[MichaelGG]

Is there any reason to think Zuri is particularly worse than the other mediocre candidates Guatemala fields every election? Well apart from being affiliated with a Christian political group, which are usually pretty clued out (not judging religious groups overall, just saying the ones in Guatemala are pretty moronic - a funny point, they hate Catholics so much, they tend to downplay anything Catholics do, including Easter... which IIRC, is sort of a cornerstone of the faith.)

More concerning was that Rios Montt was nearly re-elected no so long ago. What was surprising was that they didn't pull any stunts, despite having bussed in lots of people to downtown to protest. I had an indigenous maid once and she fully supported him because she recalled that when Rios Montt ran things, the place was safe. Probably because the police could just carry out summary justice. Good, I suppose, if you're an old lady not wanting to get mugged, but not so great if someone falsely accuses you.

It feels very unlikely that Guatemala will pull itself together without a strong outside force. The current president's motions about legalizing drugs would be a good step, but is probably just posturing to get more USAID or whatnot. Foreign forces probably do more harm than good, as they love to give money or material, which gets quickly misused. Guatemala would be far better off having e.g. foreign police officers than getting 2000 new pickups for the current police.