The event was held at the National Palace of Culture in this capital, in front of the Plaza de la Constitucion, hosted 10 Heads of State and Government, along with 2,000 other guests and delegates from many sectors.

The four commanders of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG), Rolando Moran, Pablo Monsanto, Carlos Gonzalez, and Jorge Rosal, signed the agreement in the seat of the Executive, with then-President Alvaro Arzu (1996-2000) serving as an honorary witness.

The four members of the Peace Commission and former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali also signed the document.

Thousands of people waited outside the palace for the official proclamation of the cessation of hostilities, hoping for a better life.

That day, organizations from the so-called National Platform of Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict (1960-1996) called for a return to the peace agenda and the restoration of justice in this nation.

According to official figures, the civil war unleashed in the country left more than 200,000 dead and 45,000 missing.

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