Jimmy Morales rode a wave of popular awakening and anger to the presidency. Since coming to power, he’s relied on a dubious group of advisors and the same corrupt tactics of his predecessors.
Despite legal setbacks in Peru and El Salvador and retrograde rhetoric from the newly-elected President of Guatemala and the Catholic cardinal of the Dominican Republic, overall LGBT civil, human and political rights continued to make gains across the region.
On the campaign trail, Jimmy Morales skillfully avoided any details about his platform or policy plans. That vagueness has left a lot of questions about what President Morales will do in office: chief among them is whether he will continue the prosecutions against the military for human rights abuses.
The Guatemalan electorate has spoken, electing the political neophyte, Jimmy Morales, with no clear policy platform and a group of retired military officers with shady ties to the past behind him. The good news is Guatemalan civil society is mobilized and ready.
As former President Pérez Molina sits in jail, former comedian Jimmy Morales is the front-runner in the campaign for President of Guatemala. The Morales campaign was not central to the anti-corruption marches that brought down Pérez Molina, but he has become the politician most associated with the protest movement and the end of Pérez Molina. Is Morales the real face of the “Guatemalan Spring” or just the accidental beneficiary of the protests?
