Mynor Rene Martinez
Although it may seem like a tongue twister, the two terms in this headline are already being used, although at the moment they do not appear in the Royal Spanish Academy, RAE, which is why I will say that they are concepts adapted for this column.
In the first case I am referring to “kleptostate”, composed of two words, the first is kleptomania, the morbid propensity to theft (RAE) and the second is the term state. With this word I refer to the State that is made up of authorities prone to theft and corruption. I read this term for the first time in a column by José Rubén Zamora and I borrow it for my column.
On the other hand, I mention a term used on some pages and social networks, that of “cryptostate”, in this case uniting the terms cryptocurrency and again the word state. In this case I use it to refer to countries that are digitizing their economy.
I make particular reference to our neighbor El Salvador, which after being the birthplace of the Mara Salvatrucha, today is recognized as one of the safest countries in Latin America and also. for being the first State to approve Bitcoin as a legal currency in its economy.
Although this monetary policy has provoked a series of criticisms of Nayib Bukele, Salvadoran president, the truth is that it has been a novel measure, to such an extent that today it is in the international spotlight as a digital laboratory. On every page dedicated to cryptocurrencies there is more than one content dedicated to the Salvadoran experience.
Despite all the alarms and announcements of calamity due to the volatility of the cryptocurrency, last week President Bukele published on his X network the first profit of US$6 million and announced a bond issue for next year for more than a billion dollars.
While our little neighbor is located in the world as a case of innovation and technological updating, here in Guatemala we continue to debate between a caste of corrupt politicians that makes up the current “kleptostate”, which puts us in the international news, but as a country in decline and with a failed state.
At this moment when we find ourselves on the verge of a change of authorities in the Executive, Legislative and Municipal bodies, it is important to analyze the path we are taking as a country. Could it be that we can transfer all our efforts to modernize to finally enter the 21st century with the strength that El Salvador does?
Although the circumstances are different, there is hope that the new government team can channel all its capabilities into finding the conditions to make the leap from “kleptostate” to “cryptostate.”
Every transition is painful, there may be conservative forces that do not want to change the the state in which that enriches them with corruption and shady deals, at the expense of the development of Guatemalans.
I invite all the political forces of our country to see our neighbors again and create synergy (that is, bring together all our energies) to be able to push Guatemala forward, leaving aside absurd separatisms, because having a more solid economy and a more solid society developed we all win.
By the way, I already started in the world of cryptocurrencies, it is a learning adventure for decision making. My advice if you want to start exploring this virtual world: start small, study the concepts of the stock market, listen to specialized cryptocurrency news (on YouTube, for example) and think long term. Successes.
