The Complex Guatemala’s Presidential Election Scenario

Guatemalans are complex people. We don’t like simple things; thus whenever we can make the simplest things complex, we do. I am sure that if one could combine Dante’s Inferno and Kafka’s The Trial as a possible scenario, Guatemalans would still think is too simple. Let me explain.

Tomorrow Guatemalans have a simple presidential election between the worse and worst or between the pest and cholera as stated in a recent article at the Guatemala Times:

Four years ago, a week before the second election round, I wrote a column titled Between pest and cholera to describe what happened to us Guatemalan voters having to choose between Alvaro Colom and Otto Perez Molina. This time it’s something similar, or no, worse. Pest versus cholera, reloaded…

…Let’s start by OPM [Otto Perez Molina]. He is a military with 33 years in the Army, an authoritarian institution par excellence. An army with a military victory based on disappearing 50 000 people and killing 200 thousand, mostly unarmed civilians. He is a military turned politician. One of his mayor accomplishments is to have sought decent terms for the Guatemalan peace accords. He opposed extrajudicial killings during the government of Oscar Berger. He prevented the coup d’état of ex-president Jorge Serrano Elías, although the reasons for his participation are less clear. Serrano’s coup was “anti-constitutional and anti-elite…”

…On with MB [Manuel Baldizón]. He is a populist who has been in politics for 8 years. He easily spend Q100 million, approximately $ 12.9 million, on his campaign also without transparency. Who financed him? Other businessmen? Other narcos? His biggest accomplishment in 8 years of public life was the approval of the Law for the Elderly, to re-pay a social debt; the elderly without social security receive a small pension… continue reading at The Guatemala Times.

So, basically it doesn’t matter who wins as Manuela Rosales put it on her Facebook wall, the real and enduring change can only come with the work of EVERYBODY, not just single government official even if this is El Señor Presidente.

Nevertheless, here’s the complex Guatemalan presidential election scenario for tomorrow:

• Some people will vote for Manuel Baldizón
• Some people will vote against Manuel Baldizón
• Some people will vote for Otto Perez Molina
• Some people will vote against Otto Perez Molina
• Some people will vote against Manuel Baldizón and Otto Perez Molina (null vote)
• Some people will not vote for neither Manuel Baldizón nor Otto Perez Molina (no vote)

Now, don’t you agree with me about the complexity of Guatemalans?

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