operation of the enterprises that absorb or tend to absorb, in prejudice to the national economy, the production in one or another industrial sectors [ramos] or of the same commercial or agricultural activity. The laws will determine what is relative to this matter. The State will protect the market economy and will discourage those associations which tend to restrict the freedom of the market or to cause prejudice to the consumers.

Article 131. Commercial Transportation Service

Due to its economic importance in the development of the country, all commercial and tourist transportation services are recognized to be of public utility and therefore [they] enjoy the protection of the State. These services may consist of ground, maritime, or air transportation and comprise vessels, vehicles, installations, and services.

The commercial land, airport, and maritime port terminals, are considered to be property of [the] common public use and like the transportation services, [they] continue to be exclusively subject to the jurisdiction of the civil authorities. The use of vessels, vehicles, and terminals, [which are] property of the government agencies or of the National Army, for commercial purposes, is prohibited; this provision is not applicable to those decentralized state entities that provide transportation services.

For the installation and exploitation of any national or international transportation service, the authorization of the government is necessary. For this purpose, once the corresponding legal requirements have been fulfilled by the petitioner, the government authority must extend the authorization immediately.

Article 132. Currency

It is the exclusive authority of the State, to issue and regulate the currency, as well as to formulate and realize the policies that tend to create and maintain [the] exchange and credit conditions favorable for the orderly development of the national economy. The monetary, banking, and financial activities will be organized under the central banking system, which exercises control over all matters relative to the circulation of money and the public debt. The Monetary Board [Junta Monetaria], to which the Bank of Guatemala, an autonomous entity with its own resources, is responsible, will direct this system. This bank will be regulated by its Organic Law and [by] the Monetary Law.

The Monetary Board is comprised of the following members:

1. The President, who will also be [the president] of the Bank of Guatemala, [and who is] appointed by the President of the Republic for a period established in the law;
2. The Ministers of Public Finance, Economy and Agriculture, Livestock and Food;
3. A member elected by the Congress of the Republic;
4. A member elected by the business, industrial, and agricultural associations;
5. A member elected by the presidents of the administration councils or boards of directors of the private national banks; and
6. A member elected by the Superior Council of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala.

These last three members will last in their functions one year.

All the members of the Monetary Board, will have substitutes, except [for] the President, who will be substituted by the Vice-President and the Ministers of the State, who will be substituted by their own respective vice-minister.

The Vice-President of the Monetary Board and of the Bank of Guatemala, who will also be appointed by the President of the Republic, will be able to attend the sessions of the Monetary Board, jointly with the President, with a voice, but without a vote, except when he [or she] substitutes the President in his [or her] functions, in which case, [he or she] will have a vote.

The President, Vice-President and those appointed by the Superior University Council and by the Congress of the Republic, must be persons of recognized integrity [honorabilidad] and of notable preparation and competence in economic and financial matters.

The acts and decisions of the Monetary Board, are subject to administrative recourses and to the contentious-administrative and cassation [recourses].

Article 133. [The] Monetary Board

The Monetary Board will have as its charge [cargo] the determination of the monetary, exchange and credit policy of the country and will see to the liquidity and solvency of the National Banking System, assuring the stability and the strengthening of the national savings.

With the objective [finalidad] of guaranteeing the monetary, exchange and credit stability of the country, the Monetary Board may not authorize the Bank of Guatemala to grant direct or indirect financing, guarantees or endorsements to the State, to its decentralized or autonomous entities, nor to private entities[,] that are not involved in [the] banking [sector]. To this same end, the Bank of Guatemala may not acquire the securities issued or negotiated by these entities in the primary market. The financing that may be granted in cases of catastrophes or public disasters is exempt from these prohibitions, given that it is approved by the two-thirds part of the total number of deputies that make up the Congress, on request of the President of the Republic.

The Superintendence of Banks [Superintendencia de Bancos], organized according to the law, is the organ that will exercise the supervisions and inspection of [the] banks, credit institutions, financial enterprises, financing and insurance entities, and the others provided for by the law.

Article 134. Decentralization and Autonomy

The municipality and the autonomous and decentralized entities, act by delegation of the State.

The autonomy, outside of the special cases contemplated in the Constitution of the Republic, will be conceded exclusively, when it is deemed [as] indispensable for the greater efficiency of the entity and the better fulfillment of its objectives. [In order] to create decentralized and autonomous entities, the favorable vote of the two-thirds part of the Congress of the Republic will be necessary.

The following are established to be the minimum obligations of the municipality and of every decentralized and autonomous entity:

1. To coordinate its policy, with the general policy of the State and, in such case, with the special [policy] of the Branch [Ramo] to which it corresponds;
2. To maintain close coordination with the planning organ of the State;
3. To remit to the Executive Organ and to the Congress of the Republic, its detailed ordinary and extraordinary budgets, with the expression of [the] programs, projects, activities, revenues and expenditures. The University of San Carlos de Guatemala is excepted.Such remission will be for the purpose of approval, when the law so provides;
4. To remit to the same organs, the reports [memorias] relating to their work and the specific reports [informes] that will be requested, with the confidential nature of the operations of the particulars in banks and financial institutions in general being protected;
5. To provide the necessary facilities so that the organ charged with of the fiscal control, may perform its functions broadly and effectively; and
6. In all [of the] activities of an international nature, to be subject to the policy outlined by the Executive Organ.

When the functioning of a decentralized entity is considered inoperable, it will be suppressed by the favorable vote of the two-thirds part of the Congress of the Republic.

CHAPTER III. Civic and Political Duties and Rights

Article 135. Civic Duties and Rights

The rights and duties of Guatemalans, besides those consigned in other norms of the Constitution and the laws of the Republic, are the following:

1. To serve and defend the Country [Patria]
2. To comply with[,] and see to compliance with[,] the Constitution of the Republic;
3. To work for the civic, cultural, moral, economic, and social development of [the] Guatemalans;
4. To contribute to [the] public expenditures, in the form prescribed by the law;
5. To obey the laws;
6. To keep due respect for the authorities; and
7. To render military and social service, in accordance with the law.

Article 136. Political Duties and Rights

The following are the rights and duties of the citizens:

1. To register in the Registry of Citizens [Registro de Ciudadanos];
2. To elect and be elected;
3. To see to the freedom and effectiveness of the suffrage and the purity of the electoral process;
4. To opt for public offices [cargos]
5. To participate in political activities; and
6. To defend the principle of the alternation and the non-reelection of the President of the Republic.

Article 137. Right of Petition in Political Matters

The right of petition in political matters, corresponds exclusively to [the] Guatemalans.

Any petition in this matter must be resolved and [the person] notified within period not exceeding eight days. If the authority has not resolved it within that time [termino], the petition will be [considered] denied and the interested [person] may interpose the recourses of law.

CHAPTER IV. Limitation to the Constitutional Rights

Article 138. Limitation of Constitutional Rights

It is the obligation of the State and of the authorities, [to] maintain the inhabitants of the Nation, in the complete enjoyment of their rights guaranteed by the Constitution. However, in case of invasion of the territory, [of] grave disturbance of the peace, of activities against the security of the State or of public calamity, the State can suspend the full force of the rights referred to in Articles 5, 6, 9, 26, 33, paragraph one of Article 35, paragraph two of Article 38 and paragraph two of Article 116.

On determining [concurrir] the existence of any of the cases indicated in the paragraph above, the President of the Republic will make the appropriate declaration by means of a decree dictated by the Council of Ministers and the provisions of the Law of Public Order [Ley de Orden Público] will be applied. In a state of prevention [estado de prevención], this formality will not be necessary.

The decree will specify:

1. The motives that justify it;
2. The rights that may not be fully assured;
3. The territory that it affects; and
4. The time that its validity will last.

Furthermore, within the decree itself, the Congress will be convoked, so that within a term of three days, it may take cognizance of the document, ratify it, amend it, or disapprove it. If the Congress is in session, it must take cognizance of it immediately.

The effects of the decree may not exceed thirty days on each occasion. If before the expiration of this deadline the causes motivating the decree should no longer apply, its effects will be terminated for this reason and any citizen will have the right to seek its revision. Should the 30-day deadline be reached, the full validity of the rights will automatically be reestablished, unless a new decree in the same sense is dictated. When Guatemala faces a real state of war, the decree will not be subject to the time limits mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Once the causes that motivated the decree referred to in this Article should no longer apply, any person will have the right to infer the legal responsibilities that are consequent, for unnecessary acts and measures unauthorized by the Law of Public Order.

Article 139. Law of Public Order and States of Exception

All of what is relative to this matter, is regulated in the Constitutional Law of Public Order [Ley Constitucional de Orden Público].

The Law of Public Order, shall not affect the functioning of the organs of the State and its members will always enjoy the immunities and prerogatives that the law recognizes to them; neither will it affect the functioning of [the] political parties.

The Law of Public Order, shall establish the means and the rights that proceed, in accordance with the following gradation:

1. State of prevention;
2. State of alarm;
3. State of public calamity;
4. State of siege; and
5. State of war.