by Despite staunch resistance from his opponents in government, anti-corruption crusader Bernardo Arévalo was sworn in as president of Guatemala on Monday morning, a turning point in a country where tensions have been simmering over widespread corruption and impunity.
His inauguration was scheduled for Sunday, but members of Congress delayed it and concerns persisted about whether it would happen. But after an international outcry and pressure from protesters, Arévalo was sworn in shortly after midnight, becoming Guatemala’s most progressive head of state since democracy was restored in the 1980s.
His rise to power, six months after his victory at the polls was a stunning rebuke to Guatemala’s conservative political establishment, amounts to a sea change in Central America’s most populous country. His landslide election reflected broad support for his proposals to curb corruption and revive a faltering democracy.
But as Arévalo prepares to govern, he must exert control while facing an alliance of conservative prosecutors, members of Congress and other political figures who have destroyed Guatemala’s governing institutions in recent years.
“Arévalo has the most thankless job in Guatemala today because he arrives with exceptionally high expectations,” said Edgar Ortíz Romero, an expert in Guatemalan constitutional law. “They’ve given him a budget for a Toyota when people want a Ferrari.”
Arévalo’s opponents in Congress moved to stop him late last year, passing a budget that would severely limit his ability to spend on health care and education, two of his top priorities.
But finding resources to spend is just one of the difficulties Arévalo faces. More urgently, as his congressional opponents demonstrated again on Sunday, he faces multiple challenges from Guatemala’s entrenched establishment aimed at quickly crippling his ability to govern.
The struggle for power that is developing in Guatemala, a nation of 18 million inhabitants, is being closely followed throughout Central America, a region in suspense due to the growing influence of drug cartels, the exodus of immigrants and the use of authoritarian tactics in neighboring countries like El Salvador. and Nicaragua.
“This is a unique event in the history of the country,” said Javier García, a 31-year-old engineer, who was among the thousands who came to celebrate the inauguration in the capital, Guatemala City. “Now I hope that those who lost the elections understand this once and for all.”
The transition of power was anything but orderly. After bursting onto Guatemala’s political scene last year, Arévalo faced a murder plotyour party suspension and an avalanche of legal attacks aimed at preventing him from taking office. His opponent in the presidential race, a former first lady, refused to acknowledge his victory.
In the capital, there was speculation in recent days that prosecutors would seek the arrest of Arévalo’s running mate, Karin Herrera, which could derail the inauguration because both the president-elect and vice president-elect must be present for the transfer. from power to being legitimate.
The highest court of Guatemala issued a order last week he protected Ms. Herrera from arrest, giving her and Mr. Arévalo a pardon. But the same court sowed confusion Sunday when it allowed his conservative opponents to remain in the race to retain control of Congress.
Members of Congress opposed to Arévalo spent hours trying to consolidate their control of the chamber, effectively delaying the transfer of power while much of the country remained in suspense. But in an unexpected turn on Sunday night, Arévalo’s party managed to win the leadership of Congress, paving the way for the inauguration.
Prosecutors and judges opposed to Arévalo had already launched a judicial attack shortly after the national elections. Seeking to cast doubt on Arévalo’s victory at the polls, where he won by more than 20 percentage points, prosecutors obtained arrest warrants for four magistrates who served on Guatemala’s highest electoral authority, alleging corruption in the acquisition of electoral software. The four magistrates were out of the country when the orders were issued.
On Thursday, the attorney general’s office arrested Napoleón Barrientos, former Minister of the Interior, claiming that he had refused to use force to maintain order in October against protesters demanding the resignation of the attorney general.
Such measures have become common in Guatemala since 2019, when conservative political figures shut down a pioneering anti-corruption mission backed by the United Nations. Dozens of prosecutors and judges who had been trying to combat corruption fled to exile.
In response, the United States, the European Union and multiple Latin American leaders gave their support to Arévalo, a sociologist and former diplomat. That support was visible Sunday when delays appeared to put the transfer of power in doubt.
“There is no doubt that Bernardo Arévalo is the president of Guatemala.” saying Samantha Power, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, who led an American delegation to the inauguration. She added: “The world is watching.”
The Biden administration maneuvered for months to support Arévalo after he surprised many in Guatemala, including members of his party, by moving to a runoff election that he won resoundingly.
Washington’s support for reform contrasts with the role it played in Guatemala decades ago. The United States backed the Guatemalan army during a long and brutal civil war; A military dictator during the 1980s was later convicted of genocide for attempting to exterminate the Ixils, an indigenous Mayan people. In 1954, the CIA orchestrated a coup that overthrew a popular and democratically elected president, Jacobo Arbenz.
After that coup, Mr. Arévalo’s father, Juan José Arévalo, a former president who is still admired in Guatemala for allowing freedom of expression and creating the social security system, spent years in exile in Latin America.
The young Arévalo, a soft-spoken sociologist and diplomat, was born in Uruguay during that time and raised in Venezuela, Mexico and Chile before the family was able to return to Guatemala.
As efforts intensified last month to prevent Arévalo from taking office, the United States imposed sanctions on Miguel Martínez, one of the closest allies of the outgoing president, Alejandro Giammattei, for widespread bribery schemes.
And in a crucial move, in December US authorities tax visa restrictions on nearly 300 Guatemalans, including more than 100 members of Congress, accusing them of undermining democracy and the rule of law while trying to weaken Arévalo and prevent him from taking office.
“Pressure from the United States has prevented a coup d’état; Without that, we wouldn’t be here,” said Manfredo Marroquín, director of Acción Ciudadana, an anti-corruption policy group. “Americans are like insurance: there in times of crisis.”
Still, American support for Mr. Arévalo has revealed fissures in Guatemala. In his final weeks in office, Giammattei, who was prohibited by law from seeking re-election, became increasingly vocal in his criticism of US sanctions and international support for Mr. Arévalo.
Giving another blow to Mr. Arévalo, Mr. Giammattei he retired Guatemala from an anti-drug working group created in 2020 with the United States. That move could weaken Guatemala’s ability to combat drug trafficking groups, which have been expanding their influence throughout the country.
At the same time, Arévalo’s efforts to forge alliances have revealed how difficult it will be for him to govern. This month he announced the first Guatemalan cabinet in which women would represent half of all ministerial positions, but the celebration of that milestone was short-lived.
A member of a major business association was named to the new cabinet, prompting calls that Arévalo, who has stuck to centrist policies, was drifting to the right. Another cabinet candidate withdrew after old comments emerged in which he criticized a prominent Indigenous activist.
Outrage also arose that only one minister in his cabinet was indigenous, despite the crucial role indigenous groups played in protests against efforts to prevent Mr. Arévalo from taking office. Almost half of Guatemala’s population is indigenous.
“There is an expectation that this new government will be different,” said Sandra Xinico, an anthropologist and indigenous activist. “But we have seen once again how indigenous people are excluded from the political process.”
