Lacking a roadmap for the central political issue of AG Consuelo Porras’ refusal to resign, Bernardo Arévalo is doubling down on his bet for international support.
Roman Gressier and José Luis Sanz write in El Faro English on the challenges facing Bernardo Arévalo with regards to what to do with the Attorney General, Consuelo Porras, and how to progress with rooting out the corruption affecting the judiciary. Will friends in high paces be enough?
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ photo ops with Bernardo Arévalo this week at the White House show the U.S. government’s latest attempt to find an associate in northern Central America: “Your election has brought a sense of optimism to the people of America and around the world,” Harris asserted.
After the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala helped thwart the monthslong illegal effort to overturn the election results last year, the interest is mutual. On Monday Washington announced $170 million USD to fund economic development projects, security, and health in Guatemala. Arévalo admits that he needs international support:
“Just as we appreciate the political support we were given to recover our institutions and make it to inauguration, we are interested in their support for development, which is how the Guatemalan people will feel the benefits of supporting democracy,” Arévalo told El Faro English in a Tuesday interview.
Hours before, at the OAS Permanent Council, he made an unprecedented request for international observation of the selection of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) and appellate courts, a process key to his pledge to uproot corruption. Guatemalan courts, rife with influence-trafficking in recent years, have attracted multiple major corruption megacases and had a heavy hand in last year’s electoral process.
“Maintaining alliances like the ‘special relationship,’ as he called it, with the United States, depends on whether he can maintain his high level of public support at the local level,” says political scientist Marielos Chang, who has reservations about the real impact of the cooperation projects: “We’ll see if this turns out like the Chinese infrastructure projects in El Salvador, or if the U.S. channels aid differently.”
While receiving flak at home from impatient allies eager for him to take bold action, in late February he visited the European Council, Spain, and France. Spanish King Felipe was in Guatemala on inauguration day to witness last-second obstruction, while France was among the few in Europe to condemn coup efforts on its own, apart from the E.U.
You can read the full piece, with links and photos, here, No End in Sight for His AG Problem, Arévalo Seeks Aid from US, OAS, Europe.
Categories: Corruption, Guatemala, Human Rights, Impunity, Justice, Presidential Elections
Guatemala Solidarity Network 
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