July 25, 2023
Guatemalans demand a fair election
A growing number of people have come out in protest in Guatemala to demand that the government and the justice system cease their attempts to derail the current presidential elections, the second round of which is to be held on August 20. Prior to the elections there was a state operation to deny registration to the Movement for the Liberation of the Peoples (MLP) and its candidate, Thelma Cabrera, a peasant activist for land rights, access to electricity and against privatization of basic services.
Despite the fact that 22 people ran for the Guatemalan presidency and that more than 40 percent of the country’s inhabitants are indigenous, Cabrera was the only candidate belonging to one of the original peoples, a proof of the racism and lack of representation in the country’s political system.
After the first round on June 25, there was a generalized surprise, when the results contradicted all the polls and expressed unequivocally the social weariness with an authoritarian and criminal kleptocracy that is about to complete seven decades in power. From the moment it was known that Bernardo Arévalo, of the Semilla Movement (progressive), had passed to the second round, all kinds of irregular maneuvers have been perpetrated in order to avoid the participation of such civic-electoral platform.
Among the main blows to legality and the democratic process are the following: the Constitutional Court authorized a recount of votes not contemplated in the norms; the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity, in charge of Rafael Curruchiche, instructed a judge to withdraw the legal personality of Semilla, something expressly prohibited once the elections begin; Judge Fredy Orellana ordered to raid twice the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) and issued an arrest warrant against the head of this body, despite the fact that she has immunity. Also, hooded men have stolen documents from both the TSE and Semilla’s offices.
Citizens identify as the main architect of these crimes the Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who since her arrival in office unleashed a judicial hunt against any member of the judiciary and the Public Prosecutor’s Office who had tried to perform her duties with probity. So far, only the resistance of a handful of officials and popular pressure have prevented the realization of what would clearly constitute a coup d’état and a breakdown of democratic institutionality.
The closing of ranks of the political and economic oligarchy against Arevalo represents the design to stop at any cost the possibility of establishing a democratic, honest and socially sensitive government in Guatemala.
And in the immediate future, the ruling class is driven by the urgency of boycotting the mere possibility of resuming the investigations into the corruption of politicians and businessmen, stopped by former President Jimmy Morales and cut short by the current president, Alejandro Giammattei.
Source: La Jornada, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English