Election Madness

Just before I arrived a General Election for the Prime Minister was called and the vote will be on February 6th. This is pretty neat since there is an election only every 5 years. The party currently in power, the Peoples United Party or PUP, has been there for the last 15 years. The United Democratic Party, UDP, is the main opposition and there are a few 'third party' options that have made it onto the ballot this election, which is apparently a rare occurrence. Not only that, but the National Reform Party is actually expected to do quite well in the Cayo district, where San Ignacio is located.

This is probably because both major parties are teeming with corruption. I have heard all sorts of stories from people around here about embezzlement and even attacks on political activists who have spoken out against the government and all the investigations have either not been started or have been quietly overlooked. All the UVM students were surprised to see such long lines at the voting registration office the first few days we were here and then we found out that the PUP was paying people to register so that they would vote for them and they had apparently even allowed hundreds of Guatemalans to register in order to swing the vote.

Perhaps because of all this, there is serious political activity going on around the city. Every telephone pole is painted and postered with various party advertisements.

Last week the PUP had a huge rally at the 5 corners, a major intersection just down the street. They bused in hundreds of people and provided cheap beer and had concert. The rally was almost as impressive as the amount of garbage left behind.
Funny story: while the rally was going on a group of UVM students were getting ready to go out and hadn't realized they were going to be walking past the rally at 5 corners. One of the students had put on blue pants and a blue shirt and the other in the group were making fun, so they gave her a blue coat and umbrella to go with it. The PUP's color is blue. When the students got to the 5 corners and began to make their way through the crowd, people started to cheer. It only took a moment to realize that they were all looking at this one student, and were cheering the gringa who was proudly displaying her support for the party! At least she wasn't wearing red!

The NRP had their rally last night in the park across the street. It has become quite obvious that there is no such thing as a 'noise violation' or 'public disturbance' here. The rally was drumming and playing music loud enough to hear across the city well into the night.

As the election nears, the excitement and anticipation is growing. Many citizens see this as a major opportunity to change government and remove corrupt politicians. Several Senate seats are also up for re-election. Although many people suspect that it will be the same story with different politicians.

I have seen a rag-tag team of riot police that have been doing drills more often. They lack uniforms but are equipped with helmets, shields, clubs and a few back boards. I have not heard of a riot occurring in San Ignacio, but this whole process is certainly in stark contrast to the election going on in the States. We will see how it all unfolds...