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Since the beginning of October, Guatemalans have been blocking roads across the country and taking to the streets. Later in October, many camped outside the public prosecutors office in Guatemala City. Protesters called for the resignation of officials who were attempting to undermine the recent election and win of Bernardo Arvalo, the centrist anti-corruption candidate from Guatemalas Seed Movement party, against former first lady Sandra Torres, who is considered part of the long-standing political establishment.

Bernardo Arevalos victory is seen as a repudiation of the political elite in the Central American nation, long the target of corruption allegations, reported the BBC.

That Arvalo was able to run at all, much less win with a party that has not received much support since it was founded in 2017, could be seen as a stroke of luck, maybe good timing. Another explanation is that the doggedness of years of grassroots organizing and building support beyond the major cities has paid off, according to Foreign Policy.

Its not just that [Seed] got lucky, wrote Melndez Snchez in a tweet that was mentioned in Foreign Policy. In a sense, the party made its own luck by working diligently and patiently for years, building an organization based on democratic principles when NO ONE not even themselvesthought they stood a chance.

The post-election drama continues to play out as the transition period for the new president draws closer to January. As one of the estimated 1.8 million Guatemalans living in the United States as of 2021, according to a Pew Research Center analysis, I was baffled and skeptical, not so much by the slow-rolling coup that I was reading aboutthis was more or less predictable because of the countrys decades of armed conflict and corruption. I was in disbelief about how the Semilla Movement gained so much support.

As I read more about the mobilization of indigenous and civic pro-democracy groups all over the country, I started to feel something I had not felt in a long time: faith. Its a feeling or belief that democracy could be real and not just a set of mechanical processes manipulated and optimized like any machine for human convenience and gain. Its not something I expected to feel when musing on the current political demise of my home country.

When I left Guatemala in 1982 at the age of 5, I joined the immigration tide of thousands of people fleeing Guatemalas civil war, poverty, gangs and corruption to enter the United States illegally. For many of us who grew up here, Guatemala was a country so mired in its history of dictatorships and decades of civil war that the idea that any kind of democracy could emerge and flourish therethe place we had thrown ourselves to the mercy of the desert to fleewas beyond anything we could imagine.

But many stayed behind and are perhaps teaching one of the broader lessons that can be drawn from the Seed Movements resounding victory: that in a country with a fragile and eroding democracy, belief coupled with working diligently on democratic principles can lead to change.

Its a faith I also bring to our reporting work at Carolina Public Press, that if we continue to work diligently and patiently for years, we will continue to support the larger work of democracy in our communities, in our state and beyond.

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The opinions and perspectives expressed in NC Talks columns are those of the authors. Submissions have been edited for length and clarity. They do not purport to reflect the views of Carolina Public Press, its staff, board of directors or contributors. To contribute an editorial or opinion piece, please email nctalks@carolinapublicpress.org with a brief summary of the topic, your full name and location. Have a question about this story? Do you see something we missed? If you find an error or have a response, please let us know at nctalks@carolinapublicpress.org.

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NC Talks: The veil of democracy and faith in the thing itself - Carolina Public Press