Guatemala's Democracy Descends Into Crisis, With Implications For The US
Guatemala’s anti-corruption leader-to-be could be prevented from taking office
TOPSHOT - Guatemala's president-elect Bernardo Arevalo waves to supporters during the commemoration of the 79th anniversary of the Revolution that overthrew dictator Jorge Ubico in 1944, in Guatemala City on October 20, 2023. Guatemala's president-elect, the social democrat Bernardo Arévalo, insisted on Friday that the questioned attorney general, Consuelo Porras, resign at an event commemorating the 1944 revolution led by his father. (Photo by Orlando ESTRADA / AFP) (Photo by ORLANDO ESTRADA/AFP via Getty Images)
By Bonar Hernández Sandoval
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December 24, 2023 9:00 a.m.
Guatemala is in the midst of a democratic crisis so severe that it may prevent the new president from taking office, as planned, on Jan. 14, 2024.
On Dec. 8, 2023, prosecutors and the Guatemalan Congress called for the nullification of the election results. A few weeks earlier, the attorney general’s office in Guatemala tried to remove President-elect Bernardo Arévalo’s immunity from prosecution. The attorney general alleged that the center-left politician, who won the election on an anti-corruption ticket, made posts on social media in 2022 that encouraged students to occupy the country’s public university. In an unprecedented attempt to prevent him from assuming power, officials accused Arévalo of complicity in the takeover of the university, illicit association and damaging the country’s cultural heritage.
During the presidential election in September, the Public Ministry raided electoral offices. These actions “appear to be designed to overturn the will of the electorate and erode the democratic process,” concluded the Organization of American States, a group that represents 35 countries in the region and promotes human rights, fair elections, security and economic development.
These developments follow a democratic backslide in Guatemala that has been going on since 2019, when the government expelled an anti-corruption commission backed by the United Nations.
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