{"id":11179,"date":"2023-09-04T09:55:17","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T17:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/?p=11179"},"modified":"2023-09-04T10:12:36","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T18:12:36","slug":"the-bureaucratic-entanglement-of-guatemalan-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/women\/the-bureaucratic-entanglement-of-guatemalan-justice\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"The Bureaucratic Entanglement of Guatemalan Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>POR IRMALICIA VEL\u00c1SQUEZ NIMATUJ<\/p>\n<p>TRANSLATED BY GEOFF WATSON<\/p>\n<p>The world is witnessing what analysts and experts have called, inside and outside the country, the process of establishing a \u201cjudicial dictatorship\u201d that corrupt local and national elites are imposing by force and terror in Guatemala, and that seeks to entangle the political path using the justice system to block and reinitiate all State institutions and thus prevent the functioning of the nation so that the suffering rule of law ends up dying.<br \/>\nBut why does the corrupt pact continue to use and lubricate the path of judicial persecution, even after the voters defeated and humiliated their anointment at the polls on August 20?<\/p>\n<p>Partly because the corrupt pact is finally, now yes, afraid of the national forces that from different origins and positions have told them enough is enough! Using only their vote, to stop criminal acts, whose main effect is materialized in the perverse and shameful levels of national, regional, and municipal corruption, which have turned a rich country into the second poorest country in Latin America.<\/p>\n<p>In the recent election, the population has shown them that they are not an inert mass incapable of differentiating between a woman, Sandra Torres, who has lived by exercising politics at the lowest level, negotiating with obscurantist, conservative, and corrupt sectors, offering to protect not only their economic interests but also ideological ones, in the face of a political proposal that has been nourished by the different social movements that have emerged and been strengthened since the signing of peace in 1996 and that is now represented by a professional, Bernardo Ar\u00e9valo, who knows the State and who is aware that his election as President is a historical responsibility because it is a turning point since it implies rescuing the State from the clutches of the inhuman mafias that took over the nation and its territories to operate freely and with impunity and who seek to turn it into an authoritarian state that intends to extend until the end of the 21st century.<\/p>\n<p>Silence is no longer an option<\/p>\n<p>Faced with this judicial mess, the world\u2019s response is important, because by witnessing permanent technical blows that do not stop, and then not acting, they are becoming accomplices in carrying out the next actions that, to silence anyone who raises their voice, will be more violent and unimaginable. For this reason, the silence of the diverse, individual and institutional voices, as well as their actions, are key to the future of the Central American region, because the battle so that weak democracy does not die is now being fought in Guatemala.<\/p>\n<p>Today, it seems that the legal actions carried out by female and male Guatemalan citizens are not enough to stop those who seek to impose their will through a regime of unstoppable arrests and pressure towards exile.<\/p>\n<p>Life in Guatemala hangs on a fragile and flimsy thread, only strengthened by the collective action of more than two million four hundred thousand women and men who, on August 20, tired of so much ignominy of their municipal councils, departmental deputies, and the president of the republic, fed up with seeing corruption win the race in any public office, fed up with having to see their loved ones leave in order to guarantee that they will have the basic means to survive, while the old and new elites do nothing but enjoy the honey of power, they ended up getting up and using their right to vote to silently agree and give their support to the Semilla party, knowing that it was the best proposal that the country has had in more than fifty years.<\/p>\n<p>For this reason, the fact of knowing that the demand that \u201cthe united people will never be defeated\u201d is materializing is a hope that we should not let die, despite the unstoppable climate of political and judicial persecution in which our beloved Guatemala rises every morning.<\/p>\n<p>Irma A. Velasquez Nimatuj Ph.D.<br \/>\nMaya K\u2019iche\u2019 Journalist and Social Anthropologist.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/portada.-foto-de-prensa-comunitaria-5-300x225.jpeg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11169 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/portada.-foto-de-prensa-comunitaria-5.jpeg?resize=300%2C225&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/portada.-foto-de-prensa-comunitaria-5.jpeg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/portada.-foto-de-prensa-comunitaria-5.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/portada.-foto-de-prensa-comunitaria-5.jpeg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/portada.-foto-de-prensa-comunitaria-5.jpeg?resize=72%2C54&amp;ssl=1 72w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/portada.-foto-de-prensa-comunitaria-5.jpeg?resize=335%2C251&amp;ssl=1 335w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/portada.-foto-de-prensa-comunitaria-5.jpeg?resize=1050%2C788&amp;ssl=1 1050w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/portada.-foto-de-prensa-comunitaria-5.jpeg?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POR IRMALICIA VEL\u00c1SQUEZ NIMATUJ TRANSLATED BY GEOFF WATSON The world is witnessing what analysts and experts have called, inside and outside the country, the process of establishing a \u201cjudicial dictatorship\u201d that corrupt local and national elites are imposing by force and terror in Guatemala, and that seeks to entangle the political path using the justice [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11163,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[425,453,424,1806,422],"tags":[947,954,1218,4390,519,1744],"class_list":["post-11179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-action-en-2","category-frontpage-en","category-politics","category-social-situation","category-women","tag-corruption","tag-elections","tag-human-rights","tag-politic","tag-poverty","tag-women-and-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/iqxdhc8q-1.jpg?fit=680%2C452&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7ljt7-2Uj","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1966,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/politics\/were-still-here\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":11179,"position":0},"title":"#JusticiaYa: We\u2019re still here","author":"EntreMundos","date":"11 noviembre, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"By Gabriel Wer - #JusticiaYa - November 2015 Since the first popular protest on April 25th, it has been said that Guatemala woke up. There is talk of a Guatemalan and Central American Spring. But the reality is that here no one was asleep. You cannot sleep in a country\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abCommunity Action\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Community Action","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/politics\/community-action-en-2\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/manifestaciones-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/manifestaciones-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/manifestaciones-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/manifestaciones-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/manifestaciones-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9372,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/politics\/a-transformational-project-the-challenge-to-get-people-to-focus-their-strength-on-one-common-goal\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":11179,"position":1},"title":"A Transformational Project: The challenge to get people to focus their strength on one common goal","author":"EntreMundos","date":"25 noviembre, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"An interview with the Mayan activist Mash Mash about current protests and the fight for a Plurinational State. Written in collaboration with Anika Pinz and Martin Sch\u00e4fer from Latein Amerika Nachrichten \u00a0 Anika & Martin: This summer, after various corruption scandals, were large protests in Guatemala. What can you say\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abCommunity Action\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Community Action","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/politics\/community-action-en-2\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/11.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/11.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/11.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/11.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/11.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3563,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/uncategorized\/how-do-central-americans-experience-corruption\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":11179,"position":2},"title":"How do Central Americans experience corruption?","author":"EntreMundos","date":"14 octubre, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Almost a third of people who interacted with basic public services in the last 12 months paid a bribe. This equates to over 90 million people in the 20 countries surveyed. By Jonathan Menkos Zeissig - Executive Director, Central American Institute ofFiscal Studies (Icefi) Transparency International recently published its study\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abCorruption\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Corruption","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/politics\/corruption\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/img_1907.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/img_1907.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/img_1907.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/img_1907.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/img_1907.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11431,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/women\/miscellany-of-fight-and-resistance\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":11179,"position":3},"title":"Miscellany of fight and resistance","author":"EntreMundos","date":"10 noviembre, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"BY LISSETH SANTOS TRANSLATED BY THOMAS LANG The age-old fight and resistance of native peoples was renewed when a historic uprising led by the Board of Directors of the 48 Cantons of Totonicap\u00e1n, the Indigenous Mayoralty of Solol\u00e1, the Indigenous Mayoralty of Nebaj, the Xinka Parliament, and the indigenous communities\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abCorruption\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Corruption","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/politics\/corruption\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/img_20231005_175614-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/img_20231005_175614-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/img_20231005_175614-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/img_20231005_175614-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/img_20231005_175614-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13011,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/women\/ciidh-analysis-to-know-the-situation-regarding-the-defense-and-promotion-of-human-rights-in-guatemala\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":11179,"position":4},"title":"CIIDH Analysis: to know the situation regarding the defense and promotion of human rights in Guatemala","author":"EntreMundos","date":"30 julio, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Emma G\u00f3mez \/\u00a0Translated by Max Leigthon\u00a0 For decades, the country has been hurt by multiple social, political and economic problems. It is hard to believe that the situation gets worse every year. As citizens we do not give credit to all the injustices that afflict us. In every government\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abFrontPage\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"FrontPage","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/frontpage-en\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/496944573_1271482757679915_5433213452078556411_n.jpg?fit=959%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/496944573_1271482757679915_5433213452078556411_n.jpg?fit=959%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/496944573_1271482757679915_5433213452078556411_n.jpg?fit=959%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/496944573_1271482757679915_5433213452078556411_n.jpg?fit=959%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1878,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/economy\/corruption-and-transparency-icefis-plan\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":11179,"position":5},"title":"Corruption and Transparency: ICEFI&#8217;s plan","author":"EntreMundos","date":"10 noviembre, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Commentary by the Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies (ICEFI). September, 2015 Corruption in Guatemala limits what the government can do to resolve urgent social problems due to its consequences: it causes public institutions and authorities to lose credibility on a national level as much as the municipal or\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abCorruption\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Corruption","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/politics\/corruption\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/img_1695.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/img_1695.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/img_1695.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/img_1695.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/img_1695.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11179"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11181,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11179\/revisions\/11181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}