Both Guatemala and Uruguay share a common history in the fact that both nations were once part of the Spanish Empire.

In 1841, Guatemala obtained its independence after the dissolution of the Federal Republic of Central America.

In November 2006 Guatemalan Vice-President Eduardo Stein attended the 16th Ibero-American Summit in Montevideo.

[2] In November 2018 Uruguayan Vice-President Lucía Topolansky paid a visit to Antigua, Guatemala to attend the 26th Ibero-American Summit.

At the time of Arévalo's birth, his father was living in political exile in South America following the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état.