La Presidente

The phone rings again and Christy runs to get it. With her out of the room, her parents talk more openly about what Christy’s political career looks like from their point of view. “You should have seen her when she got the call that Cerezo had conceded,” says Carol. “She was just walking on air. Then she even got a congratulatory call from President Reagan. Pretty heady stuff for a girl who doesn’t even have her driver’s license!” She smiles. “Now parents come up to us at parties and ask, ‘How can we make sure that our child is the President of Guatemala too? What’s the secret?’”

But although Arthur and Carol are obviously proud of Christy, as the conversation continues it becomes evident that they see a darker side to her achievements. What do they think of their daughter taking office in a country with a long history of brutal military rule, where assassinations and coups d’etat are the order of the day?

“Well, I think she’s growing up too fast,” says Arthur.

“Now, dear,” says Carol, patting his knee. “I’m sure all parents think that about their children.” But it is evident that she is concerned as well. “I don’t know,” she continues. “I just want this to be a positive experience for her. Especially at this age, it would be so easy for her to get hurt.”

They also worry about the effect that Christy’s presidency will have on Billy. Although up to now his interests have always lain in different directions, they are afraid that he may now suddenly feel that he has to compete with her.

“I just don’t want him to think he has to top her by getting elected President of Brazil or something like that,” says Arthur. “There are lots of other areas in which he can excel. But I know that he doesn’t want people to always think of him as ‘the brother of the President.’”

In the end, however, Christy’s parents know that they will have to trust her to use her own best judgment. “She’s gong to have an eleven o’clock curfew, of course,” says Carol, “but we’re not going to get involved in running the government unless she asks us to. After all, she’s the president. You know, I think that she’s always kind of worried about what we think about all this, but we told her, ‘As long as you’re happy, we’re happy.’”