More on Sandra Torres de Colom

I did some more research on the first lady and her controversial candidacy.

It is positively unconstitutional for her to run, but the Guatemalan constitutional court will weigh article 186 versus another clause, that guarantees the right of all to participate in elections, and decide. In 2003, the court overturned a constitutional ban that prevented individuals who had come to power from a coup from becoming president. This clause was directed to Efrain Rios Montt, the ruthless dictator that governed Guatemala from 1982 to 1984 and orchestrated some of the worst massacres and human rights abuses during the 36 year civil war, and he ran in the 2003 presidential elections regardless. So it's not unheard of for the court to make decisions that are against the constitution's intents, and the Coloms don't think it'll be a problem. The court is definitely imbued with corruption anyway, so it's almost expected that they rule in favor of Torres' candidacy. Some have speculated that Torres and Colom would get a divorce before the elections if the court were to rule her candidacy as unconstitutional, but the President has denied those allegations.

Torres' current ratings are 11% but will probably go up a bit now that she's officially announced her candidacy. She is now the eighth person to announce her intention to run for president and she is a likely front-runner along with Otto Perez Molina, who is currently at 43% in the polls.

Torres is running as the head of the UNE (Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza - National Unity for Hope) - GANA ticket. The UNE was founded in 2002 and identifies itself as a social democratic and social-Christian party. They currently hold 48 of the 158 seats in Congress. UNE and Colom in 2007 ran on the image of being a different, pro-people government that identifies with the cause of the rebel party (URNG) that fought against the government during the 36 year war. They are supposedly center-left and promised to bring alot more social programs, namely in health and education, and strengthen security by investing more on the National Civil Police and combatting narco-trafficking and organized crime. They also promoted free trade and foreign investment as their favored economic policy with the objective to create at least 2 million jobs.

Needless to say, the UNE and Colom did not achieve their promises in terms of job creation or security enforcement. Many people accuse Colom of corruption and of being involved with narcotraficantes. Colom's government has not been pro-people as human and land rights have been disregarded to the benefit of mining companies and other megaprojects extremely hurtful to the environment and to public health. The UN and Interamerican Human Rights Court had to intervene and basically force Colom to suspend the notoriously controversial Marlin mining project. Impunity has increased as crimes done by federal officials and police have been dismissed by the corrupt justice system, and gang presence and violence has also remained high.

As first lady, Sandra Torres was in charge of the creation, implementation, and strengthening of social programs. She works as the head of the Secretariat of Social Work of the President's Spouse (SOSEP). Within UNE she created and headed the National Coordinator of Women, to which 30, 000 Guatemalan women are currently affiliated. She also created a bunch of social-work and social-politics programs catering mostly to women, children, youth, communities, and poor families, which were her responsibilities as first lady. I'm not sure how effective she's been; one of her main programs, Mi Familia Progresa (monetary assistance to families) has reached 300 communities, and gender disparities are still enormous but slowly changing for the better. But the situation of the Guatemalan people has not been drastically altered or improved, considering Guatemala remains 116th out of 169 countries in development level. Guatemalans that I have spoken to haven't felt any difference, not to mention improvement, as economic times are dim and violence is on the rise.

One can understand why people are skeptical of Torres and the program she pretends she'll provide as president, and her disregard for the constitution isn't helping her in public opinion. However, she is a woman and has focused much of her recent political career on women's development, so I would be optimistic that she would continue on that path and improve the deplorable situation of women here. But some women here are so machista in the way they were brought up that it cannot be assured that Torres would easily obtain women's votes...