Guatemalans in the street against “coup” denounced by president-elect

O protest took place in the central square of the capital of Guatemala, in front of the National Palace of Culture, seat of the Government led by Alejandro Giammattei.

Shouting “Coup scammers out!”, most protesters demanded the resignation of the attorney general, Consuelo Porras.

The demonstration took place after Arévalo, elected in the second round of the presidential elections, held on August 20, publicly warned on Friday that “a coup d’état” was underway against him, to prevent him from assuming the Presidency of the Republic. next January 14th.

On some banners, words such as “If there are no reforms, there will be a revolution” and “My vote is for respect”, while others targeted Consuelo Porras and also Alejandro Giammattei.

On Friday, Bernardo Arévalo named Consuelo Porras as one of the main promoters of the aforementioned “coup d’état”, along with prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, the Board of Directors of Congress, a criminal judge and “other corrupt actors”. .

The denunciation of the President-elect, of the social-democratic party Movimento Semente, comes in the same week that the Board of Directors of Congress, chaired by the ruling party, Vamos, of Giammattei, suspended his political party.

Also this week, the Registry of Citizens of the Supreme Electoral Court temporarily suspended the Seed Movement and, in both cases, it was by order of criminal judge Fredy Orellana, at the request of the Public Ministry headed by Consuelo Porras.

This Saturday’s demonstration was called by various sectors of society, most of them associations that want to respect the vote in the general elections of June 25 and the second round of the presidential elections, on August 20, which Bernardo Arévalo won.

Independently, the son of former president Álvaro Arzú Irigoyen (1996-2000), Roberto Arzú García-Granados, also called for Saturday a demonstration by his supporters against the current authorities.

Arzú García-Granados, whose electoral candidacy was suspended “illegally”, in his opinion, during the electoral race, stated a few weeks ago that there was a plan to prevent Bernardo Arévalo from taking office.

According to the same source, the strategy for not investing the President-elect would consist of confirming the suspension of his party and thus creating the conditions for Giammattei to hand over power to Congress, where his party, Vamos, holds the majority.

For its part, the Public Ministry denied on Saturday the accusations made on Friday by the 64-year-old academic and sociologist who won the elections for the Movimento Semente party.

The inauguration ceremony of the new head of state of Guatemala is scheduled for January 14, 2024, for a four-year term, the first in the country’s history with a social democratic government.

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