GUATEMALA’S NEW PATH
“Ave Indiana que vive en tu escudo, Paladión que protege su suelo, ¡Ojalá que remonte su vuelo, más que el cóndor y el águila real! ¡Y en sus alas levante hasta el cielo, Guatemala, tu nombre inmortal!” (*)
Guatemala is undergoing a period of profound change. Its national anthem, as though it were a metaphor for this juncture, alludes to the quetzal, the country’s national bird, which hopes will take flight and carry the country to the heavens heavens vis-à-vis its neighbors: Mexico, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. The country recently lived through a watershed moment in the history of Latin America when Otto Pérez Molina went from being President of the Republic of Guatemala to being a common prisoner in a matter of hours. Guatemala’s Congress took away his immunity so that he could resign; the National Public Prosecutor asked for his detention and a judge made him declare in court in relation to a corruption case. He ended up going to jail charged with bribery, unlawful association and fiscal fraud related “La Línea” customs administration corruption case. Roxana Baldetti, Guatemala’s former Vice President, was also accused of leading a corruption ring and was charged with passive bribery, unlawful association and customs fraud. This placed the Central American country and its protagonists – Guatemala’ civil society, public Administrations, and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, CICIG, (an independent body working under the auspices of the UN and which has become the country’s main upholder of the law) – in the international spotlight. Guatemala is one of the region’s strongest and most solid economies. American companies are aware of this and have continually trusted a country known for its hardworking skilled laborers, which are keen to improve their knowledge base and feel a great cultural affinity with the US.