Some of the recognized indigenous leaders who led the October protests in Guatemala and held a historic 104-day sit-in in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of State (MP) to demand the resignation of Attorney General Consuelo Porras and to defend the election victory of President Bernardo Arévalo, They want to fill the governorships of the departments and be the link between the executive and the municipalities for the next four years.

Arévalo has been in office for a month and, as part of his election promise to fight corruption, he decided, as one of his first measures, to “make transparent” the electoral process for departmental governors. In Guatemala, 22 governors and their deputies are elected every four years, serving as the link between the central government and the municipalities. These people have so far been chosen by the president without any further control and almost by compassion, but the new president decided that the election will be subject to public scrutiny.

On January 29, the government published in the Official Gazette an intergovernmental agreement containing amendments to the provisions of the Urban and Rural Development Councils Act. They added three points to one of the articles to allow the publication of the call with the following requirements: creation of a shortlist to evaluate the documents, publication of the list of candidates and that civil society have three days to submit objections; Finally, the evaluation committee must select by majority a list of five candidates for each department, which will be handed over to Arévalo.

Territorial development approach

With these changes, councils received documentation from 1,516 people seeking the position. “It's the first time I've taken part. “The indigenous authorities, motivated by the event that took place last year in defense of democracy and culminating in the prevention of a coup, spoke to me so that I could represent them,” Luis Pacheco, former president of the 48 cantons, told EL PAÍS , one of the largest indigenous organizations in the country.

Indigenous leaders protest in front of the headquarters of the Public Ministry (Fiscalía) to demand the resignation of Attorney General Consuelo Porras in Guatemala City, Guatemala. On January 12, 2024. Mónica González Islas

Apart from Pacheco, other leaders who stand out from this long list of candidates are Angelina Aspuac, Mayan Kaqchikel and one of the founders of the National Weavers Movement or Rigoberto Juárez Mateo, the ancestral authority of the Q'anjob' people, who was imprisoned for opposing the installation of the Spanish Hydroelectric company Econer Hidralia Energia, owner of Hidro Santa Cruz, resisted.

“They (governors) head the departmental development councils and manage there around 4,000 million quetzales, about 500 million euros,” explained Luis Linares, Guatemalan analyst at the Social Studies Research Association (Asíes). “Municipalities use these funds to implement projects,” he says.

According to the expert, district representatives have been intervening with the governor and mayors for many years in order to “condition” the awarding of public works for their relatives. “It has become a source of corruption and it appears that the current government is proposing a territorial approach to meet the needs of the population and promote development,” he added.

Opposition MPs in Congress have warned that they could challenge the gubernatorial election process and have suggested that Arévalo is changing the call because he is in “agreement” with indigenous leaders over the support he received during last year's protests.

“You are wrong. It is not a courtesy payment, the procedures established by law are completed and meet the requirements stated in the calls. But no, it’s not a favor,” Pacheco replied.

When Arévalo named his cabinet before his inauguration, he was criticized by indigenous organizations who felt left out because only one Maya woman occupied one of the 14 ministries. The president acknowledged that he lacked greater representation of indigenous peoples, but assured that they would fill deputy ministries and other positions in the government.

For his part, Víctor Hugo Godoy, Executive Secretary of the Presidency, explained in a radio interview that the aim is to rebuild the institutionality that has been “dismantled for 40 years”.

This week the list of candidates was announced and they are in the phase of accepting or presenting the deletions, a process that will take its course in the following days. At the beginning of March, Arévalo must receive the final list, refined from the shortlists used to select the new governors.

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