Is the Competition Law the best choice for Guatemala?

Some citizens consider that competition law is necessary to increase economic development and employment generation. However, others think that it may harm the country's industrial sector. Jorge Chiapas, the Familia party general secretary, shares this second opinion.

The objective of competition law is to regulate potential monopolies and merger practices. This intended to encourage small businesses and remove trade barriers in the nation. In November 2016, Guatemala signed the Association Agreement between the European Union and the countries of Central America (ADA-UECA), with which it committed to creating this law. There has been some progress in the last three years but is expected to be approved in 2020.

The law is still widely debated, and there are still various views on it. Jorge Chiapas, the Familia party general secretary, will put us at a disadvantage. Chiapas has a negative perspective on the law. "The competition law does not respect the private sphere of Guatemala; the economy should be autonomous and separated from the public sphere. The latter has three main functions: justice, security, and infrastructure works, in which the government should focus. The competition law usurps the resources of Guatemalans".

The law promotes government interference in areas where it does not belong. To prevent this from happening, the Secretary-General hopes that the bill won't pass and implement five reforms. The first is political reform that seeks to apply the federal system of government to departments and municipalities. It seeks true decentralization and autonomy, similar to the system that exists in the United States.

The second reform is about economy and finance. It seeks to give economic and private actors control over agriculture, mining, industry, and services. For this, these activities must be privatized and adjusted to the needs of the consumers. The third reform is to privatize education and close the Ministry of Education to let the money stay in the pockets of Guatemalans.

The next improvement is in the health sector. It seeks to put medical care in the hands of doctors and not the state so that the sick have the freedom to choose the medical center that best suits their needs. Besides, it hopes to give health bonds to the poor for as long as they need them. And the last solution is pension reform, where policies are in the hands of fund managers and not the state. The aim is to close down the General Institute of Social Security permanently to privatize the pension system.