The 2027 elections will have new political parties, some still in the process of formation, which will seek to promote old actors in Guatemalan politics to occupy high positions of popular election.
As of June 5, the most recent data published on the website of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) lists 24 political parties, six recently created that did not compete in the 2023 elections.
This is the Opportunities and Development Party (Power), which has Walfre Lara as general secretary; and Jaguar, which reports in its general secretary to Anthony Segura, a former union leader who was accused in the La Línea corruption case.
The Green Party also appears, led by former representative Delia Bac, who was accused by the Public Ministry (MP) of alleged corruption during her time as a congresswoman.
The Nuevos Tiempos party has as general secretary the current representative of Vamos, Shirley Rivera, former president of Congress who was questioned for promoting a law during her administration that, according to organizations, attacked the family.
The last new parties are Servir, which has Carlos Pineda in its general secretary; and Fuerza por Guatemala, whose secretary is the former presidential candidate, Mauricio Radford.
But five other committees could be added to the list of new electoral offers that are just a few steps away from processing their evolution into a political party before the TSE Citizen Registry.
Five committees
The TSE registers 23 pro-formation committees, of which five already meet the minimum number of 28,083 supporters, with their assemblies pending to process their transition to a political party.
But like the recently created parties, the majority share links with politicians, who, on more than one occasion, have sought to climb to popularly elected positions through voting.
Among the committees is Chapín, with 30,711 supporters. Its general secretary is Mario Alfonso López Silvestre. He was secretary of the canceled Republican Union, which in 2023 promoted a candidacy in favor of Otto Pérez Leal, former mayor of Mixco.
Likewise, Dignidad has 29,409 reported members, detailing as its general secretary Gabriel Romero Pérez, former candidate for deputy of the canceled Movement for the Liberation of the People (MLP).
XGuate counts 32 thousand 99 supporters. Its general secretary is Manuel Castillo Reyna, but on his social networks the former presidential candidate Edmond Mulet has already linked to the group.
Raíces has 38,070 members and its general secretary is deputy Samuel Pérez. This group was born from the official division of the now canceled Semilla Movement.
Revolución reports 31,483 members, its general secretary is Arnoldo Francisco Pérez Pérez, who has no history of political participation in the past.
They are a business
The way in which groups seek to simulate a new political offer when in reality they “recycle” candidates, confirms that they were born as a business, at least that is what Francisco Quezada, of the Center for National Economic Research (Cien), believes.
“There are experts in making political parties and then selling them. These characters that circulate are the ones who have the ability to raise financing and know how they operate, many times it is already a business because that token is worth it,” he indicated.
But another part of the business may come directly from financiers. “If we see it in bad faith – the creation of parties – they can be a business, along with the campaign because they raise funds and many times they end up in the hands of their leaders, regardless of whether they are elected or not,” Quezada noted.
For her part, Edie Cux, an analyst at Acción Ciudadana, sees that the way in which political parties are born and die, with practically the same structures and characters, are a negative symptom for the country.
“It manifests the democratic crisis that the country is experiencing, where there are no political parties, only electoral vehicles. They fight more to obtain signatures than for the same political projection they may have,” he reiterated.
Cux stressed that due to the number of political parties it would be appropriate to see new faces and not always the same ones every four years. “They jump from party to party without any type of training. This implies that they are recycled, some die, others move, it is an exchange. They seem more like public limited companies that sometimes end up being disposable,” he added.
Audit in progress
The TSE announced a few weeks ago an audit process of the pro-training committees, to evaluate whether all of them have complied with the necessary legal requirements.
So far, it is unknown how advanced the verification process is, and what methodology was adopted, but the authorities indicated that their results will be made public.
For their part, analysts consider it vital that the audit makes it possible to verify where the money for these new committees comes from, which translates into actions to reach as many supporters as possible.
“This audit must ensure that we see the way in which adherence was captured, that it was not with public resources, that it was not through gifts that would be buying them,” Quezada commented.
Reaching that extreme will allow us to have a better perspective of the new organizations, Cux added. “It is no secret that the committees, in some localities, have links with organized crime, and that makes politics more complicated due to institutional capture,” he said.
The TSE will meet with representatives of the political parties on Thursday, June 25, but until now it is unknown if the audit has already concluded or if any preliminary progress will be presented.