Miguel Angel Sandoval
On July 26, the note of all the radio and television media, both in Guatemala and in other countries and international channels, gave the information that the OAS, at the request of five countries, had requested a formal declaration condemning the abuses of the Guatemalan authorities, towards those who defended free, democratic and transparent elections, and unrestricted respect for the results of the polls on 25J. As well as the denunciation of the harassment of the Semilla party, which must go to the ballot on August 20.
In an unprecedented effort in recent years, Colombia, the US, Canada, Chile, and Antigua-Bermuda addressed the OAS permanent committee with that request. The political breadth of the demand cannot be hidden, no matter how hard one tries, and despite the comings and goings of the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry, which was overwhelmed by the events and by the dimension of the demand that was raised by the group of five .
In two dishes, the OAS, which in general does not present a performance adjusted to its mandate and democratic forms, is on this occasion ordered by a group of countries that comprise it to assume an attitude of clear condemnation of a country that is, by the through their actions, in frank distancing from democratic norms, from the principles of a republican state and the rule of law.
Finally, there was no declaration to the annoyance of some governments, but if instead it is achieved, that the OAS secretary, Luis Almagro, visit the country on very close dates, In truth, the visit corresponds to an emergency situation because between Wednesday and Monday , which is the scheduled date, no more than a couple of business days, to start a week in which they must hold consultations with all sectors of Guatemalan society, not only the most prominent institutions, but the entire spectrum that is involved in the process that is triggered from 25J.
This situation raised in the framework of the OAS is one more of all the international efforts and positions expressed in recent days. And it is worth saying that perhaps the United States have been the greatest exponents of the concern with which the situation of the Guatemalan electoral process is analyzed or visualized and the development of a national variable of low fare (judicial war) that has not wavered in make the MP and a judiciary available to corruption, with which the issue acquires levels of scandal at the international level.
Concern expressed from various countries has reached such a degree that the United States, its main trading partner, destination for migrants, and dominant leader in this region, warned of applying high-grade trade sanctions, such as the extraordinary tariff of up to 30% to Guatemalan products, including the eventual withdrawal of our country from the FTA signed a few years ago.
It is obvious that this position of the United States, which is sometimes expressed without the slightest diplomacy or care, has been like an electric shock for the Guatemalan business sector, for political sectors and the media, which have realized that it is not You can live enjoying the benefits of international relations, without taking care to maintain a democratic behavior, because that is what the type of relations in this part of the continent is about.
But for business sectors, the central thing was the warnings of tariffs, because with them, an economic crisis of unsuspected scope was automatically headed. Also, by making quick calculations, that these tariffs were going to favor the economies of the region, which could easily occupy those market niches. Not to mention an eventual expulsion from the FTA.
Well, if something cannot be forgotten, it is that multilateral relations do not serve to deceive one another, to ask favors from one another, but to try, as best as possible, to build a community of independent states that have common objectives. or at least similar. And this is what is lost with the attitudes that seek to ignore the result of 25J.
A not minor issue is that now that the OAS action is taking place, and its inquisitive visit should take place the week that begins on Monday, July 31, the mission could not fail to take into account its previous visit whose report and recommendations languished in the midst of oblivion, as well as the aggravation of anti-democratic and corrupt behaviors, which have given space for the US, through the Engel list, to point out not a few justice officials, both in the criminal investigation part and in the judiciary .
It should be borne in mind that the fact that an OAS resolution has been postponed due to the scheduled visit does not mean that the issue has been resolved, far from it, and it does not imply that later on, it can be raised, even as an emergency, the need for a new meeting by the body.
The international magnifying glass on our country is now much more severe for many reasons. One of them is that, in a real way, with a strategic vision of geopolitics, today, Guatemala constitutes the last frontier of the US towards the south of the continent and this cannot go unnoticed by anyone. But, also, because it cannot be violated in the grotesque way as in our case, a democratic process that, despite everything, survives.
