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| 1983, Aug |
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| Ríos Montt was overthrown in a coup headed by his defense minister, Gen. Oscar Mejía Victores. The new junta escalated the violence, but under pressure from the U.S., it agreed to hold elections in 1985. | 1 |
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| 1984, July 1 |
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| In elections for a constituent assembly, the reformist Christian Democratic Party (DCG) won a plurality. | 2 |
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| 1985, Nov. 3 |
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| Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo, DCG candidate, won the presidential elections, but the military maintained its massive program of repression. Hundreds of thousands of Indians were forced into civil defense patrols, which kept a tight grip over the countryside. Refugees fleeing these measures amounted to 10 percent of the population by the late 1980s. | 3 |
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| 1989, April |
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| Peace negotiations opened between the URNG and the Cerezo government. Concurrently, death squad violence increased, and little progress was made. Guatemalan police came under attack after reports indicated that they had been involved in the murder of dozens of street children in Guatemala City. | 4 |
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| 1991, Jan. 6 |
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| Conservative Christian Jorge Serrano Elias won runoff presidential elections. Serrano promised peace and an end to human rights abuses, but his regime seemed unable to produce either. | 5 |
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| 1992, Oct. 16 |
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| Rigoberta Menchú, the Quiche Maya author and Indian rights activist, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her decade-long struggle to expose human rights abuses against Guatemalan Indians. | 6 |
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| 1993, May 25 |
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| Citing social and economic problems, Pres. Serrano initiated executive rule by decree, imprisoning opponents and dismissing the Congress and the Supreme Court. | 7 |
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| June 1 |
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| Pres. Serrano was ousted by the military amidst widespread popular protests. | 8 |
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| June 6 |
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| After the military allowed Congress to hold elections, Ramiro de León Carpio, the minister for human rights, was elected president. | 9 |
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| June 7 |
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| Pres. de León fired the defense minister and reassigned several top military officers in order to diffuse their power and challenge the political role of the military. | 10 |
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