Guatemala

Key Takeaways: Cost of Politics

Population: 17.4 million
Head of Government: President Bernardo Arevalo
Ruling party/coalition: Vamos
Last election: 2023
Next election: 2027
Registered voters: 9.3 million
Annual salary of member of legislature: $45,600
Year of study: 2021

In the nomination process, the higher candidates are located on the list, the higher the price to be paid. The price per nomination can range between Q1-2 million (US$ 129,000-258,000).

Citizens who wish to participate in politics face a series of obstacles related to their age and gender, and particularly because of their lack of access to financing.

90% of the population considers corruption a major problem. 27% of congressional congressmen in the 2015-2019 legislature were linked to corruption cases.

Corruption

Candidates allocate an important amount of financing to buy the favour of journalists and news editors.

All the candidates interviewed mentioned that in order to finance their campaigns they had to resort to loans, savings and contributions from family members. These costs are still being paid today, whether they won or not.

Women who dare to participate in political spaces are frowned upon and are regularly victims of boycotts among their peers or even within their party organisations.

There is great, and ongoing, concern about the growing influence of drug trafficking and organised crime in politics.

Key Findings

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Context

In 1984, elections for a National Constituent Assembly were organised and the new Constitution was enacted in 1985, the first year of free elections in Guatemala since 1954. Vinicio Cerezo won, becoming the country's first civilian president since 1966; ushering in a second stage of democracy with elections. Later, in 1996, the signing of the Peace Accords between the Guatemalan government and the Guatemalan Revolutionary Unity, during the presidency of Álvaro Arzú Irigoyen, completed the transition.
In 2016 the most recent reforms to the Electoral and Political Parties Act in Guatemala were approved. According to the analysts interviewed, one of the positive effects to come out of this was the fear of certain political actors regarding compliance with financing regulation. Thus, at least formally, the cost of the 2015 campaign, compared to the 2019 campaign, was substantially lower.

Cost of politics drivers

Officials in charge of social policies or the construction of public works have also taken advantage of the use of public resources to promote themselves. The inauguration and delivery of works triples on the eve of a popular election.
Candidates are required to seek votes through gifts that include, but are not limited to, food, promotional products, parties and cash. In the interviews for this study, it was mentioned that culturally, in some communities, the fact that a candidate brings money and gifts demonstrates his or her ability to manage and achieve benefits for the community.
Once elected, the cost of doing politics remains. For a district congressman, funding for outreach, grassroots visits, and maintaining the functioning of the party organisation is always necessary and is very scarce. District congressmen must travel to their district every week.
In 2017, the United States requested the extradition of former Vice President Roxana Baldetti and, in the context of the 2019 electoral process alone, four extradition requests were processed for charges related to drug trafficking against candidates.
Operational party politics at a local level is represented by local associations or community development councils and one of the practices used by these local structures is to approach candidates and offer a certain number of voters in the villages where they exercise control, in exchange for favours ranging from works, contracts, and cash. These structures are not loyal to a political organisation, offering clientelistic support to all contenders and going to the highest bidder.

Conclusions and recommendations

A clear legal framework is needed to provide certainty for the electoral authority, political actors, and citizens regarding the rules governing the electoral system and its oversight.
Coordination mechanisms must be strengthened between the electoral authorities, the Public Prosecutor's Office, and other agencies responsible for assisting in the financial investigation to identify the financing of organised crime and drug trafficking.
Mechanisms to increase public financing and allow strategies such as micro-financing or seed capital for new political parties, with the aim of democratising financing and allowing political options to compete on equal terms could be explored further.
Any process of legal and institutional transformation must be accompanied by in-depth work with citizens. As long as gifts and favours continue to dominate voting preference, clientelism and its costs will continue to influence politics. For this, social auditing, independent press, and citizen training are key to achieving positive and sustainable outcomes.

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