Guatemala

In one of his first tweets Otto Pérez Molina summed up the use of Twitter: “Communication is actually easier when I have it in my pocket.” President Otto Perez Molina of Guatemala started his Twitter activity in November 2009 and uses it to share updates for his agenda and the Patriotic Party. The account was used as a campaign account and has remained active since his election on 11 September 2011. His personal message to the Xelajù football team for winning the league’s championship: “Congratulations Xelajú, both teams played well, good night” received the most retweets. President Molina unilaterally follows a number of Latin American presidents, however he is only mutually connected with Costa Rica’s President Laura Chinchilla.

After becoming president Otto Pérez Molina set up a new institutional Twitter account on 17 January 2012 to provide followers with the latest news and official information of the Government of Guatemala. Similar to the previous institutional account, the first tweet refers to malnutrition in the developing country. “By signing the Treaty #HambreCero aims at reducing malnutrition by 10% in our country. This scourge affects 49% of the population” was tweeted the day the account was opened. The institutional account is coordinated with the president’s account, retweeting his personal posts. Apart from the president the account does not follow any other world leaders.

The first Twitter account of the Guatemalan government was opened in September 2009 under former President Álvaro Colom and was active until the end of his term in January 2012. The account’s last tweet, after wishing the best to the new administration, simply said: “Thanks for letting us serve. We are grateful goodbye”. The account @gobiernoguate unilaterally follows four other world leaders and is followed by two and has only one mutual follower in the Costa Rican presidential account.