2023-08-22 00:55:46
An anti-corruption activist won the second round of Guatemala’s presidential elections on Sundaygiving a surprising message to the conservative political establishment in the most populous nation in Central America.
Bernardo Arévalo, a polyglot sociologist from an emerging social democratic party Composed largely of urban professionals, it obtained 58% of the votes against 37% for former first lady Sandra Torres, who moved from the center to the right in these elections.
Alejandro Giammattei, the current president, congratulated Arévalo and invited him to organize an “orderly” transition power. But until yesterday the opposition candidate and her National Unity of Hope party had not recognized the victory of Arévalo, of the Seed Movement, which set off alarm bells after several previous attempts to get him out of the race.
Arévalo is the son of Juan José Arévalo, a former president who is still praised for creating Guatemala’s social security system and protecting freedom of expression. After his father was forced into exile in the 1950s, Arévalo was born in Uruguay and grew up in Venezuela, Chile and Mexico. before returning to Guatemala as a teenager.
He was serving as a member of Congress when his party chose him this year as its candidate.
Bernardo Arevalo. President-elect of Guatemala. Photo Reuters
A milestone
Arévalo’s victory marks a milestone in Guatemala, one of the main sources of migration to the United States and one of Washington’s allies in the region. Until entered the second round with a surprise performance in the first round in June, it was the judicial ban of other candidates seen as threats to the country’s ruling elites that was shaping the tumultuous campaign.
Rejecting such tactics, Arévalo made the fight against corruption the centerpiece of his election. He focused on pointing out how Guatemala’s fragile democracy, repeatedly plagued by scandal-ridden governments, went from pioneering anti-corruption strategies to shutting down those efforts and forcing judges and prosecutors to flee the country, harassed by power.
Celebrating the electoral victory of the presidential candidate of the Movimiento Semilla party, Bernardo Arévalo. AP Photo
Following his victory Sunday night, Arévalo said a priority for his government would be to end the “persecution against different types of officials and people who focus on corruption, human rights and the environment.”
One voter, Mauricio Armas, 47, said he had voted for a candidate he believed in for the first time in decades. Arévalo and the game of his Seed “it seems they are not connected with criminal activities”, said Armas, a painter from the capital.
Arévalo, 64, a moderate who criticizes left-wing governments like Nicaragua’s, is nonetheless seen in Guatemala’s conservative political landscape as the most progressive candidate to go that far. since democracy was restored to the country in 1985 after three decades of military dictatorship.
With much of the support of voters in the cities, Arevalo’s campaign contrasted with that of his rival, who focused primarily on crime and vowed to emulate in Guatemala. gang crackdown by Nayib Bukele, the conservative president of El Salvador.
Torres also highlighted social issues, opposing the legalization of abortion, gay marriage, and marijuana, and supported increased food assistance and cash payments to the poor.
Failed attempt
Sunday’s election was just the latest failed attempt by Torres, 67, the ex-wife of Álvaro Colom, who was president between 2008 and 2012. In 2011, Torres divorced in an effort to circumvent a law that prohibits family members of a president from running for office. Colom died in January at the age of 71.
Although he was barred from running in that race, he came in second in the most recent two presidential races. After the last one, in 2019, she was arrested on illicit campaign financing charges and spent time under house arrest. But a judge closed the case at the end of last year, opening the way for him to appear in the election that concluded in the runoff on Sunday.
Arévalo symbolizes a break with the established forms to do politics in Guatemala. The contest took place amid a crackdown by the current conservative government against anti-corruption prosecutors and judges, as well as non-profit organizations and journalists such as José Rubén Zamora, editor of a major newspaper, who was sentenced in June to up to six years imprisonment. prison.
Before Arevalo, victory for an establishment standard-bearer seemed certain. But, coming to the runoff, a US prosecutor placed on a list of corrupt officials tried to prevent Arévalo from running. That move backfired, prompting calls from Guatemalan political figures across the ideological spectrum to allow him to stay in the race.
Con Jody García, The New York Times
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