Guatemalacos demand “abandonment on roads” and ask the Government for Preventive Plan

Social networks are a catharsis space for Guatemalans when they must talk about the state of infrastructure in the country.

A social listening study practiced by Datalab, with the GOO specialized analytical tool, between August 2024 and March 2025, revealed that seven out of 10 mentions made by Guatemalans on infrastructure in social networks refer to the state of roads.

Punctually, the study groups that the “main pain” of the audience is that An independent audit of abandonment works and a preventive maintenance plan urges.

The prominent theme when talking about road infrastructure They are the roads, which monopolize 70% of the conversation.

The claim, according to the analysis, is that there is an abandonment pattern in infrastructure: Lack of long -term planning, possible management of public funds and absence of supervision in tenders.

“We are going to the most basic, which is that the road network we have works. We are not talking about extensions, but of the simple maintenance of what should already be an asset well administered by the State,” analyzes Jorge Benavides, Fundesa analyst, seeing the results.

The 3 discussion issues (and where they occur)

The “digital quadrilaterals” where these citizen discussions occur, in terms of platforms, are mainly Tiktok (47.1%) and X (36.2%), with a lower proportion on news platforms and Facebook.

• LTo road infrastructure dominates digital conversations: Within a universe of 107 thousand unique users and almost half a million mentions related to tracked themes (497,330), seven out of 10 refer to roads, with an average daily of 1,711 mentions. The discussions that occupy the greatest proportion of the conversation include roads, bridges and overpasses.
• Mass and public transport occupies second place in relevance, With 413 daily mentions. The discussion revolves around the quality of service, urban mobility and transport alternatives.
• Third, Airport and Port Infrastructure is locatedwith approximately 330 daily mentions.

Regarding the geographical distribution of conversation, 83 % of the mentions come from Guatemala City, the country’s economic and political center.

Little optimism and perception of “corruption”

The general perception of the hearing analyzed is mostly negative, especially among unique users, with corruption emphasis (12% of the conversation).

“Most of the citizen audit are made by citizens. And he adds: but we see the feeling of corruption not, but of the responsibility of not doing. I think the population is asking to do things. I do not know if tolerating corruption, I would say no, but asking that it is not the fight against corruption an impediment to acting. ”

The study defines unique users or authors as individual persons or accounts that generate original content – such as publications, comments or mentions – on a specific topic, not including repossed publications, shared or duplicated by other users. These have a more critical perception of road infrastructure in Guatemala.

From the entire universe of analyzed publications, related to infrastructure, it was found that:

• Most publications are neutralSo without particular “feeling” (60%), for example, when news is shared by a work
• 33.7% alluded to negative feelingOr, for example, when there is a criticism for the collapse of a bridge
• And only 6% were positive, When referring to advances

But when the publications shared in networks are withdrawn and only the specific comments or mentions are left, the percentages change:

• Half (49.6%) are negative publications
• Only 8.8% are positive
• 41.5% are neutral

“Deteriorated” and “abandoned”

The manifestations in the digital conversation also reflect citizen discontent due to road insecurity and the deterioration of key routes.

Users perceive an “abandonment” and “lack of attention” by authorities In their conversations, especially when they refer to “maintenance” and repair of the road network.

During the analysis period, The Palín-Secla highway and kilometer 44 were mentioned with claims for delays in solutions and demands for transparency in the deadlines.

Also, users alluded to specific works with unfinished works, using terms such as “pieces” to describe roads such as Martí street, along with signs of endless works. This reinforced the perception of “institutional disinterest” when talking about the Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing (CIV).

The works that were most mentioned in the study were:

• Nahualate bridge: Located at kilometer 136 of the CA-2 West, in Chicacao, Suchitepéquez, remained closed for 14 days, from October 22 to November 6, due to damage to its structure. After the evaluation of the authorities, which concluded that there was structural damage in the work, the step was rehabilitated.
• Paso Opplies Roosevelt: In the 9th Avenue of the Roosevelt Calzada, the construction was suspended twice during the last year due to lack of supervision: first in May and then in June.
• Belize Bridge 2: It began in November 2023 with the aim of expediting the passage in zones 1, 2, 6, 18 and 17, as well as improving the transfer times from zones 4, 8, 9, 12, 13 and 21 of the capital. In addition, it would connect with the Metro system. To date, it is suspended due to financial problems, a pending evaluation of its design and the need to release the right of way.
• Road towards San Francisco Zapotitlán: It is pending to build a stretch of 12 km in San Francisco Zapotitlán, Suchitepéquez, which works as an alternate way and connects with Retalhuleu, one of the main trade and tourism routes in Southwester.
• Highway to Puerto Quetzal: This highway, which will have a toll collection, registers 30% progress and is expected to be ready in 2026. It will have several high distributors.
• OPPLIENCE zone 6 of Xela: The “slowness” and the “paralysis” in the construction of the viaduct, located in the peripheral between zones 6 and 7 of Xela, has affected the connectivity of the municipality. The project drags lag from the previous administration.
• Mixco overlapping to Molino de las Flores: Since 2014, the first stone of this viaduct was placed on kilometer 14.7 of the Roosevelt road, awarded by Q37.9 million.

He adds that with the approval of the Priority Road Infrastructure Law, which is Decree 29-2024, a transition period is created in article 95. “This transition period facilitates that at least the main roads, which are all the Central American, some booklets and the functionality within the metropolitan area are free of any litigation, of any contractual problem in a period of 18 months. That what leads us is to, hopefully, to have a year and a half working an entity in making hiring, diagnose how the road network is and take it.

Anam seeks change in law

Sebastián Siero, president of the National Association of Municipalities of Guatemala, reacts to the results of the study and indicates that “we have been a year and three months where the Ministry of Communications does not attend the road network and right now we are, as mayors, very worried because we are six weeks that winter starts and this will complicate the state of the network again”.

He adds that they are looking to modify the regulations “where if the ministry does not respond to a request for an endorsement in 30 days, it is considered as administrative silence and allow us to enter to work.” Above all, because from the mayorships, Siero confirms, you can only work in the municipal order. “What we are looking for is for mayors to maintain the road network, since from the CIV there is no way to do it. There are many mayors with that intention and what we need is to give us the guarantees,” he concludes.

It was tried to have a version of the Ministry of Communications, but after constant applications, no response was received.

TECHNICAL SHEET: How was the study done?

Between August 20, 2024 and March 20, 2025, an analysis of digital conversations of unique users in Guatemala was carried out on infrastructure issues, based on social listening technologies. The study focused on three key areas: road, airport and port infrastructure, and mass transport. For this, specific keywords were used that allowed monitoring conversations on social networks and traditional media.

The tool used was Goo’s technology, implemented by the Datalab company, for the monitoring of social flows, mainstream media and profile analysis.

In the road field, terms related to roads, highways, bridges, viaducts and urban mobility were analyzed, including mentions of projects such as initiative 5431 and the green corridor. In the airport and port sector, references to airports such as La Aurora and Santo Tomás de Castilla were identified, as well as terms linked to port and dredging systems.

For the collection and analysis of data, social flow monitoring tools were used, which allowed to track conversations on platforms such as Facebook, X, Instagram, Tiktok and Reddit, in addition to traditional media. Only original publications of unique authors were considered, that is, individual accounts that generated their own content, not including republications or duplications.

Likewise, constant users were identified, defined as those who made more than ten publications within the period analyzed.

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