Guatemala: Targeting of National Advancement Party (PAN) members who desert, and their extended families (Sept. 1998-May 2000)

No reports of specific targeting of members of the National Advancement Party (PAN) who deserted the party, or of their extended families as a result of their relatives' desertion, could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

The only reference to intra-party reprisals, actual or feared, found among the sources consulted is in an article on the party leadership election that followed the PAN defeat in the 26 December 1999 second round of presidential elections. A report from the daily Prensa Libre states that, for the first time in its history, PAN elected a secretary-general through secret voting by its capital and national delegates. The article states that the 104 PAN municipal delegates present (out of a national total of 160) at the party assembly held on 29 December 1999 requested that the voting be secret "for fear of reprisals" (por miedo a represalias) (ibid.). The request was opposed by the followers of then President Alvaro Arzú, but both their opposition to the request and their leadership candidate were defeated in the assembly (ibid.). The report does not specify what kind of reprisals the municipal delegates feared might have resulted from an open vote.

An earlier Prensa Libre report states that at the time of this assembly, PAN had 160 delegates from 80 municipalities in 15 departments where the party has a "legal organization" (organización legal) (ibid. 27 Dec. 1999). A year earlier, PAN was reported to have a national membership of 27,389 (Central America Report 8 Jan. 1999).

Various reports leading to the November 1999 general elections and the subsequent second round of the presidential election refer to the PAN decline in following. For example, a 12 November 1999 Central America Report states:

Many in the business community, unhappy with the PAN government's economic policies, especially those implemented during the election year, such as the massive sell-off of cash reserves to save the quetzal, have abandoned the party in favor of Portillo. Another factor is that, while many business leaders are PAN supporters at heart, they also want to have the ruling party on their side and may have changed allegiances when it became clear that the FRG was likely to win.

PAN has also provoked a backlash in some instances, blaming, for example, the decline of the quetzal in part on the behavior of the financial sector.This brought a response in the days following the elections from the Guatemalan Bankers Association, which took out a paid ad denying that speculation by some banks in foreign stock markets was causing the depreciation of the currency (CAR 12 Nov. 1999).

However, the largest reported defection of members took place in June 1999. According to another CAR report:

Infighting in some of the parties is receiving a lot of press coverage. At a PAN convention in Quetzaltenango, more than 200 local leaders and almost 3,000 members left the party, citing intolerance and exclusionary tactics practiced by the organization's hierarchy.

Several congressmen have also quit the party, after PAN leaders refused to back them for re-election. As a result, the official party temporarily lost its majority in congress (ibid. 25 June 1999).

Prensa Libre reported on 22 June 1999 that local PAN leaders, including Deputy Juan Daniel Díaz and "hundreds of sympathizers of the ruling party," had decided to abandon PAN and join the Democratic Reconciliation Action Party (ARDE). The report adds that PAN defectors were joined by members of the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) and members of the Quetzaltenango Change 2000 Civic Committee (Comité Cívico Cambio 2000) (Prensa Libre 22 June 1999).

The most recent coverage on PAN infighting concerns corruption in the previous government administration. According to CAR, the current administration has begun investigating transactions of the National Peace Fund (FONAPAZ) involving relatives of former president Arzú, and "some members of PAN have been pushing to have Godoy [currently a Guatemala City councilman and second-cousin of Arzú], Rayo [former Presidential Secretary] and others involved in the FONAPAZ scandal expelled from the party" (3 Mar. 2000). The report does not state whether any party members defected because of what it describes as "internal strife" of the PAN (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Central America Report [Guatemala City]. 3 March 2000. "PAN Attempts to Purge Ranks." [Accessed 15 June 2000]

_____. 12 November 1999. "FRG Comes Close But Fails to Win in First Round." [Accessed 15 June 2000]

_____. 25 June 1999. "Campaign Begins Amid Voter Apathy." [Accessed 15 June 2000]

_____. 8 January 1999. "Membership of Guatemalan Political Parties." [Accessed 15 June 2000]

Prensa Libre [Guatemala City]. 30 December 1999. Myriam Larra. "Asamblea: Panistas eligieron ayer a sus nuevas autoridades." [Accessed 15 June 2000]

_____. 27 December 1999. "El PAN no cambia su línea." [Accessed 15 June 2000]

_____. 22 June 1999. Lucy Barrios. "Políticos del PAN y el FRG se incorporan al partido de Francisco Bianchi." [Accessed 15 June 2000]

Additional Sources Consulted

Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.]. 1998-Feb. 2000.

IRB Databases.

Latin American Regional Reports: Central America & the Caribbean [London]. 1998-Apr. 2000.

News From Human Rights Watch [New York]. 1998-Mar. 2000.

Internet websites, including:

Guatemala News Watch [Guatemala City]. January 1999-May 2000.

Human Rights Watch.

Oficina de Derechos Humanos del Arzobispado (ODHA).

Internet search engines, including: