The 2023 Guatemalan general elections: The beginning of a new Spring?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26851/RUCP.33.6Keywords:
democracy, Guatemala, Latin AmericaAbstract
In 2023, Bernardo Arévalo, the anti-corruption candidate of the Movimiento Semilla, a social democratic party, gave a big surprise by winning the Guatemalan presidential elections. In doing so, Arévalo and Semilla beat an electoral authoritarian regime on its own turf. This article has three sections. First, it defines the 2023 election as the most recent democratic milestone in a country with a long authoritarian history. Second, it analyzes the democratic decline in the run-up to the first-round vote. Third, it summarizes the obstacles —including a failed coup— that Arévalo and Semilla had to overcome before the second-round election and assuming the presidency.
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