Relations between the two countries warmed in the mid-1980s with gradual improvements in human rights and the Reagan administration's emphasis on curbing the spread of communism in Central America.
In December 1990, however, largely as a result of the killing of US citizen Michael DeVine by members of the Guatemalan army, the Bush administration suspended almost all overt military aid.
The US also joined the "Group of Friends of the Peace Process," which continues to work to bring an end to Guatemala's 35-year-old internal conflict ...
US policy objectives in Guatemala since 1984 have included supporting the transition to and strengthening of civilian democratic government, encouraging respect for human rights and the rule of law, supporting economic growth, combating illegal narcotics trafficking, fighting the communist insurgency, and, in recent years, advancing the peace process.The report also goes on to highlight: The human rights records of the Guatemalan security services—the D-2 and the Department of Presidential Security (known informally as "Archivos," after one of its predecessor organizations)—were generally known to have been reprehensible by all who were familiar with Guatemala.
Several indices of human rights observance indeed reflected improvement—whether or not this was due to CIA efforts—but egregious violations continued, and some of the station's closest contacts in the security services remained a part of the problem.