I'm Marissa Wong, intern at Lawfare, with an episode from the Lawfare

for June 7, 2006.

On May 28, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo agreed to carry out joint strikes with the U.S.

military to target drug trafficking groups in Guatemala, with operations to start as early as next

month.

The deal is part of the Trump administration's broader effort to press Latin American countries

to allow joint operations inside their territories

to target cartels and organized crime across the Western Hemisphere.

For today's archive, I chose an episode from February 12, 2024, in which Quinta Durecic

sat down with Vaklav Masek to discuss President Arrivalo's election and rise to power

and what his election may mean for the Latin American region and U.S. Guatemala relations.

I'm Quinta Dresik, a senior editor at Lawfare, and this is the Lawfare podcast.

On January 15th, Bernardo Arevolo took office as the new president of Guatemala.

The transfer of power had been far from assured. After Arevalo triumphed in August

elections as an anti-corruption reformer, Guatemala's political elite did their best to throw

legal obstacles in his way and prevent him from taking power. His presidency represents a stunning

victory for Guatemalan democracy, which has long been under threat.

But there are plenty of difficulties still ahead.

To catch up on what's been happening in Guatemala, I spoke with Vaclav Masak, a Guatemalan sociologist

and columnist. We discussed how Arevolo triumphed, the significance of his victory for Guatemala

and the region, and what all this might tell

us about the ability of democracies to resist authoritarian backsliding around the world.

...