Otto Perez: Real Change or a Return to Military Rule?

On November 6th, Otto Perez Molina of the Mano Duro Party was elected the new president of Guatemala. As the already unstable government prepares to turn over a new leaf, many wonder what changes lie ahead for this crime-ridden country. Today's blog comes to you from Brendan Crow, a month-long volunteer that's helping us run our summer camp program.

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What's different about General Otto Perez Molina and what direction will the country take now?
 
There has been much discussion about the 2011 Presidential Election in Guatemala, but many are reluctant to get their hopes up with the recent election of Otto Perez. The country has struggled to get back on track ever since the US organized coup of 1954 to oust the democratically elected president, Jacobo Árbenz. Though after multiple military dictatorships, Guatemala has returned to a more democratic forum. Despite the outspoken effort and promises by those in power today, the country still suffers from extreme poverty and one of the highest homicide rates in the world. With Otto Perez now at the head of the government, many hope for a decrease in the crime rate but not many believe he will bring change to the root problems of Guatemala. 

Perez, or Major Tito, as was the pseudonym Perez used as a mid-level commander for the Guatemalan Military in the 1980s, was the head of military intelligence in the Quiche department. During the violence, Quiche suffered the greatest number of atrocities but very little documentation has been found to understand Major Tito’s involvement in the violence (video). Perez still stands by the government’s actions during the violence claiming that his job was to win back the confidence of the people through constructive means. Several survivors of the violence claim he ordered the torture of suspected guerrillas and led the massacre of several villages in the Quiche department. In 1982, revolutionary militant groups united to form the URNG (Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity) and started a long series of peace talks. Fourteen years later in 1996, the Guatemalan Peace Accords were signed by the URNG and the government, including General Otto Perez Molina, who represented the military at the time.

By signing the Peace Accords, both sides agreed to drop arms and reach goals through peaceful means.  Ultimately, the Peace Accords had some success during the following year in 1997. A new structure created 3 levels of committees to increase involvement from Mayan communities in the democratic process in Guatemala. However, lines of permanent communication between the largely rural population and the government never developed and funding for the changes quickly dried up. Shortly after voting for change in critical areas of civil society, those in elected positions lost interest in implementing initiatives agreed upon a year earlier. Focus quickly turned to the impending election in 1999. Power today remains centered in the capital with little regard for the rural towns and villages.

All candidates throughout the electoral cycle this year mentioned the Peace Accords and Millennium Development goals but none were really willing to talk openly about them. The government pledged that the Peace Accords were widely distributed throughout the country, but actual awareness and understanding has a long way to go. With 22 different Mayan languages spoken and a literacy rate of 69%, publishing the document is hardly enough.

Amidst the evidence from Otto Perez's violent past, there is also evidence of hope. His actions in the 1980s to oust one of the most brutal dictators, Rios Montt, show that he has courage to stand for what is right. Following that, in 1992, he stood against President Jorge Serrano when he tried to dissolve congress and suspend the constitution. Finally, he is proud to list the Peace Accords as one of the accomplishments on his resume, despite the lack of progress in implementation. Recently, in his campaign he focused on a return to justice as part of his ‘firm hand’ against violence and drug trafficking. He recognizes that the challenge is steep with the rate of prosecution for violent crimes at an abysmal 2%. That said, the recent success of attorney general Claudia Paz y Paz to prosecute ex-military officers for the crimes against humanity will also be a measure of where Perez’s loyalty and support lie. Hopefully with time we'll see him put his words into action, and do more than just declare war against violence and drugs.

For a more complete analysis of the Peace Accords: http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/guatemala/index.php

Sunday Snapshot XXXI

In the spirit of election season, vote for Alex for class president!

Photo Credit: Dana Zichlin

Who will you vote for?

Though the 2012 American presidential election is still (more than) a year away, election season already is very much upon us. As a native Texan, I’ve watched Rick Perry’s campaign for the 2012 Republican nomination with relish. The man elicits strong reactions from Texans: some hate the man as much as they did his predecessor George W., while others attribute Texas’ relatively strong economy to Perry’s leadership. Either way, Texans have opinions about Perry, and they’ve expressed them freely and frequently in the past month.

And while Americans watch these elections unfold, most of us will limit our participation to just that: watching. Yes, we follow the major issues, discuss them with one another, and hopefully make an informed vote come November. But candidates expect little more than votes from the majority of us (that’s what matters in the end, after all).

It’s an entirely different scenario in Guatemala, where more than a dozen parties are represented in the elections taking place this Sunday. These parties come from all points on the political spectrum, from the radically leftist Frente Amplio to Partido Patriota, whose slogan “Mano Dura” reflects the party’s hard line against increasing criminal activity in Guatemala. Come November 2012, Americans will, for the most part, be deciding between the Republican and Democratic candidates. But election day in Guatemala is this Sunday, and while Perez Molina of Partido Patriota leads the polls by a significant margin, Guatemalans have myriad candidates from which to choose (unless Molina gets 50% of the vote this Sunday—which is unlikely—the country will hold a second round of presidential elections this November).

But while the entire country watches and waits for the results of the presidential election, Guatemalans are arguably more invested in local elections, which may be even more intense than the national ones. Here in Sololá, political parades, rallies, and caravans are such a normal feature of daily life that I can’t imagine the streets without them (though I’ll admit that I’m looking forward to the day when I don’t hear a remixed, political version of “Danza Kuduro” every fifteen minutes from my bedroom window). Pickup trucks, chicken buses, and tuc-tucs have all been converted to display political statements, advertising party colors and slogans. Processions make their way through town blaring campaign promises through loudspeakers. Personally, I’ve found the amount of community interest and participation in these elections to be astounding. Community members organize and attend political rallies and pass out flyers and bumper stickers. Furthermore, many of them know the candidates personally. For example, both of the schools with which we work have teachers that are running for office.

I can’t help but watch the campaign process in Guatemala and think, “so this is what democracy looks like.” Most of us know that George Washington himself condemned the two-party system under which we now operate in the United States; Guatemala’s multi-party system seems to encourage a level of community investment that just doesn’t occur in the states. Of course, that amount of participation has its dark side, too, and Guatemala isn’t always the safest place to be during the days following an election (don’t worry—we’ll be laying low for the next week).

There exists a major disconnect, however, between election season and the years that follow the elections, during which time politicians in Guatemala very rarely follow through on their promises—not to mention the fact that political corruption runs deep in Guatemala, and that the country’s impunity rate is one of the highest in the world. And maybe that’s why Guatemalans have such strong opinions and so much invested in election results: there is still much work that remains to be done in their nation.

It’s a fascinating time to be living and working in Guatemala. We’ll keep you updated on the results of this weekend’s election and, if they occur, on the run-off in November. Stay tuned.