Fernando Cajas
The Aligned Coup d’état, which was previously in slow motion, has now taken on the speed of the transmission of lies made by the executive branch, led by Miguelito, the judicial branch, led by Porras and the legislative branch led by Shirley, all aligned with the interests of the Corrutos Pact, led by an important part of the CACIF, the powerful association of businessmen who now have among their new members the drug traffickers, coyotes and network of corrupt mayors of the hyper corrupt party called Vamos that made millionaires of its mayoral candidates around of the country and that allows corruption left and right in Congress.
Although the National Strike has focused on the request for the resignation of the prosecutor, the FECI prosecutor and the judge of the Seventh Court, that is not really the objective because the entire State is co-opted to such an extent that drug traffickers and coyotes They cynically provide resources to the fight against the National Strike. This National Strike, denied by the right and the recalcitrant left, is the visible effect that we are integrating throughout the country to demonstrate our discontent and to take the first step in recovering the State. For that, Arévalo must take a position on January 14, 2024. That is precisely what the Corrupt Pact and its executive, legislative or judiciary do not want either and that is why they are aligning themselves with this legal coup.
The immediate objective is for the prosecutor, the FECI and the judge of the seventh court to resign. But that is not the sole objective of either the National Strike or the emerging Social Movement. If at this moment these three resign, the movement would continue because it has a deeper objective, to transform this society. Guatemala’s independence from the Spanish crown was not to create a better country for everyone, no; It was specifically to avoid paying taxes. But post-independence social movements emerged when groups of ladinos and indigenous people were not represented by the new Republic.
A project to separate Guatemala was then born, which was led in Quetzaltenango, but had roots in what was then Sololá and mainly Totonicapán, including San Marcos. Prior to the liberal revolution of 1871, Quetzaltenango tried to separate and in response the central government shot the municipal council that had become the head of the new State of Los Altos. A title by Arturo Taracena reminds us: “Creole invention, Ladino dream, indigenous nightmare: Los Altos de Guatemala: from region to state, 1740-1850.” This Social Movement of 2023 has the potential to recreate under other conditions, with fewer contradictions, a new State of the Heights in the face of the negligence of the aligned powers of the executive, legislative and judicial to carry out a coup d’état.
The story to get here today is long. This fight for Quauhtlemallan is a long one. The Spanish conquest generated resistance movements that remain. The university protests of 1920 against Manuel Estrada Cabrera ended with the overthrow of Jorge Ubico and the development of the October Revolution of 1944, which despite its achievements left an unfinished agenda. The same for the Peace Agreements, which despite their signing were not binding on the actions of the Guatemalan State and no one pays attention to them. That set of events always, always considered the indigenous movements as inferior despite being the majority of the Guatemalan population. Awareness about our national identity has not yet occurred, but this movement of 2023 is the first that begins by breaking old dichotomies and awakens the population.
The new government of Arévalo and Herrera brings hope for everyone, except for the Corrupt Pact. We must ensure that the coup d’état does not occur and defend, with our lives, this attempt to cut off our right to refound our country. The corruption model has already reached its limit. We cannot continue believing that this group of politicians will stop being corrupt. They will do the impossible to maintain their privileges and we must unite, break what apparently separates us to rethink the future of our life in this country.
The days ahead will be difficult. We must not fall into the temptation of violence. We must continue talking. We must continue negotiating what can be negotiated about the methodology of our Resistance. What is not negotiable is that they carry out a coup d’état. Not that. Not even the prosecutor’s resignation becomes important anymore. The fight will be bloody, hard, unequal, mediated by infiltrators and with social networks co-opted by technological mercenaries, national Alba Vision channels paid only to confuse and to maintain the narrative that Giammatei is dressed for first communion, that the prosecutor changed completely the function of the Public Ministry and is now the defender of democracy, they say.
For the first time in our democratic history, it has taken us so long to know if the person we elected, Arévalo, is actually going to be allowed to take office. Everything looks so that they don’t leave it and come out with their cry of fraud! fraud! fraud! Lies, they want to sleep to sleep. Their narrative is a pack of lies that not even they believe. But that doesn’t mean we should trust ourselves. We are in an unstable equilibrium. The system can go to one side or the other depending on its degrees of freedom and the way we act. I know we are resilient, we are resilient, now let’s be smart and really come together, let’s come together. Let’s not let them separate us in the coming days and completely close themselves off because then our disunity will give them victory and they will continue stealing, manipulating, groping. We can still stop this ridiculous aligned coup d’état by uniting ourselves. Either it is now or it will never be Guatemala.
