Why No Mayan Parties in Guatemala?

Kevin Pallister had a interesting article on Why No Mayan Party? Indigenous Movements and National Politics in Guatemala in a recent edition of Latin American Politics and Society. Here is the abstract:

Unlike indigenous social movements in several other Latin American countries, Mayan movements in Guatemala have not formed a viable indigenous-based political party. Despite the prominence of the Mayan social movement and a relatively open institutional environment conducive to party formation, indigenous groups have foregone a national political party in favor of a more dispersed pattern of political mobilization at the local level. This article argues that the availability of avenues for political representation at the municipal level, through both traditional political parties and civic committees, and the effects of political repression and violence have reinforced the fragmentation and localism of indigenous social movements in Guatemala and prevented the emergence of a viable Mayan political party. The result has been a pattern of uneven political representation, with indigenous Guatemalans gaining representation in local government while national political institutions remain exclusionary.

Guatemala is basically a country where one would expect a strong indigenous party to have emerged and done well, but none have. There are low institutional barriers to entry into the party system - it is not really difficult to form a political party and it is not too hard to surpass the 4 or 5 percent threshold needed to survive. Mayan social movements emerged in the 1980s and were very involved in a number of the peace accords between the government and the guerrillas.

While indigenous make up anywhere from 40 percent to 60 percent of the population (depending upon how one asks) but there is no single indigenous or Mayan group. Over twenty Mayan linguistic groups undermine efforts to foster a sense of Mayan identity as do many other religious, cultural, and local differences. These differences have made it difficult to create a national-based Mayan party.

While Mayan groups were then the driving force behind the New Guatemala Democratic Front (FDNG) which competed in the 1995 and 1999 elections, the FDNG was not perceived as a party that represented the interests of the Maya but more simply the left. The URNG's transition to political party and its inability to form an alliance with the FDNG really doomed both organizations.

The creation of civic committees has also undermined efforts to create a national party. There is a tendency for Mayan leaders to run for these local positions without party affiliation. Their participation in local, community political organizations rarely transfer into efforts to develop department-wide or nation-wide political parties. And while the representation of indigenous Guatemalans in traditional political parties has increased, it has done so mainly at the local, mayoral level. There is less representation at the department and national level in elected or party positions.

Kevin, like others, also argue that state repression has depressed indigenous interest in competing for national office. Indigenous tend to report higher levels of fear regarding participation in political activities including running for office, voting, and participation in peaceful demonstrations and resolving community problems. Civil war and postwar violence continue to undermine efforts to forge a national political party.

While increased indigenous participation in civic communities and municipal office have provided new opportunities to engage in local politics, "without sufficient representation in the national party system, many of the promises for indigenous rights have so far gone unfulfilled, and Guatemalan democracy remains less than fully inclusive."