Winaq is a left-wing political party in
Guatemala whose most notable member is
Rigoberta Menchú, who is ethnically
Kʼicheʼ. Its name comes from the
Kʼicheʼean word for "people" or "humanity", "winaq". It is a party whose roots are in the
indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
communities of Guatemala.
Ideology
According to the party's website,
In a working paper of a seminar organised by FLACSO Guatemala and the
Friedrich Ebert Foundation written in 2007, it was concluded that Winaq had an ambiguous ideology, trying to combine adversarial interest. Later, after committing to an alliance with other left-wing parties, the party developed a more pronounced left-wing perspective with
eco-socialist
Eco-socialism (also known as green socialism or socialist ecology) is an ideology merging aspects of socialism with that of green politics, ecology and alter-globalization or anti-globalization. Eco-socialists generally believe that the expansi ...
leanings.
The party is known for its political activism to prohibit infrastructure projects that threaten natural goods, especially rivers and water quality.
History
Formation and early results
In the 2007 general elections, Winaq's pro-formation committee participated with the
Encuentro por Guatemala
Encuentro por Guatemala ("EG")– a Spanish name variously translated as "Encounter for Guatemala" (for example, by the BBC and CNN), or as "Together for Guatemala" (Reuters) – was a Guatemalan political party; ''encuentro'' may also translate ...
party, nominating Rigoberta Menchú as presidential candidate. The alliance came in seventh place in the presidential elections. The alliance fared slightly better at the legislative elections gathering 6.18% of the national vote and 4 seats.
In 2008 the party finally secured enough affiliates to register as a legal party, which was heralded by the
Guatemala Times, as “one of the most important steps ever achieved by a Mayan political leader in Guatemala.”
Entering the Broad Front of the Left coalition
In the
2011 general elections, the Guatemalan left created an alliance called Frente Amplio, made up of the political parties
Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG-MAIZ),
Alternativa Nueva Nación (ANN), Winaq and the pro-formation committee of the
Movimiento Nueva República (MNR). Rigoberta Menchú was unanimously proclaimed as presidential candidate and Anibal García as vice presidential candidate. They obtained around 3% of the vote. The party sat in opposition to the
Molina government and played a leading role in his eventual resignation, when Congressman
Amilcar Pop brought up a lawsuit against Molina on 24 April 2015.
In return the Congressman received multiple death threats for his anti-corruption work in the legislature.
The coalition was maintained for the
elections in 2015, wherein the party ran with
Miguel Ángel Sandoval
-->
Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to:
Places
*Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands
* São Miguel (disamb ...
and
Mario Ellintong as president and vice-president respectively, receiving about 2% of the vote. In the congressional elections the alliance actually gained votes and gathered 4.36% of the national vote, yet lost 3 mandates in the Congress.
Coalition split
Ahead of the
2019 elections
The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2019. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has a calendar of upcoming elections around the world, and the National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections in coun ...
the alliance split up, forcing the party to run on its own. Even so the party was able to muster 3.51% of the vote, granting it 4 seats in the chamber. Its presidential ticket with
Manuel Villacorta
Manuel Ricardo Villacorta Orantes (born 29 March 1959) is a Guatemalan politician, professor and writer. He served as Guatemala's ambassador to Israel from 1999 to 2000, was also a presidential candidate in 2019, where he placed in seventh plac ...
as head and
Izabel Hernández as vice-president reached their best result in party history, coming sixth with 5.27% of the vote. During his presidential campaign
Villacorta focused on corruption, the fight against poverty through wealth redistribution and infrastructure development.
After the elections the party largely opposed the government of
Giammattei and supported the mining protests occurring in
El Estor
El Estor is a town, with a population of 20,489 (2018 census), and a municipality in the Izabal department of Guatemala. The population of El Estor consists largely of Q’eqchi’ speaking indigenous people.
History
Before roads and railroad ...
since October 2021.
Restored left-wing alliance
On 7 June 2022 party leadership released a statement, concurring with
Sandoval
Sandoval is a habitational surname of Spanish language, Spanish origin. It primarily originates from Sandoval de la Reina, Spain, earlier called ''Sannoval'', which is a blend word of Latin ''saltus'' (meaning 'grove' or 'wood') and Latin ''novalis ...
's appeal for a new coalition of left-wing forces that can challenge the current governing forces. Since the current electoral law favours smaller parties, it has not yet been decided what form this new alliance will take.
At the end of January, URNG and Winaq made their renewed alliance public and proclaimed
Amílcar Pop and
Mónica Enríquez as their presidential ticket for the upcoming elections.
The parties also planned to involve
Semilla in their effort to win the mayorship of
Guatemala City
Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, ne ...
.
Election results
Congress of the Republic
President of the Republic of Guatemala
Notes
References
Democratic socialist parties in North America
Foro de São Paulo
Indigenist political parties in North America
Political parties established in 2008
Socialist parties in Guatemala
{{Guatemala-party-stub