Guatemala and the USA, part 2

Written by Emily Hall’s aunt, June Spears, in 2007. It is 2020 and Emily is about to travel to Guatemala herself.

The leader of the Partido Patriota (PP), one of the strongest political parties in Guatemala, is the former head of the Army Intelligence Directorate, General Otto Pérez Molina. The retired general was one of the two candidates in the run-off election for president on November 4th 2007, but he lost out to Álvaro Colom Caballeros, leader of the Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE). The violence that marked the election campaign continued afterwards. On December 21st Marco Antonio Xicay, a newly elected member of Congress representing the Partido Patriota, was shot dead. Nothing unusual: the annual murder total in Guatemala is around 6,000, or about one person in every 2,000. The odds are lot shorter if you are a politician, a trades unionist, a human rights activist, or an investigative journalist.

Criminals operate within Guatemala’s political parties, reinforcing the webs of extortion, money laundering and drug trafficking that kill latent democracy in the country. For the ordinary Guatemalteco, it does not matter much who is the nominal president, because the threat of violence hangs over every attempt to improve social justice and reduce poverty. In the 21st century, Guatemala is source of cheap labour for foreign companies that locate factories – called maquiladoras – there, and a market for toxic pesticides, veterinary pharmaceuticals and other products that are no longer permitted in ‘advanced’ economies.

People die young in Guatemala. So many children die that cemeteries have special zones for them. The only people who receive any sort of pension are ex-government employees and a few fortunate private-sector employees for whom a pension was part of their benefits package. If you are old and don’t have a pension or an affluent and caring family, you are on your own. If you are ill you cannot expect free medical treatment, for there is no health service, so again you are on your own.

Guns are everywhere, in the hands of criminals and of the armies of security guards, who often look no more than 15 or 16 years old. There are armed guards in chemists’ shops, in supermarkets, on Coca-Cola delivery trucks, and inside and outside banks. It is unnerving at first, but you get used to it alarmingly quickly. Local buses are often attacked, to rob the passengers, and the attacks frequently turn violent. The British Embassy does not allow its staff to travel on local buses. I went on the bus to school every day, and felt quite safe, but the journey was just a few kilometres, from Antigua to the next town, Jocotenango.

Guatemala produces more food than it consumes. The food is exported, while almost half the children suffer from malnutrition. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations calculated that in 2004 Guatemala produced 0.32% of the world’s food and consumed only 0.16%.  The export revenues – US$1.417bn in 2004 — do not benefit the population, only the international shareholders of the multinational corporations – including Chiquita, the modern incarnation of United Fruit Company — that control the country’s best land. Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved: Markets, power and the hidden battle for the world’s food system, uses the term “bottleneck corporations” to show the power that they wield over the whole food supply chain.

Government in Guatemala is all about creating attractive conditions for corporations.  This was the main theme of the 2007 presidential campaign. Improved social justice got a mention in the campaign of the winner, Álvaro Colom Caballeros, but way down his agenda. The losing candidate in the run-off between the top two in the first round, the retired general Otto Peréz Molina, had promised more security and more opportunities for business. His vice-presidential running-mate, Ricardo Castillo Sinibaldi, is a member of one of Guatemala’s elite business families. The Castillos have 82 companies in their holding organisation, Corporación Castillo Hermanos, including Consorcio Cervecero Centroamericano, a huge beer and drinks business. Colom won because of support from the indigenous Mayan peoples. They supported him not because he had a vision for a new Guatemala, but because he was the least bad option.

Business as usual. This is how the USA likes Guatemala to remain: a de facto colony south of Mexico.

To be continued

Background information

Meet the Halls, my mythical family:  Rob Hall, born on January 2nd 1970; his wife Janie (February 25th 1972); their children Emily (March 5th 2002) and Joshua (May 4th 1999). Rob’s parents are Tim (November 12th 1937) and Beryl (April 20th 1940). Janie’s parents are Shirley (April 22nd 1946) and Bill Priest (October 17th 1944).

The names and characters in this and other posts in the ‘Tales for the 21st Century‘ series are entirely fictional, but June Spears’ diary is factual, written during and just after my own stay in Guatemala in 2007.