New president, new hope? Guatemalans’ commitment to democracy on display.

Thousands of Guatemalans filled the capital’s central plaza on Sunday to watch the inauguration of President Bernardo Arévalo on giant screens and to celebrate a democratic milestone.

Inauguration weekends don’t typically garner this much attention, but this election – and its aftermath – was far from typical, mobilizing citizens to defend their democracy.

The live viewing party for the anti-corruption politician was meant to start at 2 p.m. Sunday, but it wasn’t until just after midnight that Mr. Arévalo was finally permitted to take the oath of office. It was a tense, perhaps fitting, end to months of political crisis and attempts by Guatemala’s political and economic elite to hold on to power.

Guatemala has been on a democratic roller coaster since August, with multiple legal maneuvers by the public prosecutor’s office and Congress to keep Mr. Arévalo and his Movimiento Semilla (“Seed Movement”) party out of office. On Sunday, the ruling party and allies of outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei attempted a final effort to prevent the transfer of power, with the outgoing Congress delaying the swearing-in of the new body of legislators, who are legally charged with inaugurating the nation’s new president.

Despite the stress and concern that has overwhelmed many citizens and activists, this period of uncertainty has also served as an opportunity: More Guatemalans are engaging with their political system and getting involved in the fight to preserve democracy.

“People saw that the coup attempt was real and that there was a real risk that democracy would be taken away from us,” says Gustavo Marroquín, a history professor at Rafael Landívar University. He’s encouraged by what he sees as more Guatemalans interested in, participating in, understanding, and speaking out about the country’s politics.

“Many demands”

As inauguration day dragged on, people like Eduardo Mansilla, an industrial psychologist in his 20s, gravitated toward the capital’s central plaza.

He’d started over lunch with friends at home, following along on television with what they expected to be an afternoon inauguration. Instead, the Semilla party deputies were fighting to convince members of Congress to give them the votes necessary to preside over the chamber’s leadership committee. It was the first of many battles of the day.

A short time later, incoming Semilla members of Congress denounced an attempt by outgoing members to delay – or prevent – the presidential inauguration. For more than 10 hours, Semilla dodged political maneuvers they categorized as attempted “coups.”

By 9 p.m., Mr. Mansilla decided he needed to get to the central plaza. “We didn’t know what was going to happen; there was a lot of anguish,” he says.

Finally, around midnight, the path was cleared for Mr. Arévalo and his Vice President Karin Herrera to assume power.

Mr. Mansilla screamed and cried in the plaza, alongside thousands of equally emotional compatriots.

Jennifer de la Cruz was full of excitement, too. The young law student had never followed politics before Mr. Arévalo’s candidacy. But his anti-corruption platform motivated her to learn more about Guatemala’s political situation – and educate her peers. “I’d always found out what was happening from my grandfather and my father,” she says, today host to some 25,000 followers on TikTok where she has spent the past year creating content about Guatemalan politics.

“We can leave a mark with our participation; our voices must be taken into account. We have many demands,” she says of Guatemalan youth.

The party for a political awakening?

When Mr. Arévalo entered the presidential race last year, he was not considered a favorite to win. His campaign wasn’t well financed, and his platform focused on the fight against corruption, a stance many Guatemalans have become disillusioned with over the past decade.

But when he scored a surprise second-place finish in the first-round vote, his calls for eradicating corruption raised alarms among Guatemalan elite, long accustomed to playing by their own rules. He faced attempts by the public ministry and the ruling party in Congress to annul the results, alleging fraud. And then he won the runoff.

Thousands of Guatemalans came out in support of his victory – and their vote – blocking main roads nationwide. Indigenous groups settled in front of the attorney general’s office for 106 days straight.

Movimiento Semilla’s victory “was a political earthquake for the dominant and corrupt elites,” says Marco Fonseca, professor of International Studies at the University of York, in Toronto. He describes the reaction to Mr. Arévalo’s win as “aggressive.”

“It is a political miracle that we have reached this point with so many attempts to stop the government transition,” Dr. Fonseca says. “People, especially young people, acquired unprecedented political awareness.”

The political awakening is fitting: Movimiento Semilla was born of public protest.

In 2015, the president and vice president were forced to resign after a series of massive, peaceful protests that were sparked by a government kickback scheme. They were sent to prison, while citizens made global headlines for removing their government without a drop of blood spilled or bullet fired.

Movimiento Semilla first emerged as a group analyzing politics and inequality and later became a political party.

“These elections reactivated” public unity and desire for a transparent democracy that first emerged almost a decade ago, says Dr. Fonseca.

“It was like watching the final of a soccer game, where there are the good guys and the bad guys,” says Javier Nuñez, part of Proyecto Poporopo, a restaurant and cultural center that organized an inauguration watch party over the weekend. After months of anguish, the swearing-in came as a rush of relief.

In his inauguration speech, President Arévalo thanked his supporters for their “strength to resist” and dedication to changing “the political panorama in Guatemala.”

But Dr. Marroquín, the historian, warns that the political awakening is a “double-edged sword.”

“People who now feel hope may become [disillusioned] if Semilla is unable to take quick action,” he says. Semilla doesn’t hold a majority in Congress and will have to navigate political agreements with opposition lawmakers.

“The coup plotters aren’t going to stop,” says Dr. Marroquín. “But, now the government will have legal measures to protect itself and not simply be on the defensive.”

Editor's note: The article has been updated to correct the spelling of Eduardo Mansilla's surname.