Thelma Cabrera

Thelma Cabrera
Personal details
Born	(1970-09-21) 21 September 1970 El Asintal, Guatemala
Political party	Movement for the Liberation of Peoples

Thelma Cabrera Pérez de Sánchez (born September 21,1970) is an Indigenous (Maya Mam) human rights activist and politician. Cabrera ran for president of Guatemala in 2019 as part of the political party, Movement for the Liberation of Peoples. She finished fourth in the 2019 election garnering 10.3% of the popular vote, the highest vote total for an indigenous candidate in Guatemalan history.

Early life

Born in a peasant campesino family, Cabrera grew up in El Asintal on the west coast of Guatemala and married at the age of 15. In her early years, Cabrera worked alongside her parents and siblings harvesting coffee. When asked about her upbringing, Cabrera told The Guardian “I came from nothing – from under the rubbish. But for many years I’ve worked with communities suffering lack of opportunities, undignified wages, migration and violence as a result of structural problems and corruption". Growing up, like many other indigenous women in Guatemala, Cabrera did not have access to a university education. Many of her political opponents used her lack of schooling to portray her as uneducated and uncouth throughout her campaign in 2019. Cabrera has emphasized that she has "much knowledge in the university of life" and her lack of schooling will not prevent her from enacting change. Citing that one in three indigenous women has no access to family healthcare, Cabrera prioritizes her work in providing education and healthcare to women in Guatemala.

Political career

2019 Presidential campaign

Cabrera has been an active member of Peasant Development Committee (Spanish: Comité de Desarrollo Campesino; CODECA), a grassroots human rights organization working to improve the situation of the rural poor of Guatemala. Cabrera was selected to represent CODECA's newly formed political party, Movement for the Liberation of Peoples (Spanish: Movimiento para la Liberación de los Pueblos; MLP), to run in the 2019 Guatemalan general election on June 16, 2019. Both the MLP and CODECA have dealt with severe backlash against their campaign for indigenous peoples. Activists and politicians like Cabrera have received countless death threats throughout their respective campaigns. In 2018, following the formation of the MLP, a member of CODECA's national leadership, Luis Arturo Marroquín was murdered. Seven other members of CODECA and Campesino organizations were murdered between May and June of 2018 leading up to the election.

Cabrera started the race polling fifth in a race with 20 candidates. The only candidate of indigenous origin, she has no university degree or political experience, unlike her opponents. She was criticized during the campaign by the mainstream media for her lack of academic education, her sometimes awkward Castilian Spanish and her dress. Despite the population being 60% indigenous, Cabrera was only the second indigenous woman to run for president since Rigoberta Menchu and if elected, she would’ve been the first ever president that was not a man of Spanish descent.

Cabrera leads protest for indigenous rights and promotion of her 2019 campaign with MLP party.

Her campaign slogan “Yo Elijo Dignidad” or “I Choose Dignity” targeted Guatemala’s long history of electoral corruption and mistreatment of indigenous peoples. All three of the candidates who finished above Cabrera were involved in their own sets of controversies and allegations. Sandra Torres (finished 2nd) was accused of money laundering and illicit campaign funding, while Alejandro Giammattei faced backlash for his role in the extra judicial executions of 7 prisoners in 2006. Roberto Arzú who finished third amongst the candidates, also faced sanctions to pay off multi-million dollar debts owed to his political strategist. Cabrera planned to address these issues by lowering pay for government officials to prevent candidates from participating in politics for the purpose of gaining wealth or bolstering their business connections.

She finished the first round in fourth place, receiving 452,260 votes, or 10.33 percent. Cabrera’s fourth-place finish among the nineteen candidates was the highest finish of any indigenous presidential candidate in Guatemalan history. Her party, the MLP, also elected one representative to congress while seven other representatives were elected from majority indigenous parties. The MLP reported several irregularities regarding ballots during the race, however, their accusations were rejected and a ballot recount was conducted with no avail.

2023 Presidential Election

The MLP re-nominated her to represent it in the 2023 presidential election along with Jordán Rodas, former human rights ombudsman, as its vice-presidential candidate. Jordán Rodas has gained international recognition for his fight against impunity during the government of former president Jimmy Morales and the current administration of Alejandro Giammattei. Their candidacy was rejected by the Guatemalan electoral court. The tribunal said Rodas did not supply certification that he had no corruption cases open against him. The court allowed politicians with pending corruption cases to register.

Human rights organizations and international observers criticized the Electoral Tribunal's decision as a political vendetta by President Giammattei. Political scientist and Latin American election expert Daniel Zovatto criticized it as an 'electoral coup'.

Political views

During her presidential bid, Cabrera aimed to defend the individual and collective rights of indigenous and marginalized groups in Guatemala by enacting constitutional reform. Through her platform, Cabrera has promised to give a voice to the silent majority of Guatemala (indigenous population) and proposed reforms to reflect the heart of Guatemalan society. Some of her priorities include fair representation for indigenous and Afro-Guatemalan peoples, an efficient healthcare system and respect for labor rights. Referring to herself as a "protector of Mother Earth", Cabrera also wants to ensure Guatemala fosters a healthy and thriving environment with a coexisting economy that does not interfere with nature and Guatemalan ecosystems. This concept is consistent with the beliefs of many indigenous Mayans and other groups in Guatemala. Her social and economic goals for Guatemala follow the “Buen Vivir” or “Good Life” model adopted by countries like Ecuador and Bolivia. Under this model, political procedures and systems are changed to eliminate classism, favor education, respect labor rights and to ensure basic needs like access to water and electricity, are fulfilled. Cabrera believes that under this model, the customs and values that her ancestors displayed will be recovered.