GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) -- Guatemala's military past and
                  democratic present collided this week as a former dictator revived his quest
                  for the presidency and his party pressed for constitutional reforms to allow
                  him to run.

                  Congress is debating this week a package of constitutional reforms, and the
                  conservative Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) wants the reforms to
                  eliminate articles of the constitution that block former coup leaders from
                  running for president.

                  If successful, the proposed change would open the door to a presidential bid
                  by FRG secretary general, retired Gen. Efrain Rios Montt.

                  Human rights groups said the door should main shut to Rios Montt, who led
                  a coup in 1982 and served as president for 17 months at the bloody height
                  of Guatemala's long civil war.

                  "We can't be amnesiacs. We can't forget that it is dangerous for a
                  recognised violator of peoples' fundamental rights be allowed to seek
                  power," human rights leader Aldo Morales told Reuters on Tuesday.

                  During Rios Montt's brief presidency the army massacred thousands of
                  peasants and entire towns were swept off the map during a scorched-earth
                  campaign against leftist rebels.

                  After Rios Montt was thrown out in another coup, Congress adopted Article
                  186 of the constitution, barring coup leaders from the presidency. Just in
                  case, Congress adopted another article prohibiting lawmakers from revoking
                  article 186.

                  Those laws kept Rios Montt from running for president in 1995, but he
                  continues to be an influential political player.

                  His FRG party is the principal opposition party in Congress. Aristides
                  Crespo, FRG party leader in Congress, told Reuters that allowing Rios
                  Montt to run for president, and letting the people decide, was key in
                  cementing Guatemala's democratic development and peace process.

                  The package of 40 constitutional reforms before Congress this week is part
                  of government promises contained in the 1996 peace treaty that ended the
                  civil war. The reconstructed constitution would guarantee Indian rights,
                  strengthen the judicial system, and limit the role of the army.

                  The official National Advancement Party (PAN) needs a two-thirds vote to
                  pass the reforms. The FRG is trying to win other opposition parties over to
                  its side and then possibly block reforms unless they include elimination of the
                  two articles.

                  Congressional President Rafael Barrios told Reuters that the PAN would not
                  bow to the FRG plan just to force the reforms through during a third and
                  final debate on Thursday.

                  Barrios said weeks of closed-door meetings between different potential
                  party coalitions would continue on Tuesday and Wednesday before the final
                  debate.
 

                  Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.