[The country continues toward a constitutional crisis as the
far-right continues its attempts to subvert the August 20 electoral
result.]
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PROTESTS IN GUATEMALA SHUT DOWN THE COUNTRY FOR MORE THAN A WEEK  
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Jeff Abbott
October 13, 2023
The Progressive
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_ The country continues toward a constitutional crisis as the
far-right continues its attempts to subvert the August 20 electoral
result. _

, (Photo by Jess Abbott)

 

The crumbling, pothole-filled highways and roads across Guatemala have
been shut down, blocked, and barricaded by protesters for more than a
week
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These protests in defense of democracy and against the country’s
embattled Attorney General María Consuelo Porras, and her
anti-impunity prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, show no sign of slowing
down, despite the threats of the deployment of riot police and the
violence from groups that have infiltrated
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protests. 

[6D8A0989.jpeg]

 Communities join the protests offices of the Attorney General on
October 11 (Jeff Abbott).

.

Since October 2, roadblocks have exploded, growing from twelve to as
many as
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across the country after Porras and Curruchiche oversaw an
intervention into the country’s democratic process, seeking to cast
doubt on the historic victory of the progressive anti-corruption
candidate Bernardo Arévalo in the August 20 presidential run-off
election. 

Unlike the January 6 riots in the United States and the January 8
riots
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years later in Brazil, (which sought to undermine the democratic
order) Guatemala’s massive protests have spread in defense of
democracy. Protests have remained peaceful and joyous amidst moments
of tension. 

The leaders of the wave of protests have been the country’s
Indigenous communities. The community leaders of the autonomous
Indigenous government 48 Cantones of Totonicapán, which represents
the 48 communities in the municipality of Totonicpán, called for
protests following the fifth raid of the country’s Supreme Electoral
Tribunal. The raid, which was issued by Judge Fredy Orellana and led
by Curruchiche, resulted in the office of Public Prosecutor seizing
the official tallies of the first and second rounds of the elections.

[6D8A1019.jpeg]

Indigenous Ancestral Authorities raise their varas, a staff that
symbolizes their authority, during protests outside the main offices
of Guatemala's Public Prosecutor's office on October 11 (Jeff
Abbott).

Indigenous communities across the country quickly joined the protests,
launching the first roadblocks and an encampment at the main offices
of the Public Prosecutor’s office in Guatemala City. Among those who
joined to represent the voices of Indigenous communities was Miguel
Ángel Manuel Alvarado, a member of the Mayan Achí Indigenous
Ancestral Authorities of Rabinal, Baja Verapaz. 

“We came to support our brothers and sisters from the 48 Cantones of
Totonicapán,” Manuel Alvarado told _The Progressive._ “Our
delegation came here to demand the resignation of the Attorney General
María Consuelo Porras and of Rafael Curruchiche and Judge Fredy
Orellana.” 

Attorney General Porras has called
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protests “illegal” and called for the police to clear the roads. 

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei has refused to acknowledge
the demands of the tens of thousands of protesters across the
country, suggesting
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“foreigners” are responsible for the protests. He also claimed
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Arévalo is responsible for the unrest, calling for him to de-escalate
the situation. 

[6D8A0025.jpeg]

A man holds up a sign denouncing anti-impunity prosecutor Rafael
Curuchiche during protests outside the main offices of Guatemala's
Public Prosecutor's office on October 6 (Jeff Abbott).

President Giammattei has a history of lying
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population. Arévalo has pointed this out in recent interviews.

“President Giammattei is misinformed or misrepresents the
information,” Arévalo said in an interview with the Guatemalan
media ConCritaria
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“The coups d'état of the twenty-first century are no longer carried
out with bayonets but with magistrates and deputies.” 

Describing the attacks against the Democratic ordre, he added, “This
is a blow against the electoral system and the result at the polls.”

Guatemala’s political crisis exploded after the results
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the June 25 election were made public. 

Within weeks of the results, which would lead to a second round of
voting on August 20, the country’s Public Prosecutor’s
office announced the suspension
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Arévalo’s Movimiento Semilla Party due to alleged irregularities in
the formation of the party. The spurious order came from a lower court
judge, who under Guatemalan law has no jurisdiction over electoral
issues, however on October 5
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country’s constitutional court superseded that law. 

[6D8A0283.jpeg]

A man flies Guatemala's flag during protests outside the main offices
of Guatemala's Public Prosecutor's office on October 9 (Jeff Abbott).

Since the first round of voting, investigators have raided the
offices
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the country’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal, illegally opening boxes
containing the ballots from both rounds of elections and in another
raid, confiscating official
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tallies in crates labeled as “evidence.” The actions of the Public
Prosecutor’s office are meant to stoke accusations of fraud in the
elections. 

The international community has continued to denounce the
interventions of the Public Prosecutors office. On October 10, the
President of the Organization of American States Luis Almagro called
for an end
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the political persecution in Guatemala, demanding that the actors
seeking to undermine the elections respect the results and that they
continue the transition of power. 

Almagro also criticized Porras for choosing to carry out the political
persecution in place of combating organized crime.

“We have seen at this time how they have investigated the [Semilla]
party,” Almagro said
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incomprehensible because we have not seen the same capacity for action
against organized crime, corruption, and drug traffickers.”

Protests have remained peaceful. But the Giammattei Administration has
sought to undermine the protests, suggesting without evidence there
had been acts of violence and looting. On Monday, as President
Giammattei made a nationally televised speech
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“foreign interference” and ignoring the demands of protesters, a
group of infiltrators sought to provoke violence. 

[6D8A0794.jpeg]

A tourist center in Guatemala City's historic center is set on fire by
alleged infiltrators on October 9 (Jeff Abbott).

The group of masked individuals destroyed
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altar in the plaza dedicated  to forty-one girls who died in a
government safe house fire in 2017 before moving on to destroying the
Monument to 200 years of independence. Police responded with tear gas,
but not before the tourist centers were on fire and nearly every
window had been broken.

This is not the only violence that protesters have faced. 

Roadblocks outside the private city of Cayala, which sits within the
limits of Guatemala City, were met by heavily armed individuals
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AR-15 rifles. Days earlier, an impatient driver ran over a motorcycle
that was blocking the road, before quickly speeding away. 

Misinformation has also spread rampantly across social media, seeking
to generate fear and a rejection of protests. Government officials and
other opponents of Arévalo have sought to spread misinformation on
social media. 

Images of vacant grocery stores spread across X (formerly Twitter)
while the head of the country’s main airport suggested that the
airport was going to remain without fuel
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before later walking back the statement
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But Mexican airline Volaris announced
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it will suspend flights to Guatemala. President Giammattei also
falsely stated
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truck carrying oxygen to a hospital was stolen.

However, organizers say the protests will continue until their demands
are met.

“We will continue to join the struggle,” Manuel Alvarado
says_._ “We will continue to make the alliance of Indigenous
peoples, since the fight will continue if the [Attorney General
Porras] does not resign.”

_Jeff Abbott is an independent journalist currently based out of
Guatemala. “The Other Americans” is a column created by Abbott
for The Progressive on human migration in North and Central
America._

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* Guatemala
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* democracy
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* Indigenous Rights
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* mass protest
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