Título III. El Estado

Guatemala is a free, independent and sovereign State, organized to guarantee to its inhabitants the enjoyment of their rights and of their freedoms. Its system of Government is republican, democratic and representative.

Sovereignty resides in the people who delegate it, for its exercise, to the Legislative, Executive and Judicial Bodies. Subordination among them is prohibited.

The State exercises full sovereignty over:

a)The national territory composed of its soil, subsoil, inland waters, the territorial sea to the extent fixed by law and the airspace extending over the same;

b)The contiguous zone of the sea adjacent to the territorial sea, for the exercise of certain activities recognized by international law; and

c)The natural and living resources of the seabed and marine subsoil and those existing in the waters adjacent to the coasts outside the territorial sea, which constitute the exclusive economic zone, to the extent fixed by law, in accordance with international practice.

The official language of Guatemala is Spanish. The vernacular languages form part of the cultural heritage of the Nation.

Guatemalans by origin are those born in the territory of the Republic of Guatemala, on Guatemalan vessels and aircraft, and children of a Guatemalan father or mother born abroad. Excepted are the children of diplomatic officials and of those who hold legally equivalent offices.

No Guatemalan by origin may be deprived of his or her nationality.

Also considered Guatemalans of origin are nationals by birth of the republics that constituted the Federation of Central America, if they acquire domicile in Guatemala and declare before a competent authority their desire to be Guatemalans. In this case they may retain their nationality of origin, without prejudice to what is established in Central American treaties or agreements.

Those who obtain their naturalization in accordance with the law are Guatemalans.

Naturalized Guatemalans have the same rights as those of origin, except for the limitations established by this Constitution.

Guatemalans over eighteen years of age are citizens. Citizens shall have no limitations other than those established by this Constitution and the law.

Citizenship is suspended, lost and recovered in accordance with what the law prescribes.

Guatemala shall regulate its relations with other States in accordance with international principles, rules and practices for the purpose of contributing to the maintenance of peace and liberty, to respect for and defense of human rights, to the strengthening of democratic processes and international institutions that guarantee mutual and equitable benefit among the States.

Guatemala, as part of the Central American community, shall maintain and cultivate relations of cooperation and solidarity with the other States that formed the Federation of Central America; it shall adopt the appropriate measures to put into practice, in partial or total form, the political or economic union of Central America. The competent authorities are obligated to strengthen Central American economic integration on bases of equity.

The State shall maintain relations of friendship, solidarity and cooperation with those States whose economic, social and cultural development is analogous to that of Guatemala, for the purpose of finding appropriate solutions to their common problems and of jointly formulating policies aimed at the progress of the respective nations.