Youth = Good ?

An oddly familiar billboard graces main highway leading into Guatemala City from San Lucas. A man named Otto Pérez in a brilliant orange shirt with a severe, piercing stare - the spitting image of the ex-general- looks down on passing cars. Following in his father's footsteps, Otto Pérez Leal joins in the low-risk, low-consequence practice of premature campaigning, demonstrating how the next generation of a network of corrupt politicians cannot be trusted to deviate from their parents' practice of impunity. In accordance with current enforcement of TSE (Supreme Electoral Tribunal) campaign regulation, it is possible that Pérez Leal will face a $100 fine, imposed several years from now.

Pérez Leal's presidential campaign leads me to question the promise of the youth movement in Guatemala. Youth social media campaigns, new transparency-focused organizations, voices and internationally funded youth movements inspire hope that those born after the worst years of "la violencia" will be unafraid to speak out boldly against impunity and lead the charge for legitimate democracy in Guatemala. Unfortunately for the hopeful, the youth voice in Guatemala appears to be dominated by the same forces that have operated a network of impunity for years, as evidenced by the presence of Guatemalan politics on Facebook. Otto Pérez Molina has 13,833 fans, where as the CICIG - the UN justice and security commission which the ex-general claims is unconstitutional - has a mere 3,905 (of which I am one).

A society's youth is not a neutral, benevolent subgroup. The political activity of the new generation is tarnished by the political traditions of the former. The youth voice in Guatemala that is likely invested in perpetuating the practice of impunity is better funded and more active on the internet. To a large degree, the children of the powerful control the characterization of public opinion on social media sites and the internet. Born in cyberspace, public opinion then gets fed back into small villages and town by print news journalists that depend on the internet for statistics, quotes and information for their stories. Individual voters, without access to a wide variety of critical viewpoints, are strongly influenced by these characterizations and act accordingly.

Proponents of Guatemala's social development must regrettably ask the same questions of youth leaders as they do of adult politicians. What are their baseline financial and social resources? Is there an opportunity to reap personal advantage from a political position? How have they behaved politically/socially/economically that might give us a clue as to what kind of political figure they could be?