Guatemala on The Monkey Cage

Kiran Alwani and Corrin Bulmer, graduate students in the master’s of public policy and global affairs program at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, take a look at Guatemala's path to democracy at The Monkey Cage. I just added a few comments to each of the authors' points. You can click through to their post to read what they wrote.

1. Getting to democracy has been rocky - It's odd to title a section that starts off with the overthrow of a nominally democratic system this way, especially since many people would probably say that Guatemala today does not approach the more democratic Guatemala of 1954.

2. There have been democratic elections, but governance is still volatile - Focusing on volatility is helpful. However, de Leon was sworn in as president after Serrano's failed autogolpe. And it's not only the presidency - very few members of Congress serve the political parties that they were elected to represent. Guatemala has not left its violent past behind but I'm not sure that Rios Montt's running for election in 2003 is what I would have highlighted - gang violence, drug trafficking, organized crime, and the behavior of hidden powers might have been a better approach. 

3. There’s a big push underway to clean up scandal and corruption - While Jimmy Morales' first few months have been awful, at least he requested another extension of CICIG. The US Embassy, CICIG, MP's office, some judges, and civil society are still trying to tackle impunity. Too bad Morales and the congress do not seem to be helping them. 

4. Citizens are pushing for a stronger rule of law - I'm not sure what they mean by "the public officials found guilty were punished" since no one has yet been prosecuted (as far as I know). Some people lost their jobs and were arrested. But found guilty? There appear to be some individuals collaborating with CICIG and the MP's office which is positive as well. And it is great that the Guatemalan people are pushing for a stronger rule of law - I just wish their politicians were. Turnout was over, not under, 50 percent. They are also a bit more optimistic about President Morales than I am.