Of Centaurs And Doves: Guatemala's Peace Process [Paperback]

Susanne Jonas (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0813334683 | ISBN-13: 978-0813334684 | Publication Date: March 24, 2000

In this, the first English-language book-length account of Guatemala's historic but difficult peace process, Susanne Jonas assesses the negotiation and content of the 1996 peace accords, and their implementation as of 1999. Her analysis also highlights their significance beyond Guatemala--for Central America over the long run, and for the Americas as a whole--and the effects the peace accords will have on U.S.-Latin American relations.This sequel to The Battle for Guatemala picks up as the peace negotiations were beginning in Guatemala after thirty years of civil war, and follows the process through 1999. The authenticity and comprehensiveness of Jonas' account of the negotiation and implementation of the peace accords stem from the hundreds of interviews she conducted from 1990 through 1999 with all of the key actors, both domestic and international. This book, therefore, represents the author's unique positioning to develop a "trans-national" perspective that is both rooted in Guatemala and informed by multiple international viewpoints.Jonas describes key moments and turning points in the unpredictable negotiation process, as well as the roles of major actors--not only the Guatemalan government and leftist insurgents, but also the United Nations and Guatemala's Assembly of Civil Society. She also analyzes the accords themselves, with all their strengths and limitations. Her analysis of their implementation since 1997 includes detailed accounts of the major battles, over demilitarization, tax reform, indigenous rights, and constitutional reforms.In a world plagued by civil wars, many of them involving an ethnic component, the Guatemalan peace process is a source of great lessons and great relevance throughout the Americas and worldwide. Moreover, Jonas' analysis of the Guatemalan experience raises a number of broader issues about revolution, negotiation, peacemaking, democratization, and "U.S.interests;" hence, her book is of interest to a wide range of Latin Americanists as well as comparativists, students of international affairs, and general readers. It was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Book of 2001.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Susanne Jonas teaches Latin American & Latino Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. An expert on Central America and Guatemala for over 32 years, she is the author of The Battle for Guatemala: Rebels, Death Squads, and U.S. Power (Westview 1991). She recently coedited Immigration: Civil Rights Issue for the Americas.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Westview Press (March 24, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813334683
• ISBN-13: 978-0813334684
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #969,838 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely a Core Work for the Region and the UN Role in Enabling Peace--Future Oriented as Well, April 3, 2010

By 

Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Of Centaurs And Doves: Guatemala's Peace Process (Paperback)

I am stunned not to find numerous reviews of this excellent work, a fleshing out of the author's highly-regarded (within the United Nations and global peace-process circles) "The Mined Road to Peace in Guatemala," (North-South Agenda Paper #38, September 1999. As of today, 3 April 2010, her paper and her book are still the core references for those who seek to extend the model elsewhere in Central and Latin America.

See also:

The Battle For Guatemala: Rebels, Death Squads, And U.s. Power (Latin American Perspectives Series, No 5) - Spanish edition, with new introduction/update, La Batalla por Guatemala (Caracas, Venezuela: Nueva Sociedad and FLACSO/Guatemala, 1994);

La Ideología Social Demócrata en Costa Rica (San José, Costa Rica: Editorial Universitaria Centroamericana (EDUCA), 1984); and

Guatemala: Plan Piloto para el Continente (translation of Ph.D. dissertation) (San José,: EDUCA, 1981).

This author was at least a decade if not two decades ahead of her peers and the conventional idiocy in Washington, D.C. Everything she has ever thought, particularly with respect to migrating the process of peace toward a process of prosperity, is relevant right this minute.

The quality of this work overcomes what would normally be a one-star deduction for a lazy unprofessional publisher failing to list the table of contents and provide a sample chapter or even better, assuring Inside the Book information including the Index, one of Amazon's best offerings.