Indigenous people are rallying to defend the country’s constitution and uphold the election of Bernardo Arévalo as president
Sergio Ramírez writes an Opinion, in El País English, on the challenges facing democracy in Guatemala and the resistance to corruption being led by Indigenous peoples.
Bernardo Arévalo, a calm and composed academic, holds a degree in sociology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a doctorate in social anthropology from Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Elected as president of Guatemala in August, Arévalo is set to take the oath of office on January 14. However, this unusually long period between election and inauguration has created an opportunity for conspiracies and dark forces aimed at preventing him from assuming the position that he rightfully earned with an overwhelming majority of votes.
Having an academic presiding over Guatemala who speaks to the public with scholarly eloquence instead of the usual corrupt demagoguery will seem like a dramatic plot twist for the country if the coup his adversaries have orchestrated fails. After all, his predecessors include the likes of President Alejandro Giammattei, whose main accomplishment was his brief tenure as the head of Guatemala’s prison system. Before him was Jimmy Morales, an unfunny TV comedian turned populist politician. And let’s not forget the cast of bloodthirsty generals, including Efraín Rios Montt, the self-proclaimed prophet of the evangelical Church of the Word who was later convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity.
In Guatemala, the exercise of power has been characterized by a persistent disregard for the rule of law, the spurious management of the country’s institutions, and the unjust imprisonment of journalists like Rubén Zamora, director of El Periódico. Moreover, there is a troubling pattern of persecution against judges, prosecutors and human rights attorneys dedicated to fulfilling their legal duties, often resulting in their forced exile. Power is furtively wielded in Guatemala by a feudal clan bound together by an infamous “pact of corruption.” It’s an alliance of aging, avaricious oligarchs, ruthless crime bosses and retired military men with long careers of brutal repression.
You can read the full Opinion, with links, here The other Guatemala stands up for democracy.
Categories: Corruption, Criminalisation, Guatemala, Human Rights, Impunity, Indigenous peoples, Justice, Presidential Elections, Solidarity in Action
Guatemala Solidarity Network 
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