The Inter-American Dialogue and the Organization of American States (OAS) co-hosted the first National Dialogue on Democracy in Antigua, Guatemala on March 22-24. The first workshop, titled Guatemala: Ten Years after the Peace Accords, brought together distinguished participants from the public and private sectors, civil society, and academia to discuss the state of democratic governance in Guatemala, the setbacks and advances democracy has registered there in recent years, and the challenges it will confront in the coming period. 

Participants discussed the effectiveness of the Guatemalan state in promoting good governance, economic development, and inclusion, and the critical need for more robust institutions, especially political parties, as well as the role of civil society and the media within the political process.  Participants also stressed the precariousness of the security situation, concluding that in order to register progress in this and other areas, Guatemala needs to enact state policies that reflect the consensus of the various sectors represented. Such policies should pursue the national interest and be given continuity from one administration to the next.

Participants included Vice President Eduardo Stein, Congresswoman Nineth Montenegro, Vice Minister of Foreign Relations Marta Altolaguirre, Bishop of San Marcos Alvaro Ramazzini, as well as Gustavo Porras, Raquel Zelaya, and Richard Aitkenhead, all signers of the 1996 Peace Accords. The Asociación de Investigación y Estudios Sociales (ASIES) worked with the Dialogue and the OAS in Guatemala to coordinate the event. A report, Guatemala: Diez años después de los acuerdos de paz, is now available in Spanish. The English translation, Guatemala: Ten Years After the Agreements on a Firm and Lasting Peace, was released in May 2008.