Interview with Burden of Peace director

    Q: To some, “Burden of Peace” might seem like a record of futility because there is no real closure for the victims. What would you say to such people who interpret it that way?

    Joey Boink: I see the result of the genocide trial so far as representing two steps forward and one step backwards. To many survivors who gave testimony in court, it meant a lot to be able to tell their stories in front of a national judge. The trial allowed many Guatemalans to hear what happened to the Maya people in the Ixil area for the first time in their lives. Efraín Rios Montt was sentenced to 80 years for committing genocide and crimes against humanity, but the constitutional court ruled that the prosecutor had made procedural errors and annulled the sentence. To many, that meant steps have been taken towards justice but that there is still a lot to fight for.

    It would be too cynical to call the story a record of futility knowing that survivors feel proud to have been able to share their long-hidden experiences, that Rios Montt was sentenced for his crimes in a national court, and that lawyers and prosecutors continue to make efforts after each victory and each loss. There is no real closure for the victims of the armed conflict, but the people of Guatemala have not given up their struggle for justice.

    Q: Why is the film titled the “burden” of peace?

    Joey Boink: When the Dutch minister of foreign affairs, Bert Koenders, spoke at the film’s world premiere, he explained our title better than I could have done myself. He said: “The impact of civil conflict persists long after peace agreements have been signed. When violence has been the norm for so long, and there has been no law and order, the burden of peace is the long road to justice that begins where conflict ends.” I think the film illustrates this long road to justice.

    A second interpretation centers on Claudia’s personal struggle and sacrifice. Claudia’s surname, Paz y Paz, means “Peace and Peace.” It’s as though she was born with the heavy responsibility to fight for peace.

I'm looking forward to what appears to be a terrific film. Go check out the interview. I particularly appreciate Joey's closing comments.

Lawyers targeted in Guatemala

Louisa Reynolds provides some background on last week's apparent assassination of Guatemalan lawyer Francisco Palomo Tejada with 26 lawyers have been murdered in Guatemala in the past 3 years. Palomo was one of Efrain Rios Montt's lawyers for the recent genocide trial, but he has also been connected to a number of other high profile cases in recent years.

    Preliminary police reports state that Palomo’s murder was a hit, although the motives are still unclear. The fact that the murder occurred in the aftermath of a massive customs fraud scandal that has led to six consecutive weeks of nationwide demonstrations against the Pérez Molina administration has led to speculation that the killing could exacerbate the current climate of political instability.

    “This could have a deep impact on the middle-class protesters who have taken to the streets in recent weeks. People might see this as the beginning of a wave of selective repression and it could inhibit protest,” says Edgar Gutiérrez, director of the Institute for Addressing National Problems at the University of San Carlos.

    It is also unclear whether Palomo’s murder could have an impact on Ríos Montt’s retrial, which was scheduled for Jan. 5 but suspended after his defense team accused the presiding judge of bias. Although a new judge was appointed, no date has been set for the retrial.

    “Palomo specialized in technical procedures. What his [Ríos Montt’s] defense lawyers did was obstruct the case rather than defend him. It’s a very complicated case that’s moving at a snail’s pace. I’m not sure what impact it [Palomo’s murder] could have,” Gutiérrez said.

As of late last week, authorities were investigating three possible lines of investigation into Palomo's murder. The principal hypothesis is that we was killed because of a case that he was working on. However, the case is believed to be relatively low-profile. The murder comes during a brief uptick in the country's overall homicide rates as well as reasonable and questionable protests.


There's a good chance that authorities will find those responsible for the shooting death of Palomo. As I've said before, the MP's office has gotten pretty good at solving high-profile murders through the use of ballistics and video. Not perfect, but better.

Who benefits from the Patriotic Party's self-destruction?

For the last few weeks, Guatemalans have taken to the streets to protect gross corruption in their country, especially as demonstrated by the Otto Perez Molina administration. There's a strong sentiment that the protesters want him gone. However, that's not absolute. There's strong sentiment that they do not want Manuel Baldizon to be the next elected official to plunder the country's financial reserves, although I would imagine that the LIDER supporters are not on board with this. After that, there's some who are pushing for deeper reforms rather than a reshuffling of the deck chairs.


With an eye towards September's national elections, it's unclear what political party is going to be able to capitalize on the anti-corruption sentiment. The main opposition party, LIDER, has been holding hands with the Patriotic Party for the last few months. It's tough to see LIDER and Baldizon benefiting from the corruption scandals given that Baldizon himself, rightly or wrongly, seems to be associated with corruption. As the favorite, however, anything that hurt the PP should help LIDER to a certain.


To my surprise, UNE still exists as a political party. I thought that the fiasco surrounding Sandra Torres' run for the presidency in 2011 would doom the party. However, she now has to be one of the favorites to advance to a runoff later this year. While El Periodico had claimed her husband's administration's legacy to the people of Guatemala would be corruption, we haven't seen any hammers fall on the Colom's or their party since Alvaro left office. She remains popular because of various social programs that she oversaw as first lady. The PP's self-destruction definitely helped UNE, but I'm not sure that the party will be able to build on the anti-corruption sentiments.


One political grouping that hopes to build upon the rejection of Otto Perez Molina and the political establishment is the Frente Amplio Winaq-URNG. The Frente Amplio recently chose its presidential and vice-presidential candidates for September with Miguel Ángel Sandoval and Mario Gerardo Ellington Lambe. Sandoval is a familiar face. The political groupings on the left have failed to capitalize on citizen frustration with corruption and conflicts over mining and natural resource projects in the past. They were never able to build upon the pink tide sentiment of the last decade either. They have not benefited electorally from the calls for transitional justice.


They might be able to capitalize on the anti-corruption sentiment this year. A handful of analysts with whom I have spoken have voter for the URNG in the past as a protest vote. Perhaps more Guatemalans will do so this year. However, that probably means their binomial will capture between 5-10% of the total vote and 5-9 congressional seats. Minimal but better than previous showings.


The URNG (one of the Frente Amplio members) arguably has had one of the strongest political parties in the countries in terms of a clearly defined ideology political platform and regular departmental and national meetings. However, they don't have the resources to compete against the other political parties.

Prensa Libre

Guatemalans have come to expect food and other handouts at political rallies and for their vote. The URNG generally has not been able to afford such enticements. In the photo above, Baldizon's LIDER party raffled off bicycles and a motorcycle at one of their campaign events this weekend. They encouraged everyone to stay to the end of the rally as they were giving food away afterwards. Will greater numbers of Guatemalans reject this type of politics in 2015?


Perhaps the anti-corruption sentiment will help the Frente Amplio this year. 

Another day, another resignation in Guatemala

Another day, another resignation.

    The general secretary of the Presidency resigned Tuesday, leaving the President Otto Perez Molina without much support after a series of forced resignations and arrests of state officials caught up in a corruption scandal.

    Gustavo Martinez explained that his decision was linked to the allegations made against him in the media in recent weeks, which he said was unnecessarily eroding executive power.

    “Here, one should not cling to public positions,” said the state official, emphasizing that the case of Perez Molina was different since he was elected by the people.

    Various national media have been reporting properties and real estates that Martinez obtained in dubious circumstances during his mandate – allegations he always denied.

Unexplained wealth? Properties one should not be able to afford on a government salary?


I'm sorry. I thought that they were talking about President Otto Perez Molina. From what I contributed to Freedom House's report last year:

    Despite efforts to combat corruption, serious problems remain. Vice President Baldetti has been linked to several high-profile scandals and has purchased expensive homes with unexplained wealth. President Pérez has also been linked to unexplained wealth, including a luxury property in Zaragoza.

Perez Molina was one of the reasons why CICIG was created in the first place. We all know how this is going to end. 

Either way, you're out. Get out! Go on. Let's go.

Listen, if you didn't know you're bein' scammed, you're too fuckin' dumb to keep this job. If you did know, you were in on it. Either way, you're out. Get out! Go on. Let's go.

Ace Rothstein in Casino

Another protest is scheduled for Saturday in Guatemala demanding, among other things, the resignation of President Otto Perez Molina. The President has given no indication that he is ready to step down and clearly hopes that the removal of VP Baldetti and other high-level functionaries will ease tensions.

In the meantime, authorities raided fourteen properties linked to Baldetti. The Vice President has been accused of growing fabulously wealthy during her political career so let's see what authorities come up with. In what can't be welcome news for President Perez, the Attorney General's Office has requested that the Supreme Court strip his political immunity from prosecution.

How many people turn out for Saturday's protests and whether the Supreme Court's lifts Perez Molina's immunity from prosecution will no doubt go a long way towards determining whether he survives in office until January. I'm assuming the "organizers" are hoping for more than the 60,000 or so that turned out a few weeks ago, although they would be happy with similar numbers.

Here are other Guatemala-related reports to browse this weekend:

Guatemala Update: Corruption Scandals Hit Executive Office in an Election Year - nice overview

Protests in Guatemala, food prices and the Eurovision song contest - very good interview with WOLA's Adriana Beltran

Guatemala President Resignation Scandal Sees Thousands Of Protesters Demonstrate Against Corruption

Moody's changes Guatemala's outlook to negative - I understand the downgrade in the short-term but I am hoping the scandals make things better in the medium-to-long term

Guatemala Central Bank Head Indicted as Crisis Deepens - when uncovering corruption is worse than just letting it go unnoticed?

Don’t Throw Guatemala’s Baby Out with the Corruption Bathwater - if the baby is the political system, yes, please throw it out.

Corruption scandal may lead to Otto Perez Molina's ouster

I spoke with David Gagne of Insight Crime on Wednesday afternoon as the most recent corruption scandal was emerging in Guatemala. You can read his take on the developments, as well as a quote from me, in Latest Guatemala Corruption Scandal May End in President's Ouster.

There are likely many factors contributing to the strong public reaction to recent government scandals. But the investigative work of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and the Attorney General's Office was surely the spark that lit the fire. "Obviously, everything began with the CICIG investigation. That was the catalyst," Haering said.

Protesters were also able to organize through social networking sites like Twitter, using the hashtag #RenunciaYa (Resign Now) to build support for their cause, according to Marroquin.

With presidential elections in September, the timing of the scandals also likely played an important role. The prospect of more corrupt politicians being swept into office probably fed popular unrest. "The people view the upcoming elections as more of the same... [They see the elections] as another four year sentence of continued corruption," Marroquin noted.

Indeed, Haering believes the current protests have as much to do with systemic corruption and impunity as with the politicians themselves. "I think all of this discontent is not only directed at Perez Molina... It's more the understanding that this is just one more case of how the system works and that the politicians basically prey on the [state] budget," Haering said.

It looks like everyone that David spoke to was on the same page. You can read more of my thoughts in yesterday's Hey! Where did everybody go?

So what's the over/under on how many people will turn out this weekend to demand President Perez Molina's resignation? Turnout will be a key factor in determining whether Perez Molina will survive in office. That is, until the next corruption scandal emerges.

Hey! Where did everybody go?

El Periodico

President Otto Perez Molina's right-hand men has resigned in Guatemala. Interior Minister Mauricio Lopez Bonilla submitted his resignation earlier today. Secretary of Strategic Intelligence Ulises Anzueto and Minister of the Environment Michelle Martínez also resigned. There might be more before the end of the day.

I was surprised that Baldetti resigned without formal charges against her. Her resignation might have been a little damage control and a little she couldn't take the pressure. However, thousands of protesters demanded President Otto Perez Molina's resignation as well. He said no; he had no intention of submitting his resignation.

The number of protesters then increased from 20-30,000 to upwards of 60,000. I still thought that Perez might have been able to weather the storm. However, CICIG and Guatemalan prosecutions made several arrests yesterday involving another $100 million+plus fraud ring more closely connected to the president. This time, it was his former private secretary. That did not look good for him. But there's more.

Guatemalans have been frustrated with poor health care services for some time. Yesterday's fraud actually led directly to the deaths of several patients. While one could be outraged at the theft of millions in customs' duties, that involved corrupt businessmen bribing corrupt government officials, stealing from the Social Security Institute and hospitals is much more tangible, in my opinion, and therefore much more likely to lead to the president's ultimate removal.

The noose around Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina tightens

Earlier today, the presidents of the Central Bank (Julio Suarez) and Social Security Institute (Juan de Dios Rodríguez) were arrested by Guatemalan authorities. Over a dozen other officials were arrested including the vice president of the Social Security Institute. The charges range from fraud, conspiracy, insider trading, illegal collection of fees, and active and passive bribery. From Mike McDonald at Bloomberg,

Former Vice President Roxana Baldetti stepped down on May 8 after authorities arrested the country’s tax chief for customs tax fraud and issued a warrant for the arrest of Baldetti’s top aide, accused of leading the scam. Energy and Mining Minister Erick Archila, who had been questioned by Congress over contracts he issued, also resigned last week, alleging blackmail by opposition lawmakers. Both former officials have declared their innocence.

Some 60,000 protesters marched in cities across Guatemala on May 16 to demand the resignation of Perez Molina, who hasn’t been accused of wrong doing. On Monday he vowed to finish out his term, saying “I am going to fulfill the constitutional mandate that the country’s laws establish.”

Otto Perez and his administration have been an unmitigated disaster for the people of Guatemala. It's growing increasingly difficult to see him finishing his four-year term. Your guess is as good as mine as to what happens next.

Guatemalans continue to demand reform

Nic Wirtz has a good update on developments in Guatemala at Americas Quarterly.

Baldetti was stripped of immunity from prosecution and now faces an investigation into her possible role in Caso SAT. Although wiretaps presented by the Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad en Guatemala (The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala—CICIG) reportedly contained references to “The Lady”, “2” (meaning the second in charge) and “R” (possibly referring to the "R" in Baldetti’s first name), she faces more difficult questions about her possible complicity in helping Monzón escape Guatemala just before investigators swooped in to arrest him. He has still not been found. However, opposition political party Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (National Unity of Hope—UNE) claims to have evidence that Monzón has twice returned to his home country to discuss the case with political allies, despite the fact he remains on Interpol’s wanted list.

I didn't realize that Baldetti had been sidelined during Vice President Joe Biden's recent visit to Guatemala and that she headed various corruption investigative bodies.

If Baldetti is charged with fraud or found to be complicit in Monzón’s flight from authorities, it would be a classic case of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, given that she headed offices that investigated governmental corruption. These included La Comisión Nacional para la Prevención y Combate de la Defraudación Aduanera y el Contrabando (The Commission for the Prevention and Combat of Customs Defrauding and Contraband—CONACON) and La Comisión Presidencial de Coordinación de los Esfuerzos contra el Lavado de Dinero y Otros Activos y del Financiamiento del Terrorismo en Guatemala (The Presidential Commission to Coordinate Forces against Money Laundering and Other Activities and the Financing of Terrorism in Guatemala).

What's next? Hard to say. Thousands of Guatemalans took to the streets to protest government corruption once again on Saturday. They are not satisfied with Roxana Baldetti's resignation.

I'd say that Baldetti's political career is over, but if Alfonso Portillo can come back from pleading guilty to corruption charges in the US, that might not be the case. The PP? It's again hard to how the party survives past this election. They lost their presidential candidate and the party's support has plummeted. Unfortunately, one of the things that they have going for themselves is their competition - Baldizon and Torres? I asked Nic who the cleanish candidates Guatemalans might be able to get behind in September's elections and he came up with Nineth Montenegro and Juan Gutierrez.

I had hopes that the PP (and UNE) might break the pattern of weak parties in Guatemala (a center-right and center-left option), but it's not clear that it was ever that strong - they simply bought party lists throughout the country like every other party and given the corruption and involvement of former military officials within the party from the start, it's also a good thing if they are done.

From anti-communist youth leader to the vice presidency in Guatemala

From the list of three names that President Otto Perez Molina selected to replaced former Vice President Roxana Baldetti, the Guatemalan Congress selected Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre, a constitutional judge who previously served as cabinet minister (1970s), ambassador (1990s) and congressman (1960s and 2000s). Maldonado had also run twice for the position of vice president in the past. Apparently, his first visit to the Presidential Palace occurred in 1954 as a youth anti-communist leader.

Maldonado said he was accepting the position "with the conviction that I must serve, do everything I can so that the government works within Guatemalan institutions."

Some compared the selection of Maldonado to plucking a sitting Supreme Court justice to serve as vice president in the United States. It's somewhat comparable, however, Constitutional and Supreme Court justices do not serve life sentences as they do on the US Supreme Court. While some might like the Courts to be apolitical institutions, that's not the way that they work.

However, given that Maldonado is coming from the Constitutional Court, that means he has been involved in several controversial decisions of the last several years, including the 2013 verdict that overturned the Efrain Rios Montt genocide conviction, validating corrupt appellate and Supreme Court selections, reducing the minimum salary, shortening Claudia Paz y Paz's term as attorney general, and preventing the implementation of a telephone tax.

According to some Nomada reporting, PP-Líder and their CACIF allies convinced CREO and Todos to support the longtime but surprisingly "not dirty" candidate. One of the vice president's first acts was to say that he would not make his finances public. He would only provide them to the Public Ministry and CICIG.

I'm not sure that's going to satisfy the protesters in Guatemala, nor should it.

DW interview with Plaza Publica editor in chief

Deutsche Welle has an interview with Plaza Publica's Editor in Chief, Alejandra Gutiérrez, which touches on a variety of issues, ranging from corruption to civil war era crimes to operating in such a dangerous environment.

Is corruption something covered by other media?

Actually, many of the media in Guatemala have been covering such cases in recent years, and corruption in general is a topic that's widely reported on. But a lot of media are overly quick to draw conclusions or they spread misinformation. And the coverage rarely addresses structural weaknesses in the system or ties between economic and political powers - issues that are creating conflict in our society -for example, when big companies pay for political campaigns, or political favors are exchanged in the context of big projects in the mining industry. These are the issues we try to focus on. We want to inform, grow debate and shed light on topics that are in the shadows. You need a lot of passion for this kind of work, and patience too.

I made this argument a year or two ago, at least part of it. It's not that Prensa Libre, El Periodico, Siglo XXI, and La Hora don't cover corruption cases. However, there is a reluctance on the part of some sources to go too far in their research because of the demands of writing for a daily, the threat of violence, lack of financial support for in-depth reporting, and financial dependence on political and economic elites who might be connected to the target of the investigation.

You can read the entire English-language interview here.

Baldizon leads in run up to September elections

Writing for Bloomberg, Michael McDonald takes a look at recent developments in Guatemala with an eye on the country's presidential elections scheduled for September.

Four months before the vote, a poll released last week by Guatemalan firm ProDatos showed Baldizon leading the field with 30 percent. Former first lady Sandra Torres and Sinibaldi were tied for second with 14.7 percent each. The survey of 1,200 people had a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.

Guatemala’s next president will oversee a government that has struggled to boost tax revenue that is already one of the lowest in Latin America as a share of gross domestic product and projected to fall further. Fraud and the smuggling of goods costs the government the equivalent of 3.6 percent of GDP, according to Raquel Zelaya, director of Guatemalan think tank ASIES.

“Tax collection morale is as low as the ground,” she said.

Baldizon’s move to name former central bank President Edgar Barquin as his running mate is a positive sign to investors, said Grais-Targow.

“Guatemala has very well-run macroeconomic policy and a very strong central bank,” she said. “Those are things that aren’t going to change.”

 Guatemala's criminal justice system and CICIG continue to face an uphill battle.

Vice President resigns under dark clouds in Guatemala

Guatemala's Supreme Court ruled that Congress could strip Roxanna Baldetti of her immunity as they investigate her ties to the recent discovery of a $100 million-plus customs fraud case involving her private secretary. Congress then formed a five-person committee to issue a recommendation. The Constitutional Court then upheld the Supreme Court's decision Friday morning.

At the same time, Guatemalan authorities arrested five lawyers who had won bail for their clients after allegedly bribing Judge Marta Sierra Stalling. They are now in the process of having the judge's immunity lifted as well.

The big event of the day, however, was the resignation of Vice President Baldetti. She has yet to be formally accused of any involvement in the corruption scandal but I assume that's only a matter of time. At best, her private secretary oversaw the looting of $100 million from the people of Guatemala right under her nose. I'm not sure anyone can seriously believe that to be the case. She has been connected to unexplained wealth for the entire term.

With a sober expression on his face, Perez Molina said Roxana Baldetti had abandoned her offices in the presidential palace and he was informing congress. He called the decision "brave" and thanked her for her service.

"Her resignation is due to a personal decision with the only interest being to leave her office voluntarily, to submit herself to and cooperate with whatever investigations may be necessary and above all within the due process," Perez Molina said.

Baldetti is the first Guatemalan vice president to step down due to a corruption case, although prosecutors have not implicated her in the scandal and she denies involvement.

Otto Perez Molina has also been connected to unexplained wealth during his years as a congressman and, more recently, as president. Therefore, the scandal is unlikely to end with the vice president's resignation. As I speculated three weeks ago when the scandal broke, "there have to be questions concerning the ability of the president and vice president to serve out the remaining months of their terms."

One question has been answered.

Baldizon's LIDER to determine Roxanna Baldetii's fate

The Guatemalan Congress formed a five-member commission to consider whether Vice President Roxana Baldetti's immunity from prosecution should be revoked in connection with the multi-million dollar customs corruption scandal.

Prosecutors have not implicated her in the case, and President Otto Perez Molina has declined to ask for her resignation.

The congressional commission was formed a day after Guatemala's Supreme Court gave the green light for lawmakers to begin the process of possibly lifting Baldetti's immunity.

Baldetti filed an appeal of the ruling with the Constitutional Court on Thursday.

Several dozen officials and private citizens are suspected of involvement in the alleged bribery scheme, including Baldetti's former personal secretary, Juan Carlos Monzon Rojas, the scheme's purported ringleader who is being sought by police.

While Baldetti has not been charged with any crime, it's clear that she has lost the support of the entire country. Protests calling for her removal continue in the streets of Guatemala and CACIF is now even calling for her removal.

"It would have a positive impact on society (and) it would strengthen democracy in the country," Briz told reporters.

Baldetti should resign

“for the sake of transparency, governability and in defense of democracy and the preservation of institutionally."

The five-member commission is comprised of three members of Manuel Baldizon's LIDER party and one each from CREO and UNE. Congress hopes to have a decision in a week's time, but they have 60 days to make a decision. LIDER also controls 62 of the 105 congressional votes needed to remove Baldetti's immunity. Baldizon, the front-runner to be the country's next president, holds the sitting vice-president's future in his hands.

A CICIG for the Northern Triangle

Fulton Armstrong and Héctor Silva on CICIG: Model for Northern Triangle:

Nonetheless, CICIG is nearly universally seen as providing assistance that all three countries of the “Northern Triangle” of Central America need – to foment rule of law, build confidence in justice, and clean up state institutions – and it has achieved reforms when the political will was sustained.  CICIG’s status as an advisory body in support of the government has enabled it to finesse the legal and political need to fully respect sovereignty.  

Honduran and Salvadoran leaders have made statements suggesting openness to the idea but, apparently for different reasons, don’t want independent investigators upsetting the applecart.  Salvadoran President Sánchez Cerén has less to fear from examination of his administration and his predecessor’s record on impunity and organized crime, but he may be concerned that a CICIG-style unit would dangerously aggravate his opponents, who retain intimidating power through many sectors.  The failure to push for CICIG to realize its full potential in Guatemala and for similar mechanisms in El Salvador and Honduras will only slow the sort of reforms the Northern Triangle needs to overcome its political, social, and economic challenges crises.

CICIG was forced upon Guatemalan politics nearly a decade ago after years and years of criticism from the international community and domestic civil society. There's been no equivalent pressure for Honduras and El Salvador to adopt a similar program. In my opinion, CICIG has done a very good job tackling impunity but much work remains to be done. Reducing impunity from 98% to 85% or so means that conditions are still terrible. What's really impressive about CICIG's work is that they have done it on the cheap. $12 million per year is nothing. That's a terrific return on investment.

Extending CICIG to El Salvador in 2009-2010 would have been ideal. A "international" commission could have provided greater legitimacy for investigations launched into organized crime that were linked to previous administrations. Six years into FMLN rule, I'm not sure that the FMLN would come across that clean and, therefore, would be reluctant to call for the creation of a similar commission in El Salvador.

In Honduras, I called for creating a CICIG-type institution there two years ago. My opinion hasn't changed.

Since it is becoming increasingly unlikely that President Obama will get his $1 billion for the Northern Triangle, let's try to $200 million to have CICIG's in all three countries. That'll cover 5 1/2 years of international commissions operating in each country (or maybe one cross-national body).

Need another reason to visit Antigua?

Just in case you need another reason to visit Antigua, Guatemala, here you go:

Not as charming as it was 20 years ago, but still a great place in the Americas to visit.

Sunday links around Guatemala

Some links from Guatemala this morning.

First, Giovanna Dell'Orto takes on Starving in McMansions: Big homes in poor Guatemala.

There are homes like this throughout Mexico and Central America, experts say. But they are most visible in smaller towns like aldea San Antonio, where so many young men have left for work in the U.S.

Many of these homes essentially are deserted for a variety of reasons ... the construction was never finished, the owners never returned or because they're so different from the homes people here are used to that they're uncomfortable living in them.

The paradoxical strength of Guatemalan migrants' transnational dreams is nowhere more evident than in the clash between these McMansions — often decorated in red, white and blue — and below-subsistence everyday life in largely indigenous areas like Cabricán.

"Especially in the United States, the indigenous (migrants) go to the bottom of the ladder, but then coming back it's the opposite, they're at the top of the village," said Ruth Piedrasanta Herrera, an anthropologist at Guatemala's Universidad Rafael Landívar who has studied the growing "architecture of remittances" phenomenon.

"Here, they are the successful ones, and the social marker is the home. They told me they suffer less because they have a home."

This is a special story but it is nice to see Guatemalan academics from the Rafael Landivar cited in the story.

Second, Hayley Woodin is on Goldcorp’s Marlin mine: a decade of operations and controversy in Guatemala for Business Vancouver.

Despite the widely opposing views, confusion and disagreement, one thing is certain: mining in Guatemala has divided communities along hard lines, with both sides unable to see eye to eye.

Sandra Cuffe investigates Dam protests met with repression in Ixil region of Guatemala.

On April 28, the Guatemalan police force was sent in to evict local community residents blockading a road by Sotzil, approximately 20 kilometers north of Chajul. Directly affected by a tunnel for the Hidro Xacbal Delta dam, Sotzil residents had demanded fair compensation. Several communities in the area have been denouncing the impacts of the four-kilometer diversion tunnel since at least last year. The company failed to make the payments to Sotzil residents and didn’t show up to a scheduled dialogue session with locals, prompting the blockade, according to de León.

Finally, Jared Goyette takes a look at A Guatemalan spring? Youth-driven protests demand resignation of leaders.

News that a massive government corruption scheme involving more than a dozen high-ranking officials had been uncovered in Guatemala last month seemed at the time like just another piece of bad news in a country that has seen more than its fair share of political dysfunction and crisis.

But this case has proved different — the scandal sparked a movement. Last Saturday, a social media-savvy cohort of young Guatemalans was the driving force behind a protest that was larger than any the country had seen in recent memory. Thousands of people, not just students, poured into into the streets of the capital, Guatemala City. Today, crowds are once again expected to march to demand an end to corruption and the resignation of President Otto Pérez Molina and Vice President Roxana Baldetti. The protests have largely been organized on Facebook and on Twitter, where a hashtag for the movement has developed: #RenunciaYaFase2, or “Resign already, phase 2.”

"Out! Out! Out!"

Plaza Publica

Thousands of protesters turned out in Guatemala City to demand the resignation of President Otto Perez Molina and Vice President Roxana Baldetti .

Protesters gathered for the demonstration, which they dubbed "Give Up Already," banging pans and blowing whistles as they marched to the National Palace waving the Guatemalan flag.

"We do not want thieves to continue to rule us, to see us as toys, it is brazen what they do with the people of Guatemala," protester Maria Letona told AFP.

PanAm Post gives a number of 15,000 protesters but it's not clear where that estimate comes from. (Update: 20,000 - 30,000 maybe but nothing official). That's a pretty significant number but probably not enough to force either the vice president or president to resign at this time. We'll have to see where the protests go from here. Either way, I'm impressed with the turnout by Guatemalans demanding the resignations of the president and vice president. A remarkable day.

I know I shouldn't be but I'm still amazed that this level of corruption is going on eight years into CICIG's mandate, especially if the fraud goes directly to Perez Molina and Baldetii as most seem to suspect. It's possible that the vice president and the president won't be able to complete their terms in office but we are going to need additional evidence that they are the individuals referred to on the SAT audio tapes provided by the Public Ministry and CICIG.

I'm wondering how much the SAT scandal hurts Obama's aid plan for the Northern Triangle. Members of the US Congress have been pretty outspoken in sharing their concerns about providing our Central American partners with additional sums of money at the same time that we know so much corruption is occurring in the region. Vice President Biden seemed to condition aid on an extension of CICIG's mandate. That would be one way that Guatemalan political elites could demonstrate their commitment to tackling corruption.

CICIG's mandate was eventually extended but only because they went public about corruption leading all the way up to the vice president's office, if not higher. I'm not sure that is what they had in mind.

Two more years! Two more years!

On Thursday afternoon, President Otto Perez Molina agreed to support a two-year extension for the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). Perez Molina's about-face comes after a barrage of domestic and international criticism. Several months ago, Perez Molina said that CICIG would not continue after its mandate expired in September. His public arguments against a renewal of CICIG's mandate would range from the commission violates Guatemalan sovereignty to it's time for the country's political institutions to stand on their own. Two members of the commission responsible for making a recommendation on CICIG's future, had already made their intentions known.  

However, support for CICIG came from around the world (US, UN, European donors, WOLA) and within Guatemala (NGOs, businessmen, the media). Perez Molina still didn't seem convinced. He just became more annoyed. However, the arrests of people closely tied to Perez Molina, Vice President Baldetti, and the Patriotic Party severely weakened his hand. First, CICIG and the Public Ministry moved against Byron Lima and his prison empire. Second, and more recently, they moved against a criminal network involved in defrauding Guatemalans of millions of dollars in taxes.

Audio recordings related to the most recent scandal allude to presidential and vice presidential involvement in the customs fraud. While no charges have been filed against the president, the vice president, or the interior minister, they look dirty at worst and incompetent at best.

CICIG and their Guatemalan partners have done tremendous work in Guatemala. However, even with CICIG's presence, we've still witnessed pretty shady judicial rulings and questionable decisiosn with regards to criminal cases against Giamattei, Portillo, and Efrain Rios Montt, the term of Claudia Paz y Paz, and the selection of the country's high court justices. I am hopeful that two more years of CICIG will result in a transformative experience for the country's judicial institutions, but I am not optimistic.

Guatemalans were right to be unhappy with their 2011 presidential candidates

Jorge Dan Lopez/Reuters

For some reason, I was thinking about this post (Most Guatemalans unhappy with options in this weekend's presidential election) that I wrote in September 2011 days before Guatemala's presidential elections.

I really can’t say that the 2011 electoral campaign has been a major step forward for Guatemalan democracy.

In terms of the presidential candidates, front runner Otto Perez Molina of the Patriotic Party is an alleged war criminal from the country's civil war years and a person who retains close ties to hidden powers in the postwar period. I always thought that given what we’d read about Perez, he would have been on the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala’s (CICIG) radar. Now, there’s a good chance that he’ll be president.

Anyone want to convince us that Baldizon would have been better?

Given that Sandra Torres cannot compete, Manuel Baldízon of LIDER is now running as Perez' main competitor. Baldízon is a politician who offered $61,000 to other members of congress to switch to his new political party LIDER. Offering cash to switch parties is not illegal, but it’s not something that inspires confidence. It speaks to the general weakness of the country’s parties and overall party system.

Baldízon and his family are also allegedly connected to drug trafficking and organized crime in the Peten. Those are still illegal. CICIG anyone? While Baldízon does not believe that he is the messiah, he is perfectly willing to pretend that he is in order to capture votes in this weekend’s contest.

 Hopefully, we will find out soon about CICIG and OPM but don't forget about Baldizon.