In Defense of Democracy in Guatemala

PURSUING CORRUPTION,IS FINISHING WITH HISTORICAL PRIVILEGES

We see with great concern that in the face of the fight against corruption in recent years has been the development of a rearrangement of the most conservative powers of the country that are gradually outlining a fascist state in Guatemala. This political crisis is one more moment in this reset and we must not stop seeing it together with the impulse of an extractive economic model that promotes the militarization of the country, the attempt to limit the exercise of rights especially the sexual ones, the lack of recognition of the validity of community consultations in good faith, co-opting justice structures for social criminalization and now the intention to weaken the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, which aims to set precedents to weaken international bodies that uphold human rights.

It therefore seems essential to promote a national articulation that, learning from the process of 2015, sees beyond the moment and that in this crisis resumes as a priority for the observation of human rights of the population, which have been threatened by corruption and impunity of public officials. That is why we call for social mobilization to:

• Respect the process of community consultations that were conducted in good faith by communitiesagainst the imposition of extractive projects in their territories. We resolutely reject the guide that the executive has presented for conducting the consultation.• That the Congress of the Republic is cleansed and the rules of the political game are reviewed, making profound reforms to the Law of Electoral Reform and Political Parties to ensure that no more corrupt politicians reach the Congress of the Republic.

Today, more than ever, the entities of the State must fulfill their functions to deepen democracy:

• We demand that the Supreme Court of Justice bring the case against President Jimmy Morales and against other officials and / or politicians so that their responsibilities can be deduced in cases of corruption• We demand the Congress of the Republic appoint an investigator and approve the investigation once the Supreme Court of Justice moves the case against the President.• That the Supreme Electoral Court continue with the work of policing the political parties to cleanse them internally• That the Public Ministry continue with the role of investigating and maintaining its impartiality in the framework of the strengthening of justice in this country.

We warn of possible attempts to push back the institutionality of the State in favor of the interests of the power groups so that we call on the Constitutional Court to maintain the guaranteeing principals of the Constitution and fulfillment of the rights, in solving the protection that have made evident the levels of corruption by public officials.

Women's Political Alliance (Women’s Sector)Because the future does not come, it is builtGuatemala, September 1, 2017