Despite court intervention and legal persecution, a reformist candidate is favored to win the runoff over an establishment option. Judicial efforts to derail democracy still loom. Vaclav Masek writes in NACLA about the increased use of lawfare by the state… Read More ›
Criminalisation
‘Hope won’ Guatemalan presidential vote, but hurdles remain
Sandra Cuffe writes in The Christian Science Monitor on the joyful reaction to the result of the presidential election while recognising the challenges ahead, especially regarding the expected political and judicial backlash from those elites who feel their power and… Read More ›
‘Fighting a huge monster’: mine battle in Guatemala became a playbook for polluters
Indigenous defenders opposing the Marlin mine were criminalised by a corporation and its state allies Nina Lakhani writes in The Guardian about the community struggle against the Canadian gold-mining firm Goldcorp’s Marlin mine in San Miguel Ixtahuacán, in the west… Read More ›
Reaction: Arévalo Wins Presidency in Guatemala
The battle for democracy is far from over. It is not even a given that the peaceful transfer of power will take place. The weeks ahead will be critical. Claudia Méndez, Irma A. Velásquez Nimatuj, and Marielos Chang each contribute… Read More ›
NPR: Democracy under threat in Guatemala
Eyder Peralta recently hosted, on NPR, a couple of interviews with prominent Guatemalans on that country’s current democratic crisis with the upcoming second round of the presidential elections on the horizon. He talks with Yassmín Barrios, the judge who passed… Read More ›
Bernardo Arévalo: “The corrupt are afraid of the will of the people”
Rights Action has been providing regular updates on the ongoing machinations currently plaguing Guatemala as it heads towards the second round run-off in the Presidential elections. Under the heading of Guatemala Election Watch, regular posts have included translated pieces from… Read More ›
Criminal Court Intervenes in Guatemalan Election Five Weeks before Run-Off
Roman Gressier and Julie López write in El Faro about the State’s attempt to discredit the results of the first round of the presidential, the Movimiento Semilla party and the second place candidate who should go on to contest the… Read More ›
Five Things to Know About the Guatemalan Elections
Shortly after the results of the presidential election election in Guatemala became known and attempts had already started to discredit and ban the Semilla Party from the second round run-off, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) published a piece… Read More ›
Pre- and Post-Election Machinations in Guatemala
Despite widespread attempts to manipulate the electoral system in favour of candidates alligned to agents of corruption (Los Corruptos), the Guatemala Presidential election threw up a major surprise. The two frontrunners turned out to be Sandra Torres, a former First-Lady… Read More ›
Vamos: The Fight to Stay in the Game
Alex Papadovassilakis writes in InSight Crime on President Alejandro Giammattei, who is soon to see his term come to an end, if the ramos, the political party or, more correctly, the political bloc, which has effectively wielded power and favour… Read More ›
Guatemala Solidarity Network 