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A new civic confidence in Guatemala

The unexpected embrace of a reformist presidential candidate shows a determination by voters to renew equality and honest governance.

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Reuters
A combination picture shows Sandra Torres, the presidential candidate for the National Unity of Hope party, and Bernardo Arevalo, the candidate for the Semilla party. The two were the top vote-getters in the first election round held June 25.
  • By the Monitor's Editorial Board

While setbacks have been common in Guatemala's pursuit of a healthy democracy, progress keeps showing up. On Sunday, the country held a multicandidate presidential election that resulted in a surprise showing for a dark horse reformer. He now heads into an Aug. 20 runoff against the highest vote-getter – a candidate favored by the political elite.

Bernardo Arévalo, the son of a revered former president and who pledges to renew anti-corruption efforts, will go up against a former first lady, Sandra Torres, who faces corruption accusations and was expected to win the election in the first round.

The stark choice for voters speaks to the enduring hope that Guatemalan voters can shape their democracy and economy. That journey has been a long one for Guatemala. In 2006, still emerging from a 36-year civil war, the government established an anti-corruption commission with help from the United Nations. The investigative body ran up an impressive tally over the succeeding 12 years: 120 cases implicating more than 1,500 people, including charges against some 200 retired and serving government officials. That work fostered deep public trust in the judiciary.

It also rattled the political, economic, and military elite. In 2019, the government refused to renew the commission’s mandate. Since then, scores of Guatemalan judges, prosecutors, and journalists have been jailed or driven into exile for pursuing corrupt officials and their patrons. In the run-up to Sunday’s election, the government disqualified the three top opposition candidates.

That deepened pessimism among critics, but it also had a galvanizing effect within civil society – encouraging, for example, more Indigenous women to seek local office. On election day, though, frustration with the election system still ran high. More than 1 million voters marred their ballots to express their discontent – more than the number who voted for any single candidate.

“Voting patterns are changing in important ways, especially among younger voters,” Claudia Méndez, an investigative reporter at Con Criterio, told Americas Quarterly. “They want disruption – but within the system – and to reject traditional politics.”

From Guatemala’s roots, new causes for confidence are emerging.

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