Guatemalan politics continues to be largely exclusively male-dominated. Compared to other isthmus countries, women are hugely under-represented in government positions on a local and a national level, mostly due to the prevalence of sexist attitudes and high illiteracy rates, which continue to bar many women from politics. Indigenous women are the most excluded, as they suffer gender, class and racial discrimination. However, this year is unique, with two women running for top government posts: Rigoberta Menchú, presidential candidate for center-left party Encuentro por Guatemala (EG), and feminist intellectual Walda Barrios running as vice-presidential candidate for the former-guerrillas turned political party, the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG). Many female candidates regard Menchú and Barrios as role models and believe that Guatemalan society is gradually changing with women becoming more assertive and demanding their fair share of political power.

Five recent polls gauging how the public will vote in the October 7 referendum on CAFTA have produced vastly divergent results. Four out of five of the polls found that the public will likely vote for CAFTA, while one found that the public will likely vote against it. The one dissenting poll was carried out by the University of Costa Rica 's School of Statistics , which has proved to be one of the most accurate polling organizations in the country. And then, to complicate things even further, former Minister of Agriculture, Óscar Campos, recently accused the Arias administration of withholding the results a poll that purportedly shows that Costa Ricans will vote against CAFTA.

A new report by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) reveals that the struggling US economy and anti-immigrant fervor are already affecting remittance flows. Although the flow has continued to grow this year, it is doing so at a markedly slower rate. The burst of the US housing bubble seems to be a significant factor –Central Americans work in the construction industry more than in any other sector, and the demand for residential construction has crashed. Remittances bring in almost as much money to the region as exports, and a slow-down could have serious effects on isthmus economies.

In a rare show of unity, opposition parties have come together to reject Ortega's proposal to establish a network of Citizens' Councils. According to the Civil Council, a civil society umbrella group, existing democratic structures such as Municipal Committees are already successful – critics say the new system will only serve to “substitute, displace or control” them. The dispute has tested internal relations within both the Sandinista Party and the Civil Council. The CPCs will moreover be a litmus test for the 2008 municipal elections.

The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) will be up and running within six to twelve months. Although human rights organizations have welcomed the creation of the CICIG, many regard it as a watered-down version of the initial project, which had a much wider remit that included the investigation of crimes against humanity committed during the civil war. However, Attorney General Juan Luis Florido, has clearly stated that the Department of State and the Executive will decide which cases can be investigated by CICIG. Reading between the lines, many believe this means that the government will decide what exactly the commission can or cannot investigate, which means that many cases involving government officials or threatening elite interests may never come to light.