Bernardo Arévalo’s experience in peacebuilding and diplomacy eminently qualify him to lead Guatemala as the conflict-riven country’s next president, those who know him say.
Bernardo Arvalo, presidential candidate with Seed Movement party, speaks during his closing campaign rally at Constitution square in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Arevalo faces rival and former first lady Sandra Torres of the UNE party in the Aug. 20 runoff election. – Bernardo Arévalo's experience in peacebuilding and diplomacy eminently qualify him to lead Guatemala as the conflict-riven country's next president, those who know him say.
He came to Guatemala as a teenager before leaving again to continue his studies overseas. Then Arévalo did what few Guatemalan children of privilege do these days, he went back. The country suffers a continuous brain drain, not only from hundreds of thousands of migrants travelling illegally to the U.S. in recent years, but also among the best-educated, who study abroad and never return.
Torres tried to make Arévalo’s time spent outside Guatemala a liability. In their only debate, she repeatedly called him the “Uruguayan lawmaker.” “And now I feel it’s time for me to give back, to go back to my roots, to give back to my country,” Lariviere recalled from their conversation. He moved home into his father's old house, just blocks from the president's offices.
Several weeks before the runoff, Arévalo was the star of Guatemala’s book fair. Copies of what had been his doctoral thesis published as a book – “Violent State and Political Army: State Formation and Military Function in Guatemala ” -- sold out and he spent nearly six hours signing autographs.
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