STABILITY

prices, creating a natural hedge against an energy price hike. As a result, the country has nothing to worry about on the external front.

The political situation has been a bit noisy as of late. An ongoing feud between the government and a United Nations anti-corruption commission has come to a head. President Jimmy Morales, who was formerly a television comic and was elected in 2015, was a major advocate of the UN commission. It was thought that the Guatemalan court system was too inept and corrupt to bring powerful individuals to trial.

This is the double-edged sword of the concentration of power in Guatemala. However, the UN panel was able to imprison several former presidents and ministers, removing the country’s image of impunity. But the court did not stop there. It continued its investigations against the current administration, finding evidence of illegal campaign financing of the sitting president.

No longer a laughing matter, the former comic turned on members of the commission, barring the head of the commission from re-entering the country. Although much noise was made of the incident, the US seems to be backing President Morales and the conflict appears to be fading.

So, as they say in Latin America, in regards to Guatemala: