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        {"code":"27307","sect":"Opinion","sect_slug":"opinion","hits":"678","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/en\/202404\/opinion\/27307","link_edit":"","name":"Guatemala Reform Agenda Hinges on Crucial High Court Elections","slug":"guatemala-reform-agenda-hinges-on-crucial-high-court-elections","info":"Upcoming Supreme Court elections will shape Guatemala\u2019s chances for reform. Anti-corruption change will only be possible by seizing the moment to dismantle the captured judiciary.","mtag":"Politics","noun":{"html":"Vaclav Ma\u0161ek S\u00e1nchez","data":{"vaclav-ma-scaron-ek-sanchez":{"sort":"","slug":"vaclav-ma-scaron-ek-sanchez","path":"vaclav_ma_scaron_ek_sanchez","name":"Vaclav Ma\u0161ek S\u00e1nchez"}}},"view":"678","pict":{"cms-image-000040397-jpeg":{"feat":"1","sort":"40397","name":"cms-image-000040397.jpeg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040397.jpeg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040397.jpeg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000040397-jpeg","text":"&lt;p&gt;A campaign rally for Bernardo Ar\u00e9valo in Huehuetenango, 216 kilometers outside the capital, in August 2023. Local leaders assert that this is where the 2015 protests began that led to the collapse of the government of Otto P\u00e9rez Molina. Photo Carlos Barrera&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EA campaign rally for Bernardo Ar\u00e9valo in Huehuetenango, 216 kilometers outside the capital, in August 2023. Local leaders assert that this is where the 2015 protests began that led to the collapse of the government of Otto P\u00e9rez Molina. Photo Carlos Barrera\u003C\/p\u003E"}},"pict_main__sort":40397,"date":{"live":"2024\/04\/18"},"data_post_dateLive_YY":"2024","data_post_dateLive_MM":"04","data_post_dateLive_DD":"18","text":"\u003Cp id=\"docs-internal-guid-5ba14de7-7fff-0d24-3b18-e566d73ac684\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIf the defense of the election results in 2023 was critical to the survival of democracy in Guatemala, this year will determine the feasibility of structural reform. In May, the Guatemalan Congress will \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/lahora.gt\/nacionales\/cveliz\/2024\/01\/01\/2024-ano-de-eleccion-de-autoridades-del-sector-de-justicia\/\"\u003Eelect magistrates for key courts\u003C\/a\u003E, including the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) and Appellate Courts (CA) judges. These represent more than 200 crucial posts across the justice system. In Latin America, only Bolivia and Honduras also select CSJ members in one same process, making it a political arm wrestle.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EKnowing that anti-corruption change will only be possible by seizing the moment to dismantle the captured judiciary, on March 26, president Bernardo Ar\u00e9valo made the unprecedented decision of requesting that \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202403\/centroamerica\/27290\/No-End-in-Sight-for-His-AG-Problem-Ar%C3%A9valo-Seeks-Aid-from-US-OAS-Europe.htm\"\u003Ethe OAS send an observation mission\u003C\/a\u003E to monitor the Supreme Court election. Not only the OAS but the whole international community should closely watch to see if the unexpected \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202308\/centroamerica\/27014\/landslide-victory-for-arevalo-rattles-political-mafias-in-guatemala\"\u003Edemocratic turn last year\u003C\/a\u003E extends beyond the presidency.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EGuatemalan Supreme Court magistrates serve five-year terms. In the past two decades, the CSJ election process in Congress has been rife with evidence of influence-trafficking, politicization, and flagrant illegalities \u2014 so much so that the magistrates who should have completed their period in 2019 stayed on for four more years, facilitated by Congress repeatedly striking the court election from the agenda. Suddenly, last November, just two months before Ar\u00e9valo took office, the legislature lurched forward, electing a new court to serve out the remaining year of the term. It appeared that outgoing legislators were trying to pack the Supreme Court with allies before inauguration day.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe appointments last year were made in minutes, without a public technical evaluation of candidates and with allegations of influence peddling again marring the nomination process, this time by ex-president Alejandro Giammattei\u2019s \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.plazapublica.com.gt\/politica\/informacion\/el-congreso-aprobo-otra-csj-la-medida-en-40-minutos-asi-fue-la-eleccion-expres\"\u003Eclosest political operator\u003C\/a\u003E, Miguel Mart\u00ednez. Among the new magistrates were people who had previously been investigated for corruption and undermining democratic processes. Now, political elites and parallel operators again plan to appoint and elect magistrates to secure their interests despite the change in government.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe Ar\u00e9valo presidency miraculously \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202312\/opinion\/27184\/an-anti-democratic-mafia-is-isolating-guatemala\"\u003Esurvived anti-democratic attempts\u003C\/a\u003E to overturn the August 2023 election even before assuming power, but his government is already hamstrung by a fractured Congress and a Supreme Court that just this month \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.prensalibre.com\/guatemala\/justicia\/csj-envia-al-congreso-peticion-de-retiro-de-inmunidad-a-magistrados-del-tse-por-resultados-electorales-breaking\/\"\u003Esent the legislature\u003C\/a\u003E a request to revoke the immunity of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal magistrates who defended his inauguration. To rebuild an autonomous judicial branch, only dismantling the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.wola.org\/analysis\/guatemala-downward-spiral\/\"\u003Ecaptured judiciary\u003C\/a\u003E and ensuring that the rule of law is not gratuitous lip service will enable reform. Guaranteeing political rights, civil liberties, accountability mechanisms, affirming the political equality of all citizens, and constraining potential abuses of state power are the only ways to preserve Guatemalan democracy.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EHistory has shown that Guatemalans have struggled to build peace in the four decades since democratization. Ar\u00e9valo and his party Semilla face the challenge of dismantling the corrupt postwar public administration apparatus. Two \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.mp.gob.gt\/noticia\/ministerio-publico-a-traves-de-feci-presento-10-solicitudes-de-retiro-de-antejuicio-por-caso-comisiones-paralelas-2020\/\"\u003Ejudicial investigations\u003C\/a\u003E in the last decade not only revealed systematic court-packing efforts by corrupt special interest groups but also reiterated that networks of politicians, magistrates, bureaucrats, business people, and lawyers who seek to perpetuate impunity are, then and now, present throughout Guatemala's institutional framework. It\u2019s what the prosecutors called \u201cParallel Commissions,\u201d a dark web of criminal networks wielding sweeping influence-peddling and judicial vote-buying.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EFor decades, the judicial system shielded itself from scrutiny by retaliating against those who investigate it. In the \u201c\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.mp.gob.gt\/noticia\/ministerio-publico-a-traves-de-feci-presento-10-solicitudes-de-retiro-de-antejuicio-por-caso-comisiones-paralelas-2020\/\"\u003EParallel Commissions 2020\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d case, the now-exiled anti-impunity prosecutor Juan Francisco Sandoval requested that ten magistrates' immunity be lifted. Those requests were systematically rejected. Erika Aif\u00e1n, the High-Risk Tribunal judge assigned to the case, \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202203\/centroamerica\/26082\/Judge-Aif%C3%A1n-from-Exile-%E2%80%9CMy-life-was-in-danger-in-Guatemala%E2%80%9D.htm\"\u003Eresigned citing threats to her life\u003C\/a\u003E, and similarly left for exile in the United States.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMost of the magistrates identified in the investigations continue to sit on the benches of the CSJ and Constitutional Court. Many have been named in various \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/reports\/section-353-corrupt-and-undemocratic-actors-report\/\"\u003Eversions\u003C\/a\u003E of the U.S. State Department visa-shaming sanctions known as the \u2018\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/reports\/section-353-corrupt-and-undemocratic-actors-report-2022\/\"\u003EEngel List\u003C\/a\u003E.\u2019 Networks inside the justice system have even specialized in \u201c\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/myrnamack.org.gt\/presentan-informe-comisiones-paralelas-mecanismos-de-cooptacion-de-la-justicia\/\"\u003Eoffering\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d impunity services based on bureaucratic contacts. In a system corrupted and lacking judicial independence, citizens do not enjoy equality before the law, nor do they have the guarantees of being deprived of liberty, accused, or judged based on credible evidence. Judicial independence is a fundamental principle of the rule of law and a hallmark of democracy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E    \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=4000&ImageHeight=2667&ImageId=40397 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"A campaign rally for Bernardo Ar\u00e9valo in Huehuetenango, 216 kilometers outside the capital, in August 2023. Local leaders assert that this is where the 2015 protests began that led to the collapse of the government of Otto P\u00e9rez Molina. Photo Carlos Barrera\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E A campaign rally for Bernardo Ar\u00e9valo in Huehuetenango, 216 kilometers outside the capital, in August 2023. Local leaders assert that this is where the 2015 protests began that led to the collapse of the government of Otto P\u00e9rez Molina. Photo Carlos Barrera \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EToday, over three months after Arevalo\u2019s \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202401\/centroamerica\/27212\/The-Indigenous-Resistance-Puts-Its-Doubts-and-Hopes-in-Ar%C3%A9valo%E2%80%99s-Hands.htm\"\u003Etumultuous inauguration day\u003C\/a\u003E, the justice system remains actively aligned against him and his party. The Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office continues legal harassment of Semilla and its congressional representatives. Persecution might even reach President Ar\u00e9valo and Vice President Karin Herrera, who are still the subject of spurious criminal investigation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ESince last year's elections, Porras has sought to lift their immunity and \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202312\/centroamerica\/27179\/without-authority-or-proof-guatemalan-ag-asserts-arevalo-rsquo-s-election-is-null\"\u003Edeclare the result null\u003C\/a\u003E. This complicates the advance of a reformist agenda and represents the real opposition to the new government. Efforts to punish anti-corruption leaders continue, as dozens of justice operators remain in exile in Washington, Mexico City, and San Jos\u00e9, Costa Rica. A renovated slate of independent judges, especially high court magistrates, could turn over a new leaf.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EGuatemalans and international observers must take stock of the progress in a country that last year taught the world a valuable lesson: defense of democracy is possible, even when we least expect it. The bottom line is that the Guatemalan judiciary, as it currently stands, remains a paradoxical obstacle to the rule of law.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ETiming is critical, especially when there is little faith in institutions to deliver short-term results and demonstrate that democracy can substantially improve people\u2019s lives. People seeking legal remedies should get timely resolutions to their issues, whether it's challenging an unfair policy or resolving a dispute. When the judiciary is independent and seen as impartial, it bolsters confidence in the overall system. A decently-functioning judiciary would help ensure the government \u2014as well as the political and economic elites\u2014 serve the people's interests, not their own.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Chr \/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cem\u003EVaclav Masek S\u00e1nchez is a Guatemalan sociologist and columnist based in Los Angeles. Follow him at \u003Ca href=\"\/admin\/articles\/twitter.com\/_Vaclavmasek\/\"\u003E@_VaclavMasek\u003C\/a\u003E on X\/Twitter.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E"}

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