Indigenous people lead Guatemala protests against election interference

MAZATENANGO, Guatemala — Thousands of Guatemalans are blockading highways to protest government attempts to reverse a democratic presidential election, leaving roadways open for only the most determined travelers: migrants trekking on foot to the Mexican border.

Protestors, led by indigenous groups, have been demonstrating peacefully for eight straight days and calling for the government to respect Bernardo Arévalo's landslide win as the country plunges deeper into a political crisis that could threaten U.S. interests in slowing migration through the region.

The Biden administration has said it "stands with those seeking to safeguard democracy and rule of law in Guatemala" and decried "anti-democratic behavior" after the Guatemalan government raided election offices and suspended the president-elect's political party, Movimiento Semilla.

The administration is counting on Arévalo to be a key partner in addressing the root causes of migration through the region.

Thousands are arriving at the Texas border, seeking asylum despite the Biden administration's attempts to encourage migrants to make appointments via the CBP One app. In El Paso, Border Patrol has processed and released between 8,000 and 9,000 migrants each of the past four weeks, according to El Paso's migrant situational awareness dashboard.

"Ever since Arévalo won, the government has dedicated itself to find a way to delegitimize the election," said Byron Manuel Molina, a community leader at a blockade three miles from the Mexican border on Sunday.

"We're upset," he said. "What should they expect? We've exhausted all our avenues asking for the government to respect the results. We're protesting because they're not listening."

Migration continues unabated by Guatemala political crisis

An unprecedented number of people are crossing through Central America in 2023, as political and economic conditions in Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and other nations in the hemisphere continue to push people to migrate. Guatemala's Highway 2 is a key route for those trekking toward the U.S.

Migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, El Salvador and other countries trod past tents set up in the road, over stone-and-tire barriers and across a bridge where indigenous women held a ceremony. They walked in families and small groups, not as a caravan but as if carried by a tide, headed for a U.S. shore.

A Venezuelan mother nursed her 3-month-old baby and held her 5-year-old daughter's hand as she walked past in pink plastic sandals. A 27-year-old Haitian man, rail-thin and with perfect command of English, walked with a pair of red Air Jordan sneakers slung over his shoulder, keeping them off the muddy road.

Between blockades, migrants negotiated short, overpriced rides on motorcycles or in three-wheel mototaxis, with 58 miles left to cover between the small city of Mazatenango near Guatemala's southwestern coast and the Guatemalan border town of Tecun Uman.

Political crisis in Guatemala worsens

For eight days, protestors have cut off routes into and out of Guatemala City, and between the country's borders, leaving grocery store shelves empty and gas stations without fuel. Schools and universities canceled classes and some businesses stayed closed.

McDonald's on Monday announced the temporary closure of its stores in Guatemala.

Along Guatemala's Highway 2, truck drivers slept in hammocks strung beneath their chassis, as traffic stood still along miles of two-lane road flanked by tropical forest, small towns and corn fields.

"We're demanding that the government respect the popular vote and allow Bernardo Arévalo to take office," said Omar Quiroa, a 28-year-old teacher who joined a blockade Sunday along Highway 2 to Mexico.

Biden administration condemns 'anti-democratic' actions

The U.S. State Department has repeatedly condemned "anti-democratic actions" in Guatemala and warned it will impose visa restrictions on anyone who attempts to undermine democracy, including current and former members of Guatemala's congress and judiciary.

The U.S. "is gravely concerned with continued efforts to undermine Guatemala's peaceful transition of power," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement earlier this month, after the country's Public Ministry seized electoral materials from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and raided the offices of nonpartisan electoral officials.

Arévalo won over 60% of the vote in a presidential runoff election on Aug. 20.

The 64-year-old son of a former Guatemalan president ran on an anti-corruption platform. He surged in popularity after the government of President Alejandro Giammattei eliminated several other candidates from the ballot who were viewed as unfavorable to the political establishment, widely viewed in Guatemala as deeply corrupt.

Arévalo's win came out of left field and the political establishment has scrambled ever since to tighten its hold on power.

During a Monday morning radio program, Arévalo asked protestors to remain peaceful and called for "the immediate resignation" of Consuelo Porras, head of the Public Ministry.

"We must maintain the pacific and citizen-led character of the protests," he said.

In a public statement on Monday, Porras called the protests "illegal actions that gravely violate the rights of all Guatemalans and the legal mandate of our institution."

"Peaceful demonstration is a right; the blockades are a crime," she said, according to Guatemala's Prensa Libre newspaper.

Indigenous people lead Guatemalan protests

Indigenous communities are leading the protests in the capital and throughout the countryside.

More than half of Guatemala's 15 million people self-identify as indigenous, according to U.S. AID, yet, the country's diverse Mayan communities face subpar access to education, health care and economic development and high rates of malnutrition and extreme poverty.

For them, the protests are about more than the 2023 election, said Anita Isaacs, a professor of political science at Haverford College.

"They've had enough," Isaacs said. "They have been resisting — as so many have told me — for 500 years. They're not just protesting for free and fair elections or transition of power to Semilla. This is about demanding real democracy."

Lauren Villagran can be reached at lvillagran@elpasotimes.com, @laurenvillagran on X and @fronteravillagran on Instagram.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Guatemalans block highway transit as migrants trek to U.S. on foot