Dreaming of Democracy in Guatemala

By Mary Anne Perrone
SHARE Associate

A small but mighty SHARE delegation went to Guatemala in January 2024 to accompany the people as they inaugurated their new president, Bernardo Arévalo, on January 14, 2024.    We were privileged to be able visit a few indigenous communities and several human rights organizations before we participated in their celebrations on inauguration day.  Below you will find a bit of context and some highlights of our time there.

 The dream of democracy is alive and well in Guatemala!   The entrenched, corrupt forces against democracy are also alive and strong.  Still, it felt like “la primavera” (springtime) in the hearts of the majority of voters as they saw their new president elected in August 2023 and inaugurated in January 2024. 

Notably, the new president, Bernardo Arévalo, is the son of a former president of Guatemala, Juan José Arévalo, in office from 1945-51, who also ushered in the beginnings of a new spring in the Guatemalan political scene at that time.  After this Arévalo finished out his term, Jacobo Arbenz, also a great reformer, succeeded him.  It was President Arbenz who was toppled in the military coup of 1954, orchestrated by the CIA at the behest of the United Fruit Company and other vested interests.  Both President Arbenz and former president Juan José Arévalo went into exile.  It was in exile that current day President Bernardo Arévalo was born, eventually returning to his native land to continue the legacy of hope for democracy in Guatemala.
 
The upset victory of Bernardo Arévalo in the August election surprised almost everyone in Guatemala and beyond.  Arévalo campaigned on a platform of anti-corruption, inclusivity and human rights. The people showed up at the polls and overwhelmingly made their choice for change in the long-established order of corrupt and elite governments.  However, from the election until inauguration day no one was really sure that President-elect Arévalo would be able to take office.  Political machinations and ploys of many kinds were used to say that the election was unconstitutional, that he and his party could not participate in governing.  There was even an attempt on his life.

105 days before inauguration day, indigenous communities from near and far organized themselves to care for fields and responsibilities back home while others converged on the capital city to form an encampment in front of the Justice Ministry Building.  They knew that the election results might not be honored and knew of the risks to the president-elect and so they vowed to stay there, hundreds and hundreds of them, to defend their democracy, until their rightful president was inaugurated.  With their presence and their bodies, they said no to corruption and yes to democracy for 106 days.

Why 106  days instead of 105?  Because even on the day of the inauguration, the old guard in the Congress stalled proceedings and for hours refused to do their duties that would allow the inauguration to take place.  Instead of the scheduled 4:00 pm proceedings, President Arévalo did not end up being inaugurated until 2:00 the following morning.  There were many tense moments as the country waited, hundreds in the main plaza, others watching the process on TV.  At 4:00 am newly inaugurated President Arévalo came out onto the balcony of the Presidential Palace overlooking the crowded plaza and addressed his jubilant people.

Inauguration day for our delegation was a very privileged experience.  Early in the morning we went to the area where the people had been camping out and then walked to an outdoor area where Cardinal Ramazzini said a mass for all of the indigenous communities that had been camping out and those who had come from far away for this special day.   The mass was very participative, with the indigenous authorities all gathered and honored.  The excitement and hope were palpable.  And then the processions through the streets began as more and more people arrived in the capitol city, heading toward the plaza.  When word got out that the Congress was stalling in their duties and not moving forward in the process, tension filled the air and people started marching toward the Congress building chanting and demanding that the congress members comply with the protocols.  The Congress building was heavily fortified with military and police.  Everything remained peaceful, but the people did not yield in their demands for democracy.

As our group ate lunch at a local restaurant, we were surprised by the entrance of the President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, and his security entourage, who also were seated to eat lunch!  Many Latin American presidents came for the inauguration, but many, like Boric, were not able to stay into the wee hours of the night for the actual ceremony. They had to turn around and go back home that evening without being able to do what they came for.
 
After lunch (and a selfie with President Boric!), we spent the rest of the day and into the night at the plaza with the people, all awaiting the slow process of the old guard yielding to the now-inevitable inauguration, but still trying to disqualify Arévalo’s party, Movimiento Semilla (The Seed Movement) from having any power in congress.  Even as we all waited in great anticipation and some consternation, the tension of earlier in the day had subsided, and the mood was one of celebration.  The people knew that it was just a matter of time.  They had waited a very long time for this moment and it was going to happen.  The mood of the crowd shifted from celebratory anticipation to jubilation once the inaugural ceremony took place and especially when their president came out to speak to them for the very first time.  Must have felt like Springtime.

Our delegation met with several religious/civil society organizations during our short time in Guatemala.  Among them were our host organizations: CONFREGUA, an interreligious coalition dedicated to human rights and social and economic inclusion, that does political analysis, political action, and education based on the social teaching of the church.  Part of their coalition is a newer social movement made up of 18 organizattion named Centinelas (Sentinels), who have been working closely working with and accompanying the indigenous authorities to mobilize solidarity among Guatemalans to construct a new Guatemala.  Both of these organizations were central pillars of support for the 106 days of peaceful vigil at the Justice Ministry, coordinating logistics and food for the people there. 

Migration was a subject that came up with everyone we met.  Guatemala has so many of their people who have been forced to flee to points north.  But in addition, it is a country crossed by thousands of migrants from other countries heading north – from other Central American countries, but also from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and even some African countries.  We saw many, many Venezuelan families on the streets, asking for support for their journey further north.  We visited a Migrant Shelter run by the Jesuit Migrant Network of Guatemala, who tries to offer support and a place to stay for those passing through, those left behind and those who have been deported from the U.S.  The needs are overwhelming, and the forces causing people to flee are so powerful. All of the people and organizations that we talked with have been highly affected by migration – in their own families and communities, and in trying to attend to the needs of those who are on the journey north from other places.
 
We were blessed to be able to visit two different communities in the countryside.  In the village of Chinaulta, one of the people we spoke with was Maria, a 63 year old woman with eight grown children.   She talked about the role their community played supporting the encampment to defend democracy in front of the Justice Ministry those 105 days in the capitol city.  She named it as one of the grand experiences of her life, with so many different villages and peoples connecting, supporting each other, and dialoguing.  She experienced the abundance of life there as they all worked collectively.  She said, “It was a pleasure to support this.  It is my country, my land.  We want change.  We want an end to inequality.  We are all equal.”
 
Wherever we went, and with every defender of democracy that we encountered, the message was the same:  Hope is alive and the people are celebrating the new government; at the same time, they know that enormous challenges are ahead for the President Arévalo and all of those who support change.  They will continue to be attentive, to mobilize and to help bring the springtime into blossom.
 
Please continue to follow the unfolding promise toward greater justice in Guatemala and the corresponding challenges facing the people and their new government.  Even as we welcome and minister to migrants forced to flee to our borders, let us also tune into the realities in the countries from which they fled and the root causes of forced migration.
 
Here are a couple of related articles:

• Guatemala offers hope to a world where democracy is threatened
• After Months of Attacks, Guatemala's Progressive President Takes Office

 
Following is a poem by a most beloved Guatemalan poet, Julia Esquivel, who wrote of spring during the height of the civil war when she, herself, was in exile from her beloved country:

---

Certainty
 
“They can cut all the flowers
But Spring will always return.”
Guatemala you will bloom.
 
Every drop of blood,
every tear,
every sob extinguished by bullets,
every cry of horror,
every shred of skin
torn away in hatred
by the anti-humans –
will bloom.
 
The sweat that broke out
of our anguish
fleeing from the police
and the sigh concealed
in the most secret of our fears –
will bloom.
 
We have lived a thousand years of death
in a Homeland
that will be altogether
“An eternal Spring”.
 
Julia Esquivel,
August 20, 1983
Bommersvik, Sweden