It’s almost 3:30 p.m. on Thursday and José López, a resident of Totonicapán, uses a megaphone to encourage the representatives of the indigenous peoples who are holding a sit-in in front of the Public Ministry of Guatemala. It is day 102 of the resistance. Today it is the turn of the members of their community. They have traveled the almost 125 miles that separate their territory from the capital to stand guard in front of the gray cement mass that serves as an operations center for those they accuse of undermining democracy in his country: the attorney general, Consuelo Porras, the prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, and judge Fredy Orellana.
The three have been accused by the elected president, Bernardo Arévalo, of perpetrating a coup d’état through judicial attacks to prevent his inauguration. With just a few hours left before he takes office, the rally has a festive atmosphere. The goal of a peaceful transfer of power and preserving democracy in Guatemala seems to be getting closer and closer. But let no one be confused, the cantonal authorities present at the sit-in repeat over and over again with their staffs of office that distinguish them: this is an apolitical movement.
“We have always said it: we are not supporting any party, not even a president, we support the rule of law and democracy so that our country can breathe. We don’t need anything to be given to us. We just want to work, we just want to be given the conditions to work, and that is what we demand from any government,” López says. And he gives way to a group of students who delight the audience with a double marimba concert: seven play the national instrument and two others support with maracas and percussion. In this movement that promotes the common good, nothing is understood without teamwork.
The powerful movement was started by the authorities of the 48 cantons of Totonicapán. The indigenous organization with a long history of peaceful resistance, which represents around 140,000 people — mainly the K’iché Mayan people of western Guatemala — began on October 2. Its first acts were the seizure of town squares and setting up a road blockade and they were quickly joined by other communities in the country, inhabited by other Mayan peoples — such as the Ixil, the Kaqchikel, and the Mam — as well as the Xinka people.
Although all the assemblies’ decisions are made by consensus, Luis Pacheco — president of the 48 Cantons of Totonicapán in 2023 — became the most recognized leader of these protests last year. As he explains, what moved his community to begin the strike were the “attacks” they saw on the part of the Public Ministry to undermine the results of elections that had been duly audited.