Having learned from decades of dictatorial regimes, many countries in Latin America have recently been changing their methods of government. Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, and others have limited their presidents to four-or-five year terms in office and established transition periods of several months from one administration to the next.
Thus, Dr. Alejandro Giammattei was elected president of Guatemala in mid-summer but will only enter office a month from now. Even if such a long gap sounds odd to us, at least in Guatemala these things are spelled out in the constitution, thereby preventing governmental crises such as the one engulfing Israel.
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Giammattei is 63 and a medical doctor by training. His story is an inspiring one, as you will read later. This was his fourth run for president, and this time he did it on crutches. He plans to spend his first year in office focusing on domestic issues and refrain from trips throughout South America. So he has been using the long transition period to visit only three countries: Spain, Taiwan, and this week, Israel.
His meetings in Israel included one with President Reuven Rivlin, to whom he said, "The friends of Israel are our friends, and the enemies of Israel are our enemies." In Jerusalem, Giammattei met with his friend, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, and told him: "Ambassador Danon, you won't be alone in the UN any longer. From now, there are two of us." He also promised Foreign Minister Israel Katz that as soon as he took office, he would designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization.
In a meeting with Economy and Industry Minister Eli Cohen, Giammattei witnessed the signing of the preliminary agreement to a free trade deal between Israel and Guatemala. He also met with Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, as well as businesspeople and directors of high-tech firms, all in a very pro-Israel atmosphere.
"Whoever blesses Israel is blessed – it's a matter of faith," Giammattei says, expressing a sentiment that is widely held in Guatemala. About half of the nation's residents are Evangelical Christians who see Israel as the home of the chosen people. At churches in Guatemala City, one can see blue-and-white flags – Guatemala's own, but also one that bears the Star of David.
Although sadly many in Israel have forgotten the story, plenty of Guatemalans still remember how their ambassador to the UN Jorge García Granados backed the Zionist enterprise and along with his colleague from Uruguay led the United National Special Commission on Palestine to the Partition Plan and took care to secure a South American lobby to vote in favor of it.
Thanks to him, and this is no exaggeration, the Jewish state was born. Granados was the second to recognize Israel in the name of his nation, after the US. Two years ago, Guatemala was the second country to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. So Giammattei's attitude toward Israel follows in the Guatemalan tradition.
'I came to express solidarity'
Giammattei chose to visit three countries outside the Americas, one of which is Israel. When I ask him why he came here, he confides that "Israel is the last of the three countries I'm visiting before taking office, not because it's the least important, but because it is my favorite."
"First of all, I came to express my support for the decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and make it clear that the Guatemalan embassy in Israel will remain in Jerusalem. Second, I came to express solidarity with the people of Israel. Third, I came to strengthen the ties between Israel and Guatemala in three or four areas: security, tourism, a free trade agreement that will allow 4,000 items to be traded without taxes, and cooperation on technology. These are the issues I've come to promote with the government," he says.
Q: It's been two years since Guatemala became the second country to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy to the city. For us, that was a step of historic importance. Has Israel shown your country enough thanks?
"We did not and do not expect anything in return. When you back up a friend, you don't do it in order to get anything. We recognized Jerusalem and moved our embassy there out of friendship, and my government will continue in that vein because that is what we believe. Second, moving the embassy was the right thing to do. It's true that my visit here was aimed at promoting [bilateral] ties, but strengthening those ties isn't in 'return' for recognizing Jerusalem and moving the embassy. The two things have nothing to do with each other. There was no 'deal' here."
Q: Before actually moving the embassy, the opposition and the newspapers warned that doing so would cause Guatemala economic harm because Arab countries would stop buying cardamom, which generates some $300 million for the country each year. Has Guatemala suffered economic, diplomatic, or any other kind of harm from the step it took?
"No."
Q: No harm?
"No, the opposite. No Arab country has stopped buying cardamom from us, and we actually increased exports of it. Now we are the No. 1 supplier of cardamom in the world."
Q: If so, would you recommend that other countries in the Americas recognize Jerusalem and move their embassies?
"Yes. That is the right thing to do."
Q: In 2012, the Guatemalan government decided to recognize Palestine. You didn't like that decision.
"When President Otto Fernando Pérez Molina recognized Palestine, I went to the Israeli Embassy in Guatemala City and in the name of the Guatemalan people, asked for forgiveness from the people of Israel. Because that decision did not reflect what the country thought. The decision of the president back then was not a decision by the people. He offended our faith, which supports the Israeli people."
With all due respect to the unusual relations between Israel and Guatemala, Giammattei's personal story is also impressive. At 23, six months before he finished medical school, he diagnosed himself with multiple sclerosis. Nearly 40 years later, he gets around using crutches.
"The night after the illness was diagnosed, I tried to kill myself. As you can see, I didn't," he says with a laugh.
"Twenty-five years ago God stopped my illness. When it happened I made a deal with God. I said, 'If you keep me alive, I will devote my life to the public, to doing good.'"
Giammattei 's proposal seems to have been accepted. His illness stopped growing worse and since then he has devoted his entire life to the public issue. Those who know him say he works at a dizzying pace.
'They already had a coffin ready'
The first thing he did was join Guatemala's fire and rescue services, which are as respected there as the IDF is in Israel. He moved up the ranks until he was made director of the service. There he met a man who would become a close friend – one Yitzhak Farhi of Raanana, who would later run against him for the presidency. Eventually, Farhi joined Giammattei and helped him become president.
It could be said that electing Giammattei president is a badge of honor for the people of Guatemala, who chose him knowing about his illness. It's doubtful whether that would happen in Israel or any other western country.
"There have been three world leaders who were elected even though they couldn't walk. [US] President Franklin Delano Roosevelt; President of Ecuador Lenín Moreno; and me. All three in the Americas," he observes.
Q: How do you live with the disability, and how did you overcome it?
"It wasn't easy. 40 years ago, when I was diagnosed, I became paralyzed from the neck down three times. They were already building my coffin because they thought I wouldn't make it through the night. You need to realize that if you have a physical disability, there are only two options: to give up and give in, or try to fight.
"Life on crutches isn't easy, because our society and our infrastructure isn't ready for them. I had the luck and the privilege that my mom and dad supported me. At first, I fought to throw off the disability in every aspect, which is why I chose to join the fire and rescue service. I started as a regular firefighter who was scrambled to save people. I also started to run marathons, but not with the goal of winning. I set a goal for myself and it was to get to the finish line before the ambulance that picked up everyone who dropped out along the way. That was my goal, and I met it."
Q: Amazing.
"I decided to live. I adopted the famous saying, 'Live each day as if it's your last,' but I added one word – 'intensively.' That's how I've lived all my life. Everything I do, work or love, everything has to be at full strength because I don't know if I'll be here tomorrow."
Q: How do the people in Guatemala see your disability? Was it an issue in the election?
"If they'd asked me, I would have told them the whole story, just like I told it to you, but it wasn't a big deal. I don't hide my crutches and people know about it."
Q: So what message do you have for a kid in a wheelchair or a kid on crutches, or any other person with a disability who is reading this interview?
"Be happy. It doesn't matter what you look like, you should be happy. Do what you can, and don't worry about things you can't do. People are born happy and it doesn't matter if you have a disability. Happiness doesn't come from the ability to walk or do other physical things – it comes from the heart and from your own decision about what to do with your life. I wanted to be a doctor, but life took me in another direction, and now I'm about to be president. That's my message."
