MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th July, 2023) While the delay in the certification of the general election results in Guatemala has drawn criticism globally, indigenous activists and human rights advocates from the country explained to Sputnik the struggles local indigenous people faced and how the surprising rise of a progressive party in the election could give them new hope.
After the first round of the election in Guatemala in late June did not produce a clear winner for the presidency, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal delayed the verification of the vote results. This move was viewed by Guatemalan activists as part of the government's efforts to curb the surprising success of a progressive political party named Semilla in the first round.
As a female indigenous activist living in exile, Lucia Ixchiu detailed the discrimination she faced, and why she is hopeful about possible political changes.
Growing up in the city of Totonicapan, where over 97% of the population identify as indigenous Maya people, Ixchiu understood from an early age how hard her parents had to work to provide for her and her sisters. For most indigenous people in her hometown, having access to basic elementary education was already a big challenge, Ixchiu explained.
"It's very difficult for the indigenous people, both women and men, because the majority of them don't have access to the elementary school. The public (education) system was almost non-existent for me. The condition of education in Guatemala is one of the worst in Latin America. If you want to study in the public university, you have to pass a lot of tests. A lot of people can never pass such tests. Guatemala doesn't have the infrastructure. In some communities, there's one teacher for the whole high school. That's why it's very difficult for them to finish high school and go to a university," she said.
Fortunately for Ixchiu, her parents made sure she could complete all the necessary education in both elementary and high schools. They even paid for additional courses at private colleges to help her prepare for the entrance tests for universities. Thanks to her parents' efforts, Ixchiu was admitted to the prestigious San Carlos University located in the capital, Guatemala City to study architecture in 2008.
When she was a university student, Ixchiu understood more about the prejudices and racist attitude indigenous people in Guatemala could experience.
"My friends at my university would say to me:' I can't believe that you're indigenous.' I asked:' Why?' They said: 'That's because you're so intelligent!' Or they say: 'I can't believe you're indigenous because you can speak English!' Or they say: 'I can't believe you're indigenous because you're so pretty!' You know what I mean? It's so stupid. I always tell them: 'Oh my God! You're so racist! You still have the colonial brain!' This is the reality I have to live with every day," she said.
When she witnessed the tragic killings of indigenous protesters at the hands of the Guatemalan army in 2012, Ixchiu decided to join the student movement on campus to advocate for the rights of indigenous people in the country.
"In 2012, the Guatemalan army massacred people in my town, Totonicapan. I saw the reality we have to live with in Guatemala as indigenous people. I began to be part of a student movement and I was elected to be one of the leaders. I was the first indigenous student to represent my faculty, which was architecture. I stood in the front at a lot of demonstrations against corruption and impunity," she said.
From that time on, Ixchiu continued her work as an activist advocating for the indigenous people and other vulnerable groups in Guatemala.
Her advocacy gradually began to draw the attention of the Guatemalan authorities, and a number of criminal cases were built against her. Eventually, she was forced to leave the country and went into exile in Spain.
"I have been living in exile for 3 years. I had to leave the country for the fake cases, where the Guatemalan government tried to say that we were responsible for something we never did. That's only because we organized demonstrations against corruption and impunity," Ixchiu said.
Nevertheless, efforts by activists such as Ixchiu paid off when Jordan Rodas, a former law professor, was elected as the human rights ombudsman in Guatemala in 2017.
But as investigations launched by Rodas began to reach more and more members of the political elites in Guatemala, the ombudsman was forced to leave his post in August 2022. After witnessing continued crackdowns by the Guatemalan authorities, Rodas was forced to flee the country.
The former human rights ombudsman tried to continue his political activism and even returned to Guatemala in December. Rodas tried to register as a vice presidential candidate of the Movement for the Liberation of Peoples (MLP) party.
Like Ixchiu, Thelma Cabrera, the presidential candidate for the MLP, is also an indigenous woman. By becoming Cabrera's running mate, Rodas hoped he could help bring positive changes in the country. However, Rodas' successor in the prosecutor's office built a case against him, and the possible legal charges against Rodas completely derailed the MLP presidential ticket.
"Being the running mate of Cabrera, a Maya woman whom I deeply admire, I believed in her trajectory. The Movement for the Liberation of Peoples was the truly disruptive option to the system. That is why they were terrified of us, because they knew that we were not going to be part of the same thing anymore. That's also why they blocked our registration from the first moment," Rodas, who is currently living in exile in Spain, told Sputnik.
The former human rights ombudsman explained why Cabrera's presidential candidacy could illustrate many deeply rooted problems in Guatemala.
"The fact that Cabrera is a female leader and she is Indigenous. That causes her to be triple discriminated, because she is simply discriminated against as a woman, as an indigenous person and as a poor person. The political system has to be inclusive. You cannot talk about a full democracy without the participation of indigenous peoples or women either," Rodas said.
Cabrera and her MLP party had taken part in the presidential election in Guatemala in 2019 and finished fourth, according to the final election results.
Nevertheless, even though Cabrera and her MLP have been barred from the presidential election in Guatemala this year, the election results after the first round of voting still sent the country's political elites scrambling, as another progressive party, the Semilla Movement, was poised to make it to the second round.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal in Guatemala halted the verification of the first round results after the Constitutional Court of Guatemala granted an injunction to 10 parties that challenged the results. But the move to postpone the verification was viewed as part of the efforts by the country's political elites' to delay the rise of the Semilla party.
"I have a lot of hope. I never had this kind of hope. I never felt this kind of joy for Guatemala in my life. I never felt this before. When I saw the results of the elections, I finally could see a light at the end of the tunnel," Ixchiu, the female indigenous activist, said.
Ixchiu believed that the success of the Semilla party could become a historical moment for Guatemala.
"Semilla is a progressive movement that has the opportunity to give young people answers. Right now, young people want to change. I think this is a historical movement for Guatemala because this is the first time since the country became democratic a progressive party could win the presidency. Guatemala is a very young democracy. We've had only about 25 years of democracy. And the previous Guatemalan governments have always been extremely right (wing)," she said.
The activist explained how the Semilla party won over young people in the country.
"The communication and the strategy of this party was very effective. They do a lot of work with the people in the streets. The young people don't want more of the same political elites anymore. The young people want to see the presidential candidates be in the streets with them," she said.
Ixchiu pointed out that the efforts by the political elites in Guatemala to try to delay the rise of the Semilla party could backfire.
"I think all the efforts to try to delay the process could make it bigger for the Semilla. That's because the Guatemalan dictatorship always want to affect the results and people are angry about it. Maybe a lot of people didn't vote for Semilla in the beginning. But right now, they're going to vote for Semilla because they're against what the Guatemalan government is doing. It's what I always say: 'If the Guatemalan government hates it, I want it,'" she said.
Despite both Ixchiu and Rodas feeling positive about the rise of Semilla in the election, they are still very cautious when it comes to trying to return to Guatemala from exile. Even if the Semilla party did win the election in the end, they would both prefer to wait for substantial changes, such as the criminal charges against them being dropped.
