Organized Crime Threatens Guatemala’s Democracy Ahead of September Elections
By Daniel Hollingsworth
August 14, 2007 | Printer Friendly

The BBC reports that the mayor of a Guatemalan town near the Mexican border was apparently shot and killed in connection with elections in September, bringing the total number of campaign-related deaths to more than forty.  Werner Velasquez, elected mayor of Santa Ana Huista in 2003, was not seeking reelection, but he was shot outside the home of a candidate from a rival party whom he was supporting in September’s elections.  Velasquez was a member of the National Unity for Hope party (Une), which has been hit hardest by the political violence.  The BBC writes that his death brings the total to 19 Une members or candidates who have been murdered in this election season.

The International Herald Tribune reports that this violence, the worst string of political killings since the end of civil war in 1996, is linked to drug traffickers and their allies seeking to gain control of the political system:

“‘Controlling the political system is their goal,’ said Iduvina Hernández, an analyst at a Guatemalan research group called Security in Democracy. ‘If they can control a small town, they can build a landing strip there and use it as a base. If they have someone in Congress, all the better.’ With plenty of money to spend, drug dealers finance as many campaigns as they can and put forward candidates who are on the take. Resistance is met with violence.”

The violence has not been solely directed at politicians.  According to the Associated Press, two children of politicians were killed in separate attacks in July near Guatemala City, and non-governmental activists have also been targeted.  Álvaro Colom, the leading candidate for president, told the International Herald Tribune that the current level of violence exceeds the violence of the civil war and that he “flies in a helicopter to avoid being ambushed and travels with a doctor with experience in bullet wounds.”

Reuters reports that political rivals claim that Colom let organized crime infiltrate the Une party during his last run for president in 2003, while Colom himself argues that “Guatemala is totally infiltrated by organized crime on all levels.”  Both the Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union have expressed concern for the elections and have sent observers to monitor the situation.  In July, OAS General Secretary José Miguel Insulza called for thorough investigations “so that there is not an impression among citizens that all those who venture into politics are at risk.” 

References:

BBC: Guatemala campaign deaths mount

International Herald Tribune: As presidential campaign gets going in Guatemala, the body count mounts

Associated Press: Congressman's son killed ahead of Guatemalan elections

Reuters: Bloodshed hits Guatemala election campaign