The Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) estimates making the call to the next general elections on January 22, 2027. Some organizations and politicians anticipate and already seek to gain popular acceptance, according to analysts.
Social networks are some of the platforms where civic groups with possible electoral intentions have become visible. The TSE media unit recently said that it monitors these scenarios to avoid the black campaign between politicians and organizations.
The last elections in Guatemala of 2023 resulted in the election of municipal authorities; the integration of the tenth legislature of Congress, the representation of the country before the Central American Parliament (Parlacen); and the presidential binomial composed of Bernardo Arévalo and Karin Herrera.
When 19 months are missing for the next voting event, the national environment is that of an authentic political contest, according to experts, who attribute this phenomenon to the little control of the electoral authority and the political ambitions of characters that seek to remain in public opinion.
To which is added the announcement of official deputies elected by seed movement in the creation of a new political proposal such as roots, which would be the alternative for officials to seek a new public office for 2027 votes.
In the 2023 elections, after knowing the results of the first electoral round that carried the pulse by the presidency between the National Unit of Hope (UNE) and the canceled Seed Movement, the Public Ministry (MP) began to receive complaints for an apparent electoral fraud.
Complaints warned apparent manipulation of electoral results in favor of the current government and the apparent overvaluation in the purchase of the preliminary electoral results transmission system (TREP).
Presidential ambitions
In the general elections of 2023, the presidential ballot had 23 options for presidential binomial. It was a ballot divided into three rows with 27 boxes, where each political organization chose a space according to the order in which the registrations of its candidates were accepted by the citizens registry.
For the 2027 elections, the number of presidential options could be greater, since the new political parties created, even if they do not have a candidate for this date, claim to have aspirations to compete for the presidential chair.
Data from TSE political organizations, updated to April 2, register 27 political parties, including those that must be canceled for not having reached the minimum amount of votes in the past elections and those that maintain judicial problems, including citizen prosperity and seed movement.
The newest groups are power, jaguar, green party and new times. Of these four new parties, three claimed to have aspirations to the presidency, while with the fourth political force it was not possible to establish communication.
Anthony Segura, general secretary of the Jaguar party, says they will compete in the next presidential elections, but highlights that for now they do not have a potential candidate to represent them.
“We are almost two years after the first electoral round, time runs quickly and we are visiting bases nationwide. We are seeing municipal and departmental leaderships to prepare,” he said.
Jaguar is planning the assemblies to be able to meet the requirements of law to remain a political party, highlighting that, today, there are no known faces within their ranks.
“At the moment there is no within the organization someone recognized in the political sphere, they are mainly new people. But we do not rule out that someone with political experience can be incorporated into the ranks of Jaguar,” he said.
Something similar commented Walfred Lara, general secretary of the Power Political Party, who stressed that for the past elections they were already a political party, but that by “arbitrary” decisions of the TSE they could not participate.
“We are in the restructuring process of the bases nationwide, calling for the affiliation and training of our leadership. We call a great nation pact,” Lara explained.
This political party ensures that the faces that its organization will have for the 2027 elections will be new, since one of its guidelines is not to “recycle” candidates.
“In the characteristics of our party we do not allow any official to have the opportunity to serve the country and do nothing. Here will not see former officials, here there will be new faces.”
Another of the recently created organizations is the Green Political Party, which has Delia Bac general secretary, former deputy accused of corruption.
The policy said they are reinforcing the foundations of the political party and, without revealing names, said they also have aspirations for the next presidential.
“We go to the communities, we announce through affiliation and training. Thus we have been arriving, mainly to the departments to strengthen our bases,” he said.
The Green Political Party, Bac explained, is developing its assemblies and reinforcing its political bases. “In June of last year we made our National Assembly, we have a year of being in force. Now we are preparing with our ordinary municipal and departmental assemblies.”
The most recent creation group is new times, which has as one of its main figures the deputy Shirley Rivera, deputy of Vamos and former president of the Congress. It was tried to contact her personal phone, but it was not possible to establish communication and no party representative arrived at the last meeting between organizations and the TSE.
Multiple options
In addition to the 27 political parties that the TSE already has, including those that must be canceled, 10 committees are counted for the formation of political parties, to which 14 promoting groups could be added, among which the political project is not included Roots, recently presented by some founders and deputies of Semilla Movement.
The above opens the possibility, at experts’ discretion, that there are about 40 options for presidential binomial for the 2027 elections, a similar number for the integration of the future legislature and the different municipal corporations.
Among the committees for the formation of political parties are some with a history of other political parties. Force by Guatemala The Secretary General of Mauricio Radford, who had presidential intentions just in the last general election of 2023.
The committee is also detailed Homelandwhich keeps a former candidate for deputy of the National Advanced Party (PAN) as secretary in 2023, Elmer Lucas Shicay. Xguateanother of the organizations, has Manuel Haroldo Castillo, former candidate for deputy of Cabal.
In the possible new political parties also figure Citizen renewalwith his representation under Edwin Oswaldo Casprowitz, who was an assistant to the administrative management of Congress at the beginning of 2024.
The political committee Serve It is also found in the list of potential political parties, highlighting in different civic activities to Carlos Pineda, former presidential ex -candidate for citizen prosperity, who is in charge of the Institute of Government and Political Training to serve.
Committees also appear National Transformation and Guatemalan Liberal Partythe latter has as secretary general Camilo Johanes Dedet Casprowz, who was secretary of the organization of Vamos and who was related as one of Alejandro Giammattei’s greatest confidence.
Among the ex -candidates for the Presidency who have begun to have a presence in social networks, at experts’ discretion, is the former presidential candidate, Sandra Torres, who after losing in the second round of the presidential elections of Bernardo Arévalo, was again active on social networks. It has even maintained more public appearances.
A similar attitude maintains politician Roberto Arzú, who was not registered as a presidential candidate in 2023, but has resumed a presence on different platforms.
Before time?
For Renzo Rosal, independent political analyst, and Rubén Hidalgo, director of the Central American Institute for Political Studies (INTEP), there is a new electoral phenomenon: public figures that, to their consideration, are trying to promote their image for electoral purposes.
“There are some who are eating the exit with total impunity, including Sandra Torres, Carlos Pineda, Neto Bran and Roberto Arzú. But just as they are internal movements, in the local, from mayors who are already preparing for a re -election,” Rosal said.
He stressed that this occurs for having an electoral authority that has not shown to have the necessary strength to control politicians.
“The TSE at other times has sent alerts, but now we have an absolutely weak TSE, without any ability to put into practice its functions, which is to regulate what is happening.”
Although the announcement of the new political party, roots, showed how there are already re -election intentions and maintaining the power of some officials, this attitude is not new in Guatemalan politics; On the contrary, it is usual.
Public image
“Now what becomes more evident is that it is not the games that are doing actions, they are certain characters, and it is not one, they are many. They started very early, They are not called as candidates for electoral sanctions, but the new thing is that proliferation of characters to the individual”Rosal said.
For Hidalgo, this phenomenon does not remain only in those who intend to reach the presidency. According to him, this also occurs with deputies who ambition another four years of power from the Legislative.
“These characters have continued with the dynamics of building a public image for their future applications for public office. From here we can receive a significant number of deputies who build image with the famous audit, but which becomes many cases in media shows.”
But in addition to this institutional weakening to correct politicians, according to Hidalgo, government administrations leave spaces for competitors to look for ways to show themselves as the best options.
“Many people are activated early by the power vacuum, to give the perception that they are the right and ideals to coordinate power in Guatemala,” he concluded.
To avoid the attack between politicians or that some seek to promote their image, the unit specialized in the media of the TSE refines monitoring strategies.
According to the last meeting between TSE authorities and political parties, the strategies will be aimed at monitoring social networks, emphasizing the way in which artificial intelligence could be badly used.
TSE authorities agreed on an upcoming working meeting with political parties, aimed at preparing the following general elections, for June 9.