History Repeats Itself: Samuel Pérez, the Brichaux Case and New Complaints Inside Raíces

The dissident Raíces faction of Guatemala’s Movimiento Semilla is facing internal disintegration amid accusations that lawmaker Samuel Pérez is pushing members aside to take control of the group’s leadership bodies.

In less than two weeks, members in Mixco, San Miguel Petapa and the department of Quetzaltenango issued statements describing what they called anti-democratic actions. They say local members are being displaced as Pérez seeks to fill leadership positions with people he trusts.

The complaints recall a dispute from March 2021, when Suzanne Brichaux said she had been expelled from Semilla in an “arbitrary, unjust and anti-democratic” manner. Brichaux had belonged to the movement since its founding and said she helped build the party by collecting signatures and contributing resources.

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arbitrary, unjust and anti-democratic

In a statement at the time, Brichaux said she had embraced Semilla’s promise of a new kind of politics. She accused its leadership, with Pérez serving as secretary general, of silencing criticism, blocking pluralism, concentrating power and violating members who sought to democratize the party.

Brichaux said the expulsion violated her rights as a political actor and as a woman. The new complaints inside Raíces are presented as another example of the same pattern, centered on internal control and accusations of anti-democratic conduct.

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Politics is undoubtedly the battlefield where the best and worst in people are revealed.