The new obstacle course that Bernardo Arévalo undertakes to transform Guatemala

The new president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arevaloundertook this Monday what he predicted as a new race of “obstacles” to transform this country devoured by corruption, which has put a fragile democracy in check.

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Arévalo, a 65-year-old sociologist, social democrat and former diplomat, He assumed power shortly after midnight this Monday after a hectic day in Congress, which delayed the inauguration ceremony for nine hours.

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“Today begins four years of a mandate that will surely be marked by a series of obstacles (…) We know that change can be difficult,” he said early this Monday from the balcony of the National Palace, where he greeted thousands of followers.

Arévalo, who attended a mass early Monday, later reviewed the troops as commander in chief for the first time in the Plaza de la Constitución, in the center of the capital, and not in a military installation.

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In his message to the military, he highlighted the commitment of the Army, in the not too distant past the author of coups d'état and human rights violations, to respect the will of the people in this “dark period.”

In his inauguration speech, the new president promised to rescue the country from “corruption” and “impunity,” but acknowledged that he will face “monumental challenges” to eradicate them because they have “permeated” the country and are entrenched in the powers of the government. State, “feeding from government to government.”

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“We must overcome significant obstacles to free the State from those who have captured it for years, using it as their own loot,” he said.

According to analysts, The corrupt infiltrated the Congress, the judiciary, the Executive and local control entities in Guatemala. “Corruption is a thousand-headed monster,” Jordán Rodas, former Guatemalan Human Rights Attorney and exile in Washington, told AFP.

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Hence, the challenge for the new president is enormous. “(Arévalo) must give quick results in purging the networks that loot the State” given the people's fatigue, commented Manfredo Marroquín, co-founder of Acción Ciudadana, affiliated with Transparency International.

Since he passed against all odds in June to the second presidential round, promising to fight the corrupt, Arévalo faced a judicial offensive that he denounced as a “coup d'état,” led by that country's attorney general, Consuelo Porras, and engineered by the powerful political and economic elite of the Central American country.

That judicial onslaught included withdraw his immunity, dismantle his party and annul the elections arguing electoral anomalies.

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Arévalo, who described the accusations as spurious, stated that one of his first tasks as president will be to ask Porras to resign, sanctioned by Washington. But a resignation is unlikely, according to analysts.

“It is very important that the attorney general, who has been the main operator of the corrupt pact, leaves,” Marroquín warned.

With 23 deputies – Congress had declared them independent by a court order, but Semilla managed to reverse that decision – Arévalo will also deal with a Congress of 160 seats, the vast majority of which are traditional parties. And the inauguration day on Sunday showed the difficulties that he will face in Congress, which was immersed in debates and votes for and against regarding the new president's bench.

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That added to the fact that it receives a Guatemala with 60% of its 17.8 million inhabitants in poverty, one of the highest rates in Latin America that leads thousands to take the path without papers towards the United States.

Internally, it has the support above all of indigenous communities who ask for an end to exclusion and for youth who need opportunities not to emigrate. “There are many challenges that are on the table. For example, rescuing institutions is the biggest challenge. Then, there are other challenges in education and health, which are the two great social debts and the elements that would allow Guatemala to grow economically,” commented Edgar Ortiz, Guatemalan lawyer and political analyst.

Despite the difficulties that lie ahead, Arévalo promises a “new spring,” evoking the governments of former presidents Juan José Arévalo, his father, and Jacobo Árbenz, a decade (1944-1954) that was known as the “democratic spring.” , of important social reforms and which came to an end due to a coup d'état sponsored by Washington.

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Of course, international support will continue to be vital. The president of the United States, Joe Biden, congratulated Arévalo and Karin Herrera, the new vice president, on Monday.. “The ties between Guatemala and the United States are deep, and the inauguration is proof of our historic commitment to democracy,” Biden, whose government sanctioned Porras and hundreds of Guatemalan officials for “corrupt” and “ undemocratic.”

The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, joined these congratulations, as well as the Governments of Mexico, Russia, Spain, France and Uruguay.

INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL