* Manuel Alcantara

Carlos Pineda, until recently Guatemala’s most popular presidential candidate, expressed surprise that the party he was running for, Prosperidad Ciudadana, withdrew his support in his appeal before the Constitutional Court. Not hiding his frustration that he was left out of the June 25 election due to a court ruling, he assured that he did not know “what the party is playing for”. The presidential candidate claims that he has always said that he is not a member of the party and that he does not understand the behavior of its members.

Latin America and order

The relationship between the leadership and the parties is an old political issue that is exacerbated in presidential regimes. Direct presidential elections conducted by citizens obscure the mediating role played by parties in parliamentary regimes, which, however, remains strong in other situations. The parties that make up Congress play an important role in the legislative process, in appointments to senior positions, and in government control tasks. There is, therefore, a game in different areas which, in the case of the frustrated candidate Pineda, causes confusion because he realizes that the scenario is not unfolding as they would like.

The current political arena in a large number of Latin American countries represents a game model in which the top leadership, assumed by the presidential figure, imposes itself indefinitely against party restrictions. The presidential will weighs on all the supposed whims of the group and does not understand that there are rules or strategies that can limit it. However, articulated play has a certain complexity and today establishes three models that carry different implications.

Phraseology

The first follows the pattern in place in Mexico and El Salvador, where their presidents, Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Nayib Bukele, who currently have the most popularity in the region, vertically govern their self-created parties. As the prestigious media point out Lighthouse, the Salvadoran party Nuevas Ideas is “a brand, a creation, to be admired and revered in itself.” It represents an insider’s manifestation that has Bukele as “the pinnacle, supported by absolute and fiduciary loyalty, where negligence qualifies as impiety.” Every day, more than a hundred videos are produced on YouTube that promote and strengthen the image of the president and attack and break down all obstacles, and it has a high rate of effectiveness based on viewership and views. This assessment is useful for López Obrador, who, in addition, since he cannot be re-elected, is preparing in the coming months to control his succession within his formation, Moreno, whose function is similar to that of Nuevas Ideas.

The Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela follow a similar path, although the democratic effect is not present in the latter two. The Modern Revolutionary Party, the Movement of Free Socialism, the Sandinista National Liberation Front and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela are instruments of the political activity of Luis Abinader, Luis Arce, even with serious problems with internal control; a couple consisting of Xiomara Castro and Mel Zelaya; Daniel Ortega and Nicolas Maduro. All of them were at the time of founding the party, which today is the primary instrument of exercising their power.

Another paints a scenario in which the president manages to articulate a coalition based on his meager party with uncertain success depending on the issues that must be resolved. This is the case of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay. In them, the fundamental variable is related to the maturity and consolidation of the party system in order to maintain a minimum stability in terms of managing the system. Uruguay stands out for its great institutionalism, which, however, does not prevent the existence of certain tensions. Paraguay is an exception due to the longevity of the ruling and overwhelming Colorado party.

Colombia is an interesting case where the unstable balance is being upset, as the Partido de la U with 11 senators and 15 deputies decided to officially leave the legislative coalition of Gustavo Petro’s government and declare itself independent. This decision comes shortly after the Conservative Party, with 15 senators and 25 MPs, did the same and distanced itself from the broad coalition Petro built during the first months of his term that allowed him to approve the reform tax and, among other things, the law complete peace.

The third model is defined by the presidents of Costa Rica, Ecuador and Peru, who have neither achieved their own political capital nor have a party with significant strength in Congress. While the latter two suffered very serious crises, leading to the calling of elections, with the open scenario of the interim presidency of Guillermo Lasso and the replacement of President Pedro Castillo by Vice President Dino Boluarte, in Costa Rica the Rodrigo Chaves government is languishing with the support of only the so far solid nature of the Costa Rican political system.

These are models that show the heterogeneity of politics in the region around a painstaking game whose nature, compared to aspects of the institutional nature, enthrone individual moods in which narcissism and incompetence play a large role. Politics is focused almost exclusively on the actions of certain people, who have an unbridled desire for power and omit the routinized behaviors that make up institutions. So, It should not be strange that those who hold power or are close to it, participate in a different game than the rest: theirs.. (OR)

* Manuel Alcántara is professor emeritus at the University of Salamanca and UPB (Medellín). The most recently published books (2020): “El oficio de politico” (2nd edition, Tecnos, Madrid) and the one published in co-publishing with Porfirio Cardona-Restrepa: “Dilemmas of democratic representation” (Tirant lo Blanch, Colombia).