OPINION: Buying votes and consciences

Democracy in Guatemala hangs by a thread. One of the main candidates for the Presidency of that country –with a harsh anti-corruption discourse– has been virtually thrown out of the electoral contest –although later reinstated by the Constitutional Court–, after a prosecutor, who in turn is an ally of the outgoing president of that country and is included in the Engel list of corrupt officials in the United States, stripped the opposition candidate’s party of legal status.

A clumsy move, not only because of its poor execution but also because of the character who ended it. This action was considered a virtual coup.

Panama needs to see itself in that mirror. The tools in Guatemala have the subtlety of an overthrow in advance, while in Panama, the contest is threatened by actions that are not very delicate, considering that the Government has directly or indirectly intervened in the internal elections of its own party, and hopefully it will not do so in the general elections. No one can deny that for years some trap has been planned and carried out, providing state economic resources so that politicians seeking re-election can buy votes and consciences.  LA PRENSA, Jul. 15.