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Equipped with a Guatemalan flag, straw hat, and a bicycle, 62-year-old Guatemalan Oswaldo Ochoa is making his way to the capital city by foot and bike on a more than 100-mile-trek to take a stand against corruption.
Known as “El Caminante,” or The Walker, Ochoa departed from Guatemala's second largest city of Quetzaltenango in the name of seeking wide-reaching social, political, economic, and agrarian transformation for the country currently gripped in a series of corruption scandals and on the brink of political crisis.
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Ahí va #ElCaminante, ruta Interamericana Video: Erick Ávila https://t.co/zzI9OmQgSu
— Beatriz Tercero (@BTercero_PL)
June 16, 2015
“Here goes The Walker, Interamerican road.”
“They speak of reforms, but making reforms is like patching up old rags,” said Ochoa, according to Prensa Latina. “What we want to happen now that the people have woken up is a total transformation of the country.”
RELATED: Marches in Guatemala Mark Historical Moment
Ochoa plans to travel over 15 miles a day en route to Guatemala City, where he will join ongoing anti-corruption protests calling for the immediate resignation of President Otto Perez Molina.
#ElCaminante descalzo y sin comer de Xela al Congreso de la república, contra la corrupción De: @stereo100xela pic.twitter.com/4JlpMlyfwy
— PrensaComunitaria (@PrensaComunitar)
June 14, 2015
“Barefoot and without eating from Xela (Quetzaltenango) to the Congress of the Republic, against corruption.”
The Walker, who says he is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, says he will not enter the Congress as a matter of dignity when he gets to the capital city, but instead will stage a peaceful protest outside.
Ochoa's walk is part of a growing popular movement, sparked two months ago by the first in a series of major corruption scandals, that continues to demand an end to government corruption and resignation of President Perez Molina. In the early days of the “Resign Now” movement, popular pressure pushed fraud-implicated former Vice President Roxana Baldetti to resign.
RELATED: Ongoing Protests in Guatemala to Oust President Perez Molina
“He (Perez Molina) should leave office out of dignity, as Roxana Baldetti did... He should respect the decision of Guatemalans because they elected him,” said Ochoa in Prensa Latina, adding that Guatemalans have already made their demands clear in multiple rounds of demonstrations.
"Y si todos fuéramos caminantes?" #ElCaminante #HagamonosElParo @justiciayagt pic.twitter.com/ovY30bcW7y
— Sátira Guatemalteca (@lavozchapina)
June 16, 2015
“What if we were all walkers?”
Ochoa, who has dubbed his action “the walk for the transformation of Guatemala,” has been accompanied for parts of his walk by local residents of the towns and villages he passes.
Last week, Guatemala's Congress began to investigate President Perez Molina to determine whether to remove his immunity from prosecution, which would allow him to face trial for corruption.
