Guatemalan 2011 Presidential Elections: The year for women to run on men's coattails?

Guatemalan presidential elections are coming up this September 11, 2011. As always, there's a lot of speculation, mudslinging and political campaigning. With Guatemala, however, there's also the sinister addition of murders with every election campaign. According to The Guatemala Times, the first murder of the season occurred this January 2011.

Aside from the sadly normal political proceedings for Guatemala, it seems this is the year for women to run for presidency as a liaison for a man who is not eligible.

Of course, much of the news lately has been concerning The First Lady Sandra Colom, wife of current President Alvaro Colom. Or ex-wife? Since she was legally barred from running according to the Guatemalan Constitution that bars presidential family members from running, she filed for a divorce from president Colom. However, the The Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Guatemala voted her down with an overwhelming majority. This sparked protests that stopped up the capital's traffic for a day, but their only plan at the moment is to appeal.

Guatemalan Politics: The Popular Struggle for Democracy

Sandra is not the only woman trying to run for presidency after her husband. The GuateFriends blog writes:

"Mayor of Guatemala City, Alvaro Arzu, ex-president of Guatemala. Article 186 of the Guatemalan Constitution states that the person who has been president by democratic elections or coup d'état, can not be eligible as presidential candidate. His decision to run for the presidency caused alarm in the right wing sectors of Guatemala. After a “no” answer to his inquiries at the Guatemalan Congress to legitimize his candidacy, Alvaro Arzu has now decided to promote his wife Patricia de Arzu as the presidential candidate of his party. The PR campaign is up and running, the picture shows Patricia de Arzu alone now (a week before it was the couple) with a slogan of kindness and order."

Who knows how they will try to circumvent the law.

Guatemalan Politics The Popular Struggle for Democracy (1993 publication)

In addition to Sandra de Colom and Patricia de Arzu, there is Zury Mayté Ríos Montt Sosa de Weller. The Guatemala Times reports:

"Parliamentarian, Zury Mayté Ríos Montt Sosa de Weller is the daughter of ex- military dictator Efrain Rios Montt. She was proclaimed the official candidate for president of the FRG party in October 2010. She is legally barred as a candidate according to the Guatemalan Constitution that bars presidential family members from running."



These are not the only women running for president. Also running are Rigoberta Menchú, Adela Torrebiarte, and apparently someone with the surname Montenegro. I can't find information on all of the women who are supposedly running, but I find it interesting that The Central American Blog says:

"Virgilio Alvarez from FLACSO divides the women into two divisions. Those who have used their personality and work ethic to make a name for themselves (Menchu, Torrebiarte, and Montenegro) and those who are riding the coattails of men (Baldetti, Torres, Rios, and Arzú)." (My words in parenthesis.)

If a woman is to win, may it be one who won it honestly and fairly.

Does Guatemala Need Another Justo Barrios?

Today we were discussing Justo Rufino Barrios in our literature class and discussing the qualities he had that made him heroic. Unlike other archetypal heroes, he wasn't born into royalty. He was born in a village called San Lorenzo.
His super powers were things like intelligence and energy. I was glad they brought up how both of those are needed for success: Intelligence coupled with laziness gets nowhere. Energy coupled with ignorance also makes no positive progress.
Barrios put this energy to good use first by going to the capital to study law and get his degree as a lawyer. We talked about how when the revolt happened he proved himself to be a capable military leader and what that meant. How much pressure leaders in the position to make life or death decisions are under.
When Barrios was eventually elected president, he used his position of power to help Guatemala. He installed telegraph and railroad systems, and started a public school system. He was an advocate for freedom of the press and an accountable police force. He wasn't know for letting power corrupt him or for diverting public funds into personal gain.
Perhaps one of the most eye-opening parts of the discussion occurred when we talked about what he was fighting for and eventually gave his life for: Reuniting Central America. They could not understand why instead of being just Guatemala, he would want to unite what is now Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. We talked about how from a world viewpoint, all of those countries together could do more than they could separately.
We discussed how this tied to European invasion of the New World and how they would make allies with anyone who was an enemy of their enemies. (Such as the Spanish alliance with the K'iche' vs. Kaqchikel in earlier Guatemalan history.) Groups of people who can bind together against an invader are more powerful than individuals most of the time. If the Native Americans could have found a way to get beyond their differences long enough to fight for the common cause of keeping their land, it's possible that history would look very, very different.
I think it was one of the first times many of them saw their country from the viewpoint of "Team World" rather than "Team Guatemala."
I truly believe that I am teaching future leaders of Guatemala. I hope that when they have the power of change in their grasp that they, like Justo Barrios, can use it for good and for progress instead of personal gain.