U.S. Sanctions Guatemalan Figures for “Ongoing Anti-Democratic Actions
After a Guatemalan presidential election victory for Bernardo Arevalo, contention has caused visa restrictions imposed by the United States on Guatemalan officials. The cause of opposition for the officials is supposedly undermining democracy and political turmoil. Three hundred Guatemalan politicians, business leaders, and their families have been hit with these visa restrictions, this severe of an action is justified with rumors of destabilizing democratic progress in Guatemala. Guatemala, already struggling internally, has been put under an intense microscope of scrutiny by the US government. It is said that obstructionist tactics were used during Arevalo’s presidential run. The US State Department addressed the situation by condemning “Ongoing anti-democratic actions” and with that they made attempts to discredit the legitimacy of the electoral process. In an attempt to maintain diplomatic discretion the names of the individuals give the visa restrictions have not been disclosed.
In the statement made by the State Department it implies that these individuals were involved in activities of political prosecution. Intimidation of peaceful protesters, unauthorized raids, and tampering with ballot boxes are all things that are said to have been done by these individuals leading up to the election. As well as a national budget that was passed. Critics argue that this budget is intended to fund groups involved in these anti-democratic practices. There is a high likelihood that there are select groups of Guatemalan government officials that want to lead the nation into a non democratic direction. There is also reason to believe that the newly re-elected president is among these groups. The harsh stance taken by the US government is justified because having democratic states in territories occupied near the US is very important. Doing what can be done to keep a democratic Eastern world is a necessity for the peace of mind for American officials.
The possibility of a sour relationship with Guatemala could be on the horizon. In this bi polar world that we live in Guatemala would benefit from having powerful friends. If not friends with the United States than who? The door is open for relations between Guatemala and powerful communist nations such as China and Russia. Having communistic ideas in our neck of the woods has lots of cause for concern. Think, the Cuban Missile Crisis as extreme. Keeping good democratic relations with people in and around us is essential for the prosperity of the whole region.