UN General Assembly
1996

of the army in a democratic society. We now have to deal with the operational issues: demobilization, reinsertion into civil society, the cease-fire and the timetable for the implementation of the agreements. In the course of this year we shall initial, God willing, the final agreement for a firm and lasting peace, which will put an end to an armed conflict that has lasted 36 years. It is worth emphasizing then, that for the last five months there has been no armed confrontation, which has allowed the peace talks to progress without subjecting our negotiators to the anguish and pressure of knowing that as they are working Guatemalan blood is being shed. That is over. Far from deadening or delaying the dialogue, this state of affairs has stimulated it, given the prospect of a definitive cessation of hostilities. This has also stimulated us to see clearly where we are going and to gain a more profound understanding of what has happened. As many of the representatives in this Assembly know, the internal conflict caused great misfortune and