Guatemala’s new president promises a better sort of government
But Bernardo Arévalo has an uphill task
Central America is a laboratory for systems of government, few of them good. The likes of Costa Rica and Panama have real if messy democracies. Nicaragua suffers under Daniel Ortega, a dictator, and El Salvador is becoming more autocratic under a populist strongman, Nayib Bukele. Honduras and Guatemala have been deeply corrupt. Hence the enthusiasm for Bernardo Arévalo, a bona fide democrat, who is to be sworn in as Guatemala’s president on January 14th.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Shiny new model?”
From the January 13th 2024 edition
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