The Promise of the Guatemalan Elections

By Kathy Rodriguez

January 14, 2004 was the inauguration of the new president of Guatemala, Oscar Berger. There seemed to be much enthusiasm and hope for this new government while we were in Guatemala on the CAMINOS delegation. A couple of people joked that Berger was already rich, so there was no need to rob the people - a reference to the corruption of the previous Portillo government. Both Frank LaRue and Rigoberta Menchu have accepted positions in the new administration which may signal some seriousness regarding human rights and the genocide cases. The following is an excerpt from an analysis by the Myrna Mack Foundation of the first few months of the Berger government. It may be viewed in its entirety at http://nisgua.org/articles/mack_business_analysis.htm

The new administration of Guatemalan President Oscar Berger has already been marked by a number of social and labor conflicts and scandals. These include the revelation of acts of corruption committed during the previous administration; a political controversy around the dismissal of the Attorney General of the Republic and the General Comptroller for the Nation’s Accounts; and the confirmation that dirty money financed the electoral campaigns of some of the political parties.

These events have held the interest of media and public opinion for several weeks now, but other aspects of the first two months of the Berger administration have gone unexamined. Very little has been said, for example, about the fragility and political insecurity of the new administration, the lack of progress toward building consensus on a national work agenda, the apparent inability to reach a political understanding with opposition parties, or the internal disputes among government groups that could eventually undermine stability in this new context.

Some street-level conflicts, like the truck-drivers’ strike, are new and may have been intentionally stimulated. Other old conflicts have re-ignited, such as plantation evictions and the ongoing confrontation between teachers and officials of the education system. Added to these are the precarious nature of state finances and political instability in Congress.

Education Minister, María del Carmen Aceña, has already had to face protests, marches, and even legal actions against her by teachers unhappy with the fact that teaching positions included in the previous administration’s budget are now being reviewed. The government of former President Alfonso Portillo left this time bomb intentionally activated by responding to partisan interests with commitments that would be difficult to meet given the condition of the Education budget.

Truck drivers took to the streets in February to protest the municipality’s decision to keep trucks off the principal city roads during peak traffic hours. As protests became more intense and violent, combined forces (National Civilian Police and Army) were ordered to put down the demonstration. As a result, the government has already had to use force, and some truck drivers have been arrested and are currently facing criminal charges of terrorism. 

The lack of coordination and communication between the municipality of Guatemala City and the Central Government was evident in these events, as the personal quarrels between the Mayor and the President, dating back several years, did not allow the two to work together to resolve the problem. Furthermore, it is believed that the protests were sparked with the specific intention of creating political conflict for the new government . Former Vice-President Francisco Reyes López, who owns several of the trucking units involved in the demonstrations, may have participated actively in this process.

In rural areas, one problem that has reemerged with force but with little media coverage has been the eviction of peasant farmers from large plantations. Evictions had been strategically suspended during much of the previous administration, but courts suddenly began to process eviction orders more quickly when the new government took over. This appears to be another effort to stimulate conflict on sensitive and explosive issues.

It remains to be seen how much political will the new government really has for the serious commitment of re-launching the peace process and what concrete measures it will take to make substantial progress in the fulfillment of the Peace Accords. For the time being, the old “Accompaniment Commission” for the Peace Accords has disappeared and in its place for the transition period is a Peace Commission made up of representatives from the academic, pro-justice, labor, indigenous, and government sectors, among others.

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