Juan Francisco Sandoval, the former head of Guatemala’s Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI). writes in El Faro English about the need for Guatemala to discuss and tackle the systemic issues at the heart of the judicial system. There is little to be gained by proclaiming the winner in a race unless there are genuine attempts to tackle the rules of the race as well. He discusses the question, Do the mechanisms to elect our highest authorities actually work?
In a matter of a few months, Guatemala has renewed a significant portion of the officials who make up the justice system and institutional oversight bodies. The magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal have already been elected, the Constitutional Court (CC) has been partially renewed, and the new Attorney General has already taken office, although the Court itself has just settled the dispute over the University of San Carlos, leaving it in the hands of the embattled rector Walter Mazariegos. In the coming days, the election of the Comptroller General will also begin, a position that has been identified by international observers as key to the fight against corruption.
As has been the case for years, each of these processes was accompanied by controversies, political negotiations, legal appeals, campaigns for and against the candidates, as well as debates over the independence and competence of those seeking the positions. It’s part of our institutional reality. But once again we run the risk of getting stuck discussing only the results, as if it were a horse race, without pausing to analyze the causes of so much conflict.
Beyond who was elected, there is a question that Guatemala keeps ducking: Do the mechanisms to elect our highest authorities actually work?
You can read the full piece, including links, here, After the Elections, the Debate Guatemala Keeps Putting Off.
Categories: Accompaniment, Corruption, Criminalisation, Criminalization, Guatemala, Human Rights, Impunity, Justice, Solidarity in Action, Solidarity in Action/Guatemala
Guatemala Solidarity Network 
Post comments here