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Is Guatemalan Democracy Under Attack?

By Brendan O'Boyle

The president’s move against a corruption fighter risks throwing the country into a constitutional crisis.

The urgent WhatsApp message went out Tuesday afternoon to members of #JusticiaYa, the group of students and activists that formed in 2015 to protest corruption in Guatemalan politics. 

“Jimmy Morales wants to follow in the footsteps of Daniel Ortega,” read the first line.

It was an alarming comparison. Whereas Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega had gradually chipped away at democracy before the country erupted into violence this year, Guatemala has been an ...

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