Protests and prayer in Guatemala

David Agren looks at how Protests, prayer provoke change in Guatemalan government for the Catholic News Service. As you'll see in my comments below, I believe CICIG has provided an opportunity for Guatemalans, especially those in the MP's office, to do their jobs. Yes, the institutions in Guatemala need some financial and technical support. However, there are a ton of Guatemalans who have wanted to make their country better. We are talking about lawyers, judges, journalists, and, probably, even politicians. CICIG provides them with some protection that had not been there before.

"If it was a group of Guatemalans that started this (investigative) work, they would have been eliminated," Father Estrada said. "This has been providential. Without it, none of this would have happened."

Protesters in other Central American countries have called for the creation of similar commissions, operated by the international community and local governments.

"(The commission) allowed upstanding Guatemalan officials to do their jobs without fear of losing their jobs or their lives (and) insulates to a certain extent the prosecutor's office from charges of playing political favorites," says Mike Allison, an expert on Central American politics at the Jesuit-run University of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

The commission's work helped spur the protests, too.

"We knew there was an investigation going on and that they had proof," says Karin Pira, a banker in Guatemala City. "This will be a precedent for other Latin American countries."

Some citizens expect the anti-corruption clamor to continue, regardless of who wins the election.

"The government will think twice," Marroquin said. "They're scared of the people."

The TSE seems to have trouble counting but, as of right now, it looks like Sandra Torres will be advancing to a second round against Jimmy Morales. Hopefully, we'll know on Wednesday.