Ports and airport issues can generate conversations on social networks when very specific phenomena occur, as happened last September, when the situation of electric stands in the Aurora terminal, or on February 20, with a photograph of ships on hold Quetzal, was viral.
With the objective of performing a feeling analysis of the issues and tones used by Guatemalans on social platforms regarding the infrastructure, a social listening study conducted by Datalab, with the GOO specialized analytics tool, between August 2024 and March 2025, revealed specific findings.
The first of these is that Seven out of 10 mentions made by Guatemalans on social networks infrastructure refer to the state of roads. In second and third place there are concerns related to the airport, ports and public transport.
In fact, 13% of the mentions in the period of interest focused on port and airport infrastructure. In that area, seven out of 10 mentions were on the airport, two out of 10 referred to ports and the rest, airfields.
They perceive inaction
During the study period, social networks conversations reflect a persistent concern for various deficiencies in the country’s infrastructure, particularly in ports and airports.
Another constant in user interactions was distrust in the management of public funds. Listening to social networks detected conversations with expressions such as: “works or actions are not seen” or, in case of executing, “they are badly made.” This perception intensifies when, despite the airport communications that announce the destination of resources for improvements, citizens affirm that “no results are seen.”
Regarding the ports, there were multiple mentions about “money losses” due to “mishandling in ports.”
In particular, the “wait for days in Puerto Quetzal” was reported as a symptom of “operational inefficiency.” Although some participants acknowledged that “the intention is good,” they also pointed out that the necessary capacity to implement substantial improvements has not been demonstrated.
As for corruption, although it was not the dominant issue, 13% of the total conversations made direct reference to this phenomenon, which indicates that it remains a general concern among citizens.
“Other countries overcome us”
In the temporal line of this chapter of the study, the mentions and the volume of conversation increased at specific times, such as:
- September 20: for the budget designated to airports and the lack of operation of the electric stands.
- January 30: Mentions about the possibility of private ports and similar models for airports and roads. It also refers to “the need to eliminate fuel tax and gasoline/diesel VAT.”
- February 20: Dozens of ships are reported in Port Quetzal.
- February 27: Guatemalans compare the construction of the Pacific Airport, in El Salvador, where they indicate that “El Salvador takes us years of progress” and that in Guatemala there is no good resource management and that “a leader needs with clear goals.” “Corruption” is perceived in the system for “rigged contracts, overpricing and works without supervision.” “Countries like El Salvador and Panama overcome us.” “Puerto Quetzal is no longer regional leader.” They mention “distrust” in the use of budget for the “lack of implementations and poor planning.” Privatization as a pending debate: “Is it the solution, or will it only worsen monopolies?”
How are criticism explained?
The study reveals a perception of general distrust of public function in infrastructure.
For Jorge Benavides, an analyst at the Guatemala infrastructure table does not stop, when reading the study, observes that the interest focuses on “having a functional airport, being the face that Guatemala gives towards those who visit us, being tourists, but also investors. Having spent so much time with deficiencies in the essential operation of an airport, such as the reception area of people with air conditioning conditions, water in the bathroom Much more important things such as the security issue of the place where the air terminal, the Taxo track, I would say that it also begins to be that face of Guatemala towards the world. ”
In the case of the results on ports, Benavides indicates that “it seems that people feel the impact of the operation of a port, they see it distant, but when one reviews the conversations with respect to the price of the inputs, the times of dispatch for the business sector of products that come, either in bulk or come containerized, of the impact that has again out of the one that there are ships that are waiting for a cost of US $ 100,000 The day, that begins to raise awareness that the country’s infrastructure is not right. ”
He adds that “if we see the feeling of the conversations that are generated, it is precisely a negative feeling. And we are seeing the need to address it, and not only to raise large, innovative, disruptive proposals, but simply maintaining the infrastructure working seems to be one of the main requests of the population.”
As for the study, in the feeling analysis, many of the conversations were neutral. The tool analyzed conversations of unique authors (not including shared publications), with almost four out of 10 qualified mentions as negative, related to ports and airports (37%), and just one in 10 (11%) as positive. The rest (51%) are “neutral.”
In perspective, “the theme of the airport is already in a new phase, the installation of the equipment that was needed has been achieved, the issue of user service is being invested on the taxiing track. We now have to talk about the legal reform of the entire civil aeronautics system and the most important thing that remains ports,” says the analyst.
He concludes that “it is not in vain the effort of the United States government to support through the US Army engineer. A redesign of the ports in the Pacific, we eventually hope that also the Atlantic ports and hopefully also include the analysis of the railway corridor.”
AILA: “The airport has improved”
Asked about the results of the study, Erick Uribio, administrator and general manager of the La Aurora International Airport, argues that the airport has improved both efficiency and operational security. It emphasizes that the greatest challenges are not only infrastructure, but also of normative coordination, compliance with international regulations and recertification processes.
It details the advances achieved in the modernization of Aila and highlights “significant improvements in infrastructure, safety and experience of the user.” Actions include the rehabilitation of the taxiing track, the renewal of health, lighting and electrical system, as well as the installation of a new voices system with the support of international cooperation, especially China-Taiwan.
He adds that there have been tasks of recovery of areas, waterproofing of ceilings, modernization of the food square and maintenance of the wastewater treatment plant. He defends that “many of these works, although not always visible to the passenger, respond to inherited structural problems and are being executed based on complex administrative and legal processes.”
In the face of 2025-2026, the Plan includes projects such as spring renewal, extension of the treatment plant, modernization of the belt and carousel system, acquisition of motobombs, signaling digitalization and improvements in the emergency operations center, reports.
It was tried to obtain a version of the National Port Commission, but at the close of this note no response had been 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, the results were published on April 10. 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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