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On a busy roundabout in Guatemala City stands an obelisk, a moderately impressive feat of 19th-century engineering. It is a symbol of independence at the heart of the city where Central America's sovereignty was declared in 1821. At the foot of the monument there is a glass case with an inscription that reads: "This flame symbolizes our supreme aspiration of liberty and justice. Venerate it. Respect it. Never let it go out." Inside the case there is a slightly rusty oil lamp - but no flame.
The assertive and optimistic mood of liberalism in which this country was born is long gone. Not only did the Federation of Central America hold together for only a handful of years but the social and economic freedoms its founding...
