Caribbean & Central America - February 2008 (ISSN 1741-4458)

In an assessment of his first month in power, Guatemala's new president Álvaro Colom conceded that the first four weeks had been "difficult". Describing the government structure he inherited as an "arthritic elephant", he blamed his predecessor Oscar Berger for leaving behind chaos and administrative disorder.

The new labour and finance ministers, Edgar Rodrí­guez and Juan Alberto Fuentes Knight respectively, were reportedly horrified at the muddle they found when they took office. Colom singled out the communications ministry as particular cause for concern. Having been told that its debt was less than Q300m (US$40m), it was subsequently revealed to be over Q2bn, the main culprits being the road maintenance department and project managers responsible for upgrading the La Aurora airport, to the south of the capital.

Colom complained that the "chaos" was caused by a "lack of accountability, duplication of activities, too much money in some state institutions and a lack of resources in others, and floating debts for which no-one seems responsible". A report by the Encuentro por Guatemala (EG) party also revealed that some 500 budget transfers had been made in 2007, under Berger, with the communications ministry as the main beneficiary. According to the report, the departments most adversely affected were social investment programmes, while some Q155m (US$20m) was transferred from funds earmarked for the police.

Chaos in the executive was echoed in the legislative. The lack of majority of Colom's Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE) party in congress proved problematic with the two main opposition parties, the Partido Patriota and Gran Alianza Nacional (Gana), initially refusing to approve loans, arguing that the UNE had failed to clarify what they would be used for.

Problems within the parties themselves also emerged and, as well as splits within Gana (see sidebar), the local press reported conflicts within the UNE. These were attributed to disputes over who will head the different legislative committees, as well as discontent over Colom's appointments - not least because his new cabinet features non-party members. The appointment of Mario Taracena as head of the UNE legislative bloc also reportedly caused ripples of discontent within the party.

• Gana splits

Divisions within the Gran Alianza Nacional (Gana), the party of former president Oscar Berger, came to a head on 22 January over who would head the different legislative committees. As a result, Gana - which had been the second largest party in the 158-seat congress, with 37 seats - has split into two factions. One is led by Gana secretary general Alfredo Vila and the other by departmental secretary for Petén, Jaime Martí­nez. The latter is also backed by ex-presidential candidate Alejandro Giammattei.