Guatemala’s Sunday elections are occurring during a period of democratic backsliding — and indeed, increasing authoritarianism — in the Central American country. With leading candidates barred from running, press freedom under serious attack, and many of the country’s institutions co-opted in defense of the political establishment, Guatemala’s democracy, such as it is, balances on a knife’s edge.
The current president, Alejandro Giammattei, is limited to one term in office, but the system that enabled him will continue, in part because of the active role he and his predecessors played in weaponizing it for their own advantage. Guatemala has suffered from violence, poverty, and corruption for decades; now the military, economic, and political establishment, or “pacto de corruptos,” has effectively captured the state, eroding democratic institutions and the rule of law in Central America’s most populous country.
Sunday’s elections cover more than just the presidency — Guatemalans will also elect the vice president and all 160 members of the unicameral legislature, as well as mayors and municipal governments in Guatemala’s 340 municipios, and 20 members of the Central American Parliament.
Guatemala’s government has the contours of a hybrid regime in that it holds elections, but they cannot be considered free or fair. Though its mechanisms appear democratic, the underlying practice — how the powerful used those mechanisms and institutions — tends towards autocracy.
Guatemala’s Constitutional Court prohibited popular anti-establishment candidates like businessman Carlos Pineda, Indigenous leader Thelma Cabrera, and businessman and political scion Roberto Arzú from running in this year’s elections; Cabrera and Arzú both ran in the 2019 elections but neither received enough votes to move to a runoff. Candidate Edmond Mulet was also threatened with potential exclusion from the race, but is currently one of three frontrunners, along…
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