Breathe
By Stephanie Henaro
Guatemala stopped being bored on June 25. The presidential elections, the Seed Party and the attempt to remove one of the most voted candidates, have shaken the country that once again has an appointment with destiny on August 20.
On that day, citizens will decide whether Sandra Torres or Bernardo Arévalo will become president of a country that will arrive fractured. Because it has wounds infected by corruption, poverty and political discredit that is reflected in the 28% of the votes that together Torres and Arevalo, politicians that only together, can beat the null vote that accumulated 17% of the votes.
A clear sign of rejection of the current political system and a generalized weariness with the electoral options that, this time, has a cause.
Three candidates who did not manage to participate in the elections after the electoral authorities blocked them for technical reasons that they considered arbitrary, called for a null vote. They are Carlos Pineda -who, in fact, was first in the polls-, Roberto Arzú and Thelma Cabrera.
Behind their call was the objective that these null votes would exceed 50% of ballots, which since the reform to the Electoral and Political Parties Law of 2016, would force to repeat the elections and although they did not achieve it, the percentage obtained this time is much higher than the 4% of 2019.
Distrust is on the rise and promises to be a definitive factor in August. A resolution of the Constitutional Court (CC) granted in the first half of this month, a provisional injunction to Arevalo, and this reversed the measure adopted by Judge Fredy Orellana that prohibited the participation of the Semilla candidate due to irregularities found during the creation of the party in 2018.
The prosecutor's office stated in a communiqué that "there are indications that possibly more than 5,000 citizens may have been illegally adhered to the Seed Movement, through falsification of documents".
To the latter must be added The Engel List published by the U.S. State Department, which is part of the U.S. Northern Triangle Enhanced Engagement Act (HR 2615), and which has been published since 2021 and includes individuals from El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua who undermine democracy in the region. Since then, the names of 49 Guatemalans have appeared. Among them are officials, former officials, businessmen, politicians, judges and former judges,
Corruption has rotted Guatemala's body to the bone and citizens can no longer stand it.
In addition to being the most populated country in Central America, it is one of the most unequal in Latin America, according to the World Bank, with 10.3 million of its 17.6 million inhabitants living below the poverty line and one out of every two children suffering from chronic malnutrition, according to the UN.
If a social democrat from the Seed Party is elected on November 20, it will put an end to a period of three successive right-wing presidencies: Otto Pérez (2012-2015), Jimmy Morales (2016-2020) and outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei, who is due to leave office in January 2024.
The traditional right wing against Arévalo's new approach to a clean slate
All this will be present in the second round in which it is expected that they will not change so that everything remains the same.
There is nothing boring about Guatemala at the moment. It is getting more and more interesting.
Last one to leave, turn off the light.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of Opinion 51.
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