The year 2011 is a very crucial year for the political future of Guatemalan Society. The National Elections will take place in October. The powers that be will elect a new president, congress men and mayors.
The country is having the same problems that it had in the beginning of the current administration. The violence, criminality, poverty, poor health care and an inefficient education system are the greatest domestic problems.
The confidence of the average Guatemalan in the authorities has decreased, as has the confidence that a new political party will fix all of these issues.
The Tribunal Supremo Electoral (The Supreme Electoral Court) is the entity of the government which regulates the National Elections. They have not authorized the beginning of the Political Campaign on 2011. Every day the Guatemalan see how the political parties have broken the rules. When foreigners travel on the road they always wonder what the colors and letters painted
in the trees, rocks and nature mean.
The political parties have placed billboards in Guatemala City and all over the country with names, colors and slogans. It is possible to hear the advertisements of the political parties in national radio and television.
Emisoras Unidas reported that The Supreme Electoral Court fined the official political party Union Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE) with US$1500 for placing billboards all over the country. The official spokesperson of the UNE said that the punishment was unfair since the other political parties have done the same thing. So, does that mean that because the others break the law that UNE must break it too? The incumbent party should be first in following the law.
In the meantime the public has to deal with flood of illegal campaigning from almost all Guatemalan political parties.
The candidates to the office have been going all over the country organizing illegal meetings to gain more followers. The political parties don’t care about the law, as long as they do their publicity. Some of them have paid fines but have not removed their publicity, as thought they have paid for the ticket to break the law.
While political parties have given a lot of emphasis to this kind of publicity, none of them has offered a plan of how they would face Guatemala’s problems. Giving people little presents like shirts or hats with their names on them is not the same as having a political plan for a potential Government.
