Revolt against the establishment
Guatemala is rarely good for headlines. The small Central American country is overshadowed by neighboring Mexico. But Guatemala is now learning a lesson it could teach its mighty neighbor to the north: fighting corruption is a worthy cause, and it can be done in accordance with the rule of law.
These past five months, the people of Guatemala have been taking to the streets in protest - and their demands have been fulfilled. Charged with corruption, President Otto Perez Molina has stepped down and is in investigative custody. His deputy Roxana Baldetti left the cabinet on August 21.
In the midst of the mass protests, the country managed yet another political feat: 70 percent of the electorate voted in presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday, the largest voter turnout since the end of the country's civil war (1960-1996).
Moving forward
The high voter turnout stands for the political move toward a new era in a country that still suffers from the fallout of a cruel civil war, which cost the lives of more than 200,000 people, while more than a million fled the country.
Jimmy Morales, the surprise winner in the first round of voting for the presidency, stands for anticipated change. According to the latest ballot count, the nationalist FCN party candidate won 24.51 percent of the vote.
It's not clear yet who he will face in the runoff on October 25, as his two political rivals are neck and neck and only the final count of the vote can tell who is ahead. So far, 98.32 percent of the ballots have been counted.
Whether frontrunner Jimmy Morales will fulfill the great expectations is questionable. The 46-year-old is a popular Guatemalan TV comedian and evangelical preacher. He benefited from the mass protests because he was the only candidate who didn't belong to the political establishment.
What might appear to be a flaw at first sight could very well turn out to be an advantage. In Guatemala, pressure for change has not come from within the country, but from the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).
Persistent investigators
The commission, created with the help of the UN in 2007, has become widely respected after clearing up several scandals, including the most recent customs corruption racket in Guatemala.
Without the CICIG's work, the mass protests against corruption would have been unsuccessful. Even worse: without a functioning justice system, the country's corrupt politicians would get off scot-free and continue to rule and enrich themselves.
So the CICIG's work can't be prized highly enough. It laid the foundation for a constitutional state in Guatemala, which is indispensable for a democracy. If the commission succeeds in strengthening this constitutional state and making it very clear to local politicians that these laws also apply to them, Guatemala would truly become a land of eternal spring.
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