Corruption and an unpopular president have paved the way for a crowded field of mostly unknown presidential hopefuls. After the country’s Constitutional Court ruled against two top contenders, the election shifted from a relatively safe bet to an uncertain race.
Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales is playing constitutional hardball with the country’s top court, which in recent months has been the sole obstacle to his attempts to oust CICIG. Now the entire judicial system—and the country’s fragile democracy—is at risk.
Business elites have been willfully complicit in the pan-ideological rise of strongmen in Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala.
U.S. policy is never governed purely by moral calculations. But in the case of CICIG, it is hard to detect any concerns that remotely outweigh the U.S. interest in establishing the rule of law in Guatemala.
Global Americans spoke with Pedro Cruz, a leader in the fight against corruption in Guatemala and a member of our New Generation of Public Intellectuals of the Americas.
The recent criticism of CICIG from outside Guatemala is unexpected, unfair and shamefully counterproductive. The attacks only aid the local thugs, crooks and assassins that victimize Guatemalans.
Despite CICIG’s current challenges in Guatemala, the organization’s work to battle corruption in the trouble Central American country has been remarkable; a Nobel Prize may just help keep it alive.
In short order the Guatemalan Congress passed a series of laws to protect criminals, including the president and his family. While some political leaders are having second thoughts, the U.S. is considering sanctions.
As President Morales and the political class join forces to undermine investigators and the judicial processes currently underway, the role of citizens will prove crucial in tilting the balance in favor of justice and the continued fight against impunity.
Guatemalan president Jimmy Morales is in the midst of a crisis of his own making. Will he relent, or dig in and plunge the troubled country further into crisis?
