Marcelo Colussi*, Prensa Latina employee
In reality, these representatives do not represent us at all. Let’s think about it: when does a representative or senator, a mayor or any government official actually reach out to the population he or she is supposed to represent, to exchange opinions and viewpoints and to seek solutions to people’s real problems? Whoever is reading this, how many times have they attended popular assemblies or public citizens’ meetings called by the state structure to decide on matters that concern them? Do you have regular and open contact with your “representatives” in real conversations?
Representative democracy is a well-constructed farce. For more than two centuries, since the French Revolution or the independence of the United States, we have realized, almost forcibly, that “democracy” is the practice of voting from time to time. If this happens at regular intervals without interruption and the leadership is changed, we are in a democracy – at least that is what we repeat ad nauseam. If not: dictatorship! But the economic and social problems that affect us do not really change, even if we change presidents from time to time. The farce, the ridicule they subject us to, is obvious. By the way, in two surveys conducted in Latin America in recent years, the population overwhelmingly said that it did not matter to them what type of government existed (representative democracy or dictatorial authoritarianism) or whether it solved their economic problems. Which democracy are we talking about then?
Guatemala has had periodic voting for almost 40 years and the incumbent president changes every four years and the structural inequities remain unchanged. This is the same in every capitalist country in the world, rich or poor. In the United States, the largest capitalist world power, the president changed every four years for 227 years, always elected between two parties: Republicans and Democrats, but the situation in the country does not change. Under every president, it remains a rampant imperialism that maintains high levels of consumption for its working class, while the most important decisions continue to be made by either Wall Street (the oligarchs who manage the money) or the military-industrial complex, which pursues its predatory foreign policy as an imperialist nation. The president-in-duty is a manager, the farm foreman who enforces the orders of big business, which finances his election campaign. This is the same in every capitalist country, whether north or south.
In the last elections in Guatemala, the mafia conspiracy, which has ruled the state in some governments and is called the pact of the corrupt and is entrenched in all sectors of government, wanted to win again by sending one of its operators to the second round. The real powerhouses of the country, the big economy and the US embassy, gave their consent, since this mafia – undoubtedly not presentable, but functional – ensures the continuity of capitalist accumulation. However, to everyone’s surprise, after the vote, it emerged victorious, defeating the new candidate of the gangster conspiracy: the Semilla movement with the binomial Bernardo Arévalo-Karin Herrera, which basically raises anti-corruption flags. The embarrassing current ruling party trembled at the possibility of displacement and began to undertake all unimaginable maneuvers to prevent the loss of its privileged position. The Public Ministry is the instrument that is now carrying out this barrage, making all these tricks practically a technical coup, a total attack on the popular vote, a violation of the Constitution and the use of the dirtiest means.
However, it happens that the geostrategy of the United States apparently no longer supports the corruption pact and now supports Semilla. This already tells us where the Arévalo government could go if it manages to take office on January 14, 2024 without setbacks. According to this calculation, the future new government will have the continuity of the so-called “Plan Centroamérica Adelante”, a public – private alliance promoted by Washington, which has already received more than four thousand 200 million dollars in investments from the private sector through fifty companies based in the United States of the North for the so-called “Northern Triangle of Central America” in an attempt to stop Central American migration. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken just stated: “The United States remains concerned about the ongoing actions of those seeking to undermine Guatemala’s democracy.” “Such undemocratic behavior, including the efforts of the Secretary of State and other actors, the “Suspending the political party of the elected president and intimidating the electoral authorities undermines the clear will of Guatemalans and is contrary to the principles of the Inter-American Democratic Charter.” “Why this support of North American imperialism for the Semilla movement?
History repeats itself a little and saves distance, with the previous Democratic administration in Washington, with Obama at the helm: attempts are being made to partially “improve” the socio-economic conditions in Central America, with the understanding that this goes hand in hand with rampant corruption In the existing government system, social satisfaction factors (health, education, housing, basic infrastructure) do not reach the vast majority, which is why migration flows do not stop. In this sense, the goal of the United States would be to promote a reform process that creates work alternatives and a minimum level of stability to prevent the increase in migration to the North, which could be promoted with Semilla in government. Something like what the CICIG did back then: stop corruption. Of course, this ignores the corruption pact that would mean the end of his business.
The electorate in Guatemala feels shamefully betrayed by these illegal maneuvers by the Ministry of State, which is trying to prevent the inauguration of Bernardo Arévalo. The person to be removed as part of the citizen mobilization is the Attorney General Consuelo Porras. There is broad popular support calling for her removal, as well as that of some of the corrupt operators who accompany her, leading to a fierce defense of the democratic process. Undoubtedly, the current government will do everything in its power not to lose its business, which will certainly become clear with the arrival of Semilla as president. Without wanting to be a spoilsport, the poverty situation in which 70 percent of the population finds itself will certainly not end with an anti-corruption crusade like the one that could be promoted by the new president. It is also clear that the Semilla movement, which itself tries not to portray itself as a left-wing force, does not promise any structural change.
There is no doubt that the population voted because they are fed up with the corruption and impunity they are experiencing and are waiting for change. But it does not seem that this change with the new government can be deep and structural; On the one hand, because the Corrupt Pact certainly won’t let him rule. And on the other hand, because he assumes that he is quite (very) conditioned by those who support him (sectors of the national high business community and Washington). It says, for example, that a large part of the budget will be used for the production of electrical energy, a business in which the same economic circles that support it are interested.
It is clear that this democracy is not a “government of the people” in the strict sense, but in the current situation it opens a more promising scenario than the corruption pact. Today, as a mobilized population takes to the streets to demand the head of these mafia people (who may end up just being the scapegoats of the moment), there is a somewhat promising scenario. The question is how and who can deepen this discontent among the population in order to make further progress in the fight.
In reality, given recent history and the scale of general demobilization, it does not seem possible today to transform this dissatisfaction into a more radical proposal. Therefore, the population, always manipulated and deceived, has no choice but to choose the “most impossible”. But… won’t there be other options?
rmh/mc
*Political scientist, university professor and Argentine social researcher, resident in Guatemala (from Select Signatures)