Thelma Cabrera, indigenous transgressor to change Guatemala

EL ASINTAL, Guatemala (AP) — Thelma Cabrera’s hands are wrinkled and rough, signs of her work in the fields, of washing on stones in a river, of sowing with her hands the small garden of her house. The indigenous peasant leader is 52 and wants to be president of Guatemala in the June 25 elections.

But he faces an uphill battle, after the electoral authority refused to register his candidacy and he lost, in the absence of a final ruling from the Supreme Court, all the appeals filed before the courts. ordinary to reverse this situation.

His candidacy remains irrelevant and on March 25 the registration period for candidates who will run for the presidency of a country whose government has been singled out by human rights groups and by countries like the United States to undermine the fight against corruption and weaken democracy.

The representative of the Movement for the Liberation of Peoples (MLP) affirms that her party promotes the reformulation of the State towards a new plurinational State, where all indigenous peoples have a place.

“We seek the transformation of the country in the face of all the injustices that we suffer,” he says.

The MLP was founded by indigenous and peasant leaders from the Peasant Development Committee (CODECA), an organization that defends the rights to land, access to electricity and against the privatization of basic services.

The group has drawn anger and fear from the country’s most conservative business sector, which accuses it of stealing electricity and calls it radical left. Cabrera affirms that the peasants do not intend to stop paying for their energy consumption, but they will also not pay charges that they consider abusive, such as having to pay for public lighting where it does not there is no electric pole.

“We are neither thieves, nor terrorists, nor communists”, cuts the critics. “They are afraid of us, they are afraid of the Nation project. We are not going to take anything away from anyone here, what we want is for us all to assume the responsibility that corresponds to us, “he defends himself.

Since 2019, at least 26 members of the group have been murdered, in none of the cases has anyone been convicted, denounces Cabrera.

MPs allied with conservative sectors are seeking to reform a law to toughen penalties for thieves of electricity resources, a proposal apparently directed against CODECA members whom they accuse of these practices. So far, the prosecution has not been able to prove the energy theft charges and no sentence has been set for these charges, Cabrera said.

The “glamor and luxury” with which Guatemalan politicians usually live in the Central American country, surrounded by security and advisers, has nothing to do with Cabrera, who spoke to reporters from The Associated Press, alone, in her simple tin-roofed house in the scorching heat of the municipality of El Asintal, in the department of Retalhuleu, on the south coast of Guatemala.

The presidential candidate stopped giving interviews a few months ago due to bans from the electoral tribunal, which twice accused her of campaigning early for participating in public events. Other parties and candidates also carried out public activities, but were not sanctioned.

As a political figure, she has been constantly disqualified by her opponents and supporters with racist and classist terms for her status as a woman, poor and indigenous, claiming that she does not have the skills to lead the country. She replies that she has only reached the sixth grade: “Enough for an indigenous woman in a community in Guatemala”.

The Guatemalan constitution establishes as the only conditions to run for the presidency to be a Guatemalan of origin, a citizen in full exercise and aged over 40 years.

The MLP candidate for the electoral race, however, questions the fact that traditional politicians with university degrees receive training, for example, in ethics, “but they plunder the state and do not respect the lives of others “.

For Cabrera, the needs of the poorest did not need to be told, he saw them daily in his community. Lacking access to health services, for example, he opts for traditional medicine based on the plants he grows.

He tries to balance his life between taking care of his home, his family, exercising for his health and his political activism. Not reaching the presidency does not take away his sleep, although he feels it is unfair that they hinder his participation.

The Registry of Citizens of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal refused the participation of its vice-presidential candidate, Jordán Rodas, arguing that he did not have a document certifying that he had no outstanding accounts with the State. By disqualifying Rodas, she was automatically eliminated. And, although they appealed the decision, they are still not in the running.

“The political system is corrupt,” concludes the peasant leader who calls for power and power as a “boss”. It is based on the principle that in order to make changes you must participate democratically. “Asking the boss to do something for us is wrong. happen”, he comments in a resigned tone. “The system is designed by the corrupt and the corrupters themselves; they are loose, but they tie up those of us who are clean,” he points out.

It points to the future: if there is no presidential candidacy today, but there are for deputies and mayors, changes can also be made. “We are going to participate in this trench,” he accepts.

On June 25, Guatemalans are called to the polls to elect a new president, a vice-president, deputies to Congress, municipal mayors and deputies to the Central American Parliament.

For Cabrera, everything that the electoral system does by prohibiting his participation and that of others and by allowing the registration of people who are the subject of criminal proceedings opened for corruption, drug trafficking or money laundering is a fraud sign.