Where voters in Guatemala put their trust

Two candidates are on the ballot in Guatemala’s presidential runoff later this month. But the contest is less a matter of who vs. who than who vs. what – in this case, the people of Central America’s most populous nation versus the corruption eroding their democracy.

The demands of Guatemalan citizens for honesty are notable for lacking a personal target. There is no incumbent in the race to rally allegiance or stir dissent. Instead, frustrated by decades of abuses by judges and elected officials, voters have gathered in the thousands – often for days at a time – to defend their right to self-governance free from interference.

“Guatemala has not experienced such diverse demonstrations to defend electoral results and respect for constitutionally guaranteed procedures since the country re-installed democracy in 1986,” Gabriela Carrera, a political science professor at Rafael Landívar University in Guatemala City, told the United States Institute of Peace last week. “These mobilizations are peaceful, nonpartisan and led by young people. Their central demand is to respect the integrity of the electoral process and the will of the citizens.”

Guatemala’s struggle with corruption can be measured by reformers hounded into exile and former presidents behind bars. For voters, it is the cost of graft that counts. The region’s largest economy also has the highest rates of poverty and economic inequality, according to the World Bank. Transparency International ranks Guatemala the 31st-most corrupt country in the world.

Those conditions, however, have led more to motivation than despair. Ahead of the first round of voting in June, three of the most popular candidates were barred by the Constitutional Court, one after the other, on legally questionable pretexts. Voters responded in droves at the ballot box (turnout exceeded 60%). Many spoiled their ballots or left them blank in protest. Even more lined up behind a young anti-corruption party that had been polling at 3%, pushing it through to the runoff on Aug. 20.

The unexpected rise of the Seed Movement (Movimiento Semilla in Spanish, or Semilla for short) and the popularity of its anti-corruption message attracted notice. Three weeks after the first vote, the attorney general’s office tried to disqualify the party on unproven claims of fraud. That move was overturned by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, but the protests it sparked haven’t stopped. Even Semilla’s opponent in the runoff, former first lady Sandra Torres, has had to express “solidarity with the voters of the Seed party” and call for competition “under equal conditions.”

“There is a rekindling of hope, a rekindling of confidence,” Bernardo Arévalo, Semilla’s leader and candidate, told the Atlantic Council in late July, referring to the mood among Guatemalans.

The wisdom of the demands for change in Guatemala rests on the impersonal nature of their focus – in a trust in civic values rather than faith in individuals. At a recent protest outside the public prosecutor’s office in Guatemala City, one placard read: “This is not for Semilla, it is for democracy.”