Encuentro por Guatemala

Political party in Guatemala

Politics of Guatemala
Political parties
Elections

Encuentro por Guatemala ("EG")– a Spanish name variously translated as "Encounter for Guatemala" (for example, by the BBC^[12] and CNN^[13]), or as "Together for Guatemala" (Reuters^[14]) – was a Guatemalan political party; encuentro may also translate as "gathering", "meeting", or "union".

Its logo is a red circle with four green dots on its circumference, representing the coming together of the four peoples that make up the Guatemalan nationality: Mayas, Garifunas, Xincas and Ladinos.

History

Foundation and early splits

The party was founded in 2007, in the run-up to that year's 9 September general election. Its presidential candidate was Rigoberta Menchú, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning indigenous activist, running on a ticket with businessman Luis Fernando Montenegro as her vice-presidential hopeful. They secured 3.09% of the popular vote.

In the Congressional election held on the same day, the party fared somewhat better, receiving 6.17% of the popular vote, which was enough to secure them four national-list deputies in Congress for the 2008–12 legislative period: Armando Sánchez Gómez, Rodolfo Aníbal García, Nineth Montenegro and Otilia Lux. Subsequently, only Nineth Montenegro has remained with the party; the other three deputies have left Encounter for Guatemala to operate as independents. Rodolfo Aníbal García has since formed a new political party, the New Republic Movement (Movimiento Nueva República (MNR)). Rigoberta Menchú has gone on to form the Winaq political party. Both MNR and Winaq participated in the 2011 elections as part of the Broad Leftist Front (Frente Amplio de Izquierda).

Shift to the right

For the 2011 elections, Encuentro formed a political alliance with center-right ViVa, another political party; its presidential and vice-presidential candidates were Harold Caballeros and Efraín Medina, with party leader Nineth Montenegro leading the list of legislative candidates. The alliance between the two parties eventually broke up and the party ran on its own again in 2015, receiving 6.35% of the national vote for the legislature, while its presidential ticket with José Ángel López and Peter Lamport fared significantly worse garnering only 0.91% of the vote.

Electoral decline and closure

In the 2019 election, the party chose Manfredo Marroquín as its presidential candidate. He came in fourteenth place with 1.15% of the vote. In the Legislative Election, the party won 1.79% of the vote and no seats in Congress. Having failed to secure the minimum of 5% of the popular vote or one seat in Congress, Encuentro por Guatemala forfeited its registration as a party.

Election results

Presidential elections

Election	Candidates		First round		Second round		Status
Election	President	Vice President	Votes	%	Votes	%	Status
2007^[a]	Rigoberta Menchú	Luis Fernando Montenegro	100,365	3.06 (#7)	-	-	Lost
2011^[b]	Harold Caballeros	Efraín Medina	277,365	6.23 (#5)	-	-	Lost
2015	José Ángel López	Peter Lamport	43,916	0.91 (#12)	-	-	Lost
2019	Manfredo Marroquín	Oscar Adolfo Morales	50,594	1.16 (#14)	-	-	Lost

^ Run in coalition with Winaq.
^ Run in coalition with ViVa.

Legislative elections

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Status
2007^[a]	194,809	6.18 (#5)	4 / 158	New	Opposition
2011^[b]	345,709	7.88 (#6)	6 / 158	2	Opposition
2015	289,646	6.35 (#6)	7 / 158	1	Opposition
2019	71,668	1.78 (#20)	0 / 160	7	Extra-parliamentary

^ Run in coalition with Winaq.
^ Run in coalition with ViVa.

References

^ "TSE publica cancelación de seis partidos políticos". Prensa Libre.
^ Manuel Hernández Mayén (29 April 2019). "Estos son los "dueños" o "caciques" de los partidos políticos inscritos en el TSE". Prensa Libre.
^ ^a ^b Casalprim, Eva (July 2015). "Guatemala: Political parties" (PDF). European Parliament. European Parliamentary Research Service. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
^ "¿Mejoró la izquierda o el voto contra el «establishment» o qué?". Plaza Pública. 3 July 2019.
^ "Una campaña sucia de sangre". Página 12. 2007-08-20.
^ Maren Christensen Bjune (2016). "Religious change and political continuity" (PDF). University of Bergen. p. 163. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
^ Mike Leffert (22 February 2007). "Presidential Run For Rioberta Menchu Would Alter The Political Equation In Guatamala". University of New Mexico. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
^ "Guatemala: asesinan a dos activistas políticos". La Prensa (in Spanish). 28 May 2007. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
^ Carlos Aníbal Martínez (January 2007). "Rigoberta Menchú und was die nächste Regierung Guatemalas erwartet". Nueva Sociedad / Democracia y política en América Latina (in German). Retrieved 16 January 2023.
^ "Guatemala" (PDF). Carleton University. September 2007. p. 8. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
^ "La historia se repite: 28 partidos políticos en el horizonte". Soy502. 10 March 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
^ BBC NEWS | Americas | Menchu seeks Guatemala presidency
^ Crime, immigration issues dominate Guatemala debate - CNN.com
^ Reuters AlertNet - Ex-general gains in Guatemala election polls