by Kelsey Alford-Jones
The current marches and mobilizations are a sign of hope that profound change could be on the horizon.
Guatemala is facing a historic opportunity to bring about meaningful reform in a moment when the nation is on the verge of complete institutional collapse.
With unprecedented momentum building to address unbridled government corruption and impunity, the biggest impediment to successful reform may be the Sept. 6 elections.
On Friday, just three weeks before Election Day, President Otto Pérez Molina and his former Vice President Roxana Baldetti were named as the head of a criminal structure that has been robbing likely hundreds of millions of dollars or more from the State. Baldetti, who resigned on May 8, is in police custody, and prosecutors are asking the Guatemalan Congress to repeal the president’s immunity from prosecution.