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  • Indigenous protesters carry a sign that reads "No more corruption."
    In Depth
    12 January 2016

    Indigenous protesters carry a sign that reads "No more corruption."

The Morales presidency continues a decades-long trend of Guatemala being dominated by the same economic elites – national and international – that were in power during the worst years of the U.S.-backed State repression and genocides of the 1970s and 1980s.

Guatemalans voted in former comedian Jimmy Morales in the midst of widespread public frustration with the ruling political establishment after decades of government corruption and government impunity.

Guatemala has had a rough couple of years in politics. On Jan. 14, Morales will take over from acting President Alejandro Maldonado, who has been in office since President Otto Perez Molina became the first Guatemalan head of state to resign from office in September. He is in custody and indicted for leading a customs fraud ring.

The scrutiny of the Perez Molina administration, many members of which were part of the graft scandal, has led to a greater scrutiny of potential leaders, including Morales, who founded the right-of-center National Convergence Front, or FCN party, in 2004 with former military members.

Despite his strategic branding efforts to distance himself from the various high-level corruption scandals implicating the country’s main political parties, analysts are concerned that a Morales administration, with its ties to the military, may hamper efforts to prosecute former military officials accused of human rights violations committed during the all-too-recent civil war.

If You Only Read One Thing…

...make it one of these articles by teleSUR’s writers.

The Charade of Electoral Democracy Continues in Guatemala

By Grahame Russell

The undermining of democracy dates back to 1954 when the U.S. government conspired with the United Fruit Company and the Guatemalan elites to overthrow the only really democratic government Guatemala ever had. A charade of democracy ensued, and continued in the 1990s after three decades of U.S.-backed repression including systematic massacres and disappearances, and genocide in Mayan regions of the country. READ MORE

Morales' Ties to War Criminals Loom over Inauguration

By Nate Singham

Attorney General Thelma Aldana announced a legal investigation into Edgar Justino Ovalle Maldonado, the co-founder of Morales’ Convergence Party and one of the incoming president’s top advisers. Ovalle is being prosecuted for his role in leading military operations in the Quiche region where 77 massacres took place during the country’s most horrific period of genocide during the early 1980s. READ MORE

Guatemala in Numbers

teleSUR Opinion and Analysis

Social Movements Have a Voice in Guatemala's Congress

By Heather Gies

Sandra Moran, a longtime feminist activists and artist who has pioneered women’s and LGBTI movements in Guatemala, is also a newly elected member of Congress. Among the most influential feminist activists in Guatemala, Moran has already made history as the country’s first openly lesbian lawmaker, and plans to bring a new approach to governing. READ MORE

Elections but No Democracy in Guatemala, Again

By Grahame Russell

Before the elections took place, the result was already known – little will change. Guatemala will remain an exploitative, racist and repressive country where national and international economic, political and military interests operate with impunity and corruption. READ MORE

Central American 'Springs' Foregone

By Cyril Mychalejko

The U.S. has waged a war on democracy in Central America for decades. What is known as the first Guatemala spring occurred after a popular uprising forced U.S.-backed dictator from power in 1944. However, the 10 years of social democratic reforms that followed proved unpalatable for Washington so in 1954 the CIA helped execute a coup against the country's democratically-elected president. What resulted was a 36-year civil war, a succession of military dictatorships, and genocide - a violent legacy that the country is still trying to overcome. READ MORE

Can Movements in Guatemala Usher in Change?

By Heather Gies

While many Guatemalans have long suffered the effects of economic inequality and lack of resources, waves of corruption scandals in various public institutions that began to surface in April have mobilized people across demographic and class lines with initial outrage giving way to broader demands. READ MORE

A History of Violence

The rampant corruption and impunity in Guatemala is indicative of its recent history, which includes a brutal 36-year civil war — which ended with 1996 peace accords — and the Rios Montt dictatorship, both of which have not been far from the news recently. In January, authorities arrested 14 former military officials linked to the forced disappearance of at least 558 people — one of the largest forced disappearance cases in Latin America — which expert Grahame Russell told teleSUR was a major step forward for justice. Meanwhile, former U.S.-backed dictator Efrain Rios Montt, who reigned from 1982-83 over one of the country’s most brutal periods of genocide, has repeatedly delayed and dodged prosecution. He is accused of killing at least 1,771 Guatemalans in the area of Ixil, committing 1,400 human rights violations, and displacing tens of thousands of Indigenous people.

Rios Montt Case Symbolic of Impunity Guatemalans Must Overcome

By Grahame Russell

The May 2013 guilty verdict of the former U.S.-backed dictator fro genocide and the on-going re-trial are a regular, public reminder that the Guatemalan elites planned and carried out massacres and genocides. READ MORE

Photo Essay: Guatemalans Dignify Victims of Genocide

By James Rodriguez

In the 1980s, U.S.-backed military forces in Guatemala massacred Indigenous communities. Today, Guatemalans continue to search for the victims. READ MORE

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