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Guatemala: empowerment as ongoing process
09/05/2007 By Paula San Pedro
Led by the North, supported by the Guatemalan government and rejected by society: thus are the various processes of regional integration that the central American government is immersed in.
Processes such as the Free Trade Agreement with the United Status and the Association Agreement with the EU. While some see potential economic benefits, others criticise the potential social costs, in addition to the unequal position at the negotiating table.
To this can be added the scant or non-existent citizen participation in the decision-making or debates that orient various aspects of this integration.
In terms of empowerment, these negotiations and their implementation have a duplicated impact: on the one hand, there is the misery that they leave behind and, on the other, the incoherence of the donors’ doubled-edged sword, which offers aid to promote freedom among beneficiaries, while, at the same time, limiting it by imposing conditions (such as trade agreements) that society does not desire.
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Keywords
Development Guatemala Latin America & Caribbean Post conflictBio author: Paula San Pedro
BA in Economic Science by the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid and MA in Cooperation and Project Management by the Ortega and Gasset Foundation. She is currently doing her PhD in International Economy at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid.
