This is my first blog as British Ambassador to Guatemala. I arrived here six months ago, but thought I’d wait a while before starting to blog. I’ll try to write quite regularly from now on. I hope you find my blogs interesting!
I arrived in Guatemala City in mid-August 2015, just in time to witness what turned out to be a remarkable few months in Guatemala’s history. Public protests were in full swing against the then-President, Otto Perez Molina. Then, just two weeks after my arrival, he resigned to face corruption charges, and a new President was sworn in.
Three days later the country held elections, with the former President now in prison. Those elections, although long scheduled, produced totally unexpected results. The veteran politician who had long been seen as the front runner failed to make it through to the second round. Instead, a complete outsider with no experience of politics surged from nowhere to lead the field. His name was Jimmy Morales, a former actor and TV comedian. Morales sailed to victory in the second round in October, and duly became President of Guatemala in January.
Guatemala was going through an extraordinary period of democratic awakening. People took first to the streets, and then to the voting urns, to bring about change. And they did so not only peacefully, but also conclusively. And the British Embassy tried to do its bit to support this process of public participation. We sponsored a debate between the Presidential candidates; we observed the elections; we supported CICIG and the fight against corruption; and we are now working with the new government to build a national transparency agenda, among many other issues. I will write about all these topics, and more, in future blogs.
Other countries in the region noticed what was happening in Guatemala, and Guatemala is now being held up as a model for bringing about change democratically – and rightly so, too.
It’s certainly been a very exciting time to be a newly arrived ambassador in Guatemala!