President Colom vehemently denies these accusations and has asked the United Nations, CICIG, the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, the FBI and the help of the international community to investigate the murders. The FBI and CICIG, the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala are currently investigating this case.
For Guatemala and its democratic institutions this investigation and the clarification of this case is of extreme importance. If the case can not be solved, the trust of Guatemalan's in their justice system and the government will probably collapse. The political opposition has seized the opportunity to attack Colom and to play protagonists in the crisis.
The national press coverage and opinion pieces have changed tone during the past week. Depending on their ideological positions, some take the accusations launched in the video as facts and proof of the Presidents guilt. They demand him to step down. "COLOM ASSASSIN" and similar slogans are common signs among the protesters against Colom.
Others have joined the protests because they want the violence in Guatemala to cease. They do not approach the demonstration as a protest against Colom personally but as an opportunity to express their extreme frustration about Guatemala's current atmosphere of crime and impunity and the lack of response of the government.
The government in an attempt to proof that it has the support of a large part of Guatemala's population has mobilized mayor's governors, and people from rural peri- urban disadvantaged areas to demonstrate in their behalf.
Thanks to the intervention of some visionary leaders of the Guatemalan society, among them the human rights office, the Catholic and Evangelical church leaders, the international community and others, it was negotiated that the demonstrations would take place in two different locations of the city to avoid clashes among the protesters as seen earlier in the week.
These leaders also managed to force a very important change of tone and the direction of the rhetoric among the opinion makers and leaders of Guatemalan society opposed to Colon, they insist that in any action the preservation of the rule of law and the respect to the democratic institutions of the country are paramount in this crisis.
The relative few privileged Guatemalan youths in and outside of Guatemala with computer access and internet skills have implemented a new way of organization that takes place on the internet. Facebook and Twitter has been used to mobilize that sector of the younger generation of Guatemalans to get involved in the protests. At the beginning of the movement demands for implementation of a coup was expressed. The intention was to violently destabilize the government. The comments posted incited to violence and showed an extreme lack of maturity and regard for the law and the democratic institutions in Guatemala - a very strong reminder of the standard behavior of the ruling class in the past. These are the descendents of that class and the similarity of the language is stunning. They learned from their parents how you manage a country if you do not like the government who happens to be in place. Democracy is not a very well defined concept in their minds, jet.
It has to be noted that the accessibility and audience of the internet in Guatemala and young Guatemalans living abroad is very much defined by social status. The young Guatemalans who are living in poor, rural regions of the country and other underprivileged areas in Guatemala, or those who are illegal immigrants in the US do not use the internet as an organizational tool and their voice is not prominent on the internet. The audience is a very small percentage of the young generation that has the privileged to have a computer and to understand how to use a social network. The population can be defined as the wealthy and the middle class, usually considered opposition to the current government.
The other very important issue is the language used by the people who participate in the discussions. A lot of the rhetoric sounds like the language used by the extreme right in the times of the internal conflict in Guatemala. Considering the fact that the young people of Guatemala have a notorious lack of knowledge concerning the violent political history of their country, it is striking to read their opinions. It is not their fault; the recent internal war is not part of the teaching materials and curriculum in any school in Guatemala. Respect for Democracy is not how they where raised.
The way the different sectors of Guatemalan society are addressing this crisis demonstrates that the concept of democracy and respect of the rule of law is very superficial, and underneath the "old ways" are very much alive.
The context of the current crisis of violence and impunity has to be understood as a legacy of all the previous governments who have chosen, appointed, elected, perpetuated and bought the services of magistrates, judges and prosecutors that respond to the interests of a few, not to the interests of the Guatemalan people. The justice system in Guatemala was managed only by the power brokers to their advantage. Hence, only 1% of all the cases are convicted. The origin of the impunity in Guatemala is traceable and logical. It is not an accident. The police used to be under the command of the military, used the same tactics and served the same interests.
The history of impunity can be broken if this year the nomination and selection process of the new magistrates for the Supreme Court and Appellant courts is transparent and clean. If the nominees are independent from political interests, organized crime, the military, the ex- military and other legal and illegal powerbrokers in Guatemala who benefit from impunity.
In the latest news, President Alvaro Colom has called upon the Congress to gather in an extraordinary meeting and approve the law of the upcoming nomination and election process of magistrates and make it transparent.
This crisis is also an opportunity for change in a positive direction, with the active participation and positive, constructive engagement of all sectors of Guatemalan society.
Picture: Presidency Press Office
