Although some ten hours later than scheduled, Bernardo Arévalo de León was eventually sworn in early Monday as Guatemala's new president for the period 2024-2028. After his inauguration, he was to offer his first speech as constitutional head of state. Before Arévalo's turn, 160 deputies took their oaths of office, thus extending the ceremony in time beyond projections.
Guatemala the Central American country long linked to political instability and extreme violence in solving many of its domestic conflicts, is again a hotspot in the region since an elected president, who should be taking office in mid-January, has been facing growing supposedly 'legal' impediments to his legitimate right, supported by an overwhelming majority of voters who surprised the political establishment.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Mercosur member countries, the European Union and the US have called on Guatemala authorities to impede the Central American country's Attorney General's office to annul the general election result preventing President-elect Bernardo Arevalo from taking office in January.
Guatemala's Public Prosecutor's Office said this week that the voter rolls used in the elections won by Bernardo Arévalo de León were not authorized by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and therefore the results thereof were null and void. Arévalo had warned on Sept. 1 that Attorney General Consuelo Porras was carrying out a coup d'état against him to prevent him from taking office on Jan. 14 to succeed Alejandro Giammattei.
Guatemala's political crisis escalated last weekend as prosecutors raided the country's top electoral tribunal searching for documents related to August presidential election. Agents of the Attorney General's Office entered the headquarters of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and confiscated the official lists of results from the polling stations.
Guatemalan President-elect Bernardo Arévalo de León Friday said there was “a coup d'état in progress” in his country, with many organizations wanting to “break the constitutional order and violate democracy” by attacking him and his Semilla Movement party.
Former First Lady Sandra Torres will take on Congressman Bernardo Arévalo in the Aug. 20 presential runoff in Guatemala following Sunday's elections, according to preliminary data from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE).
José Rubén Zamora, founder of El Periódico, a newspaper critical of Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei which went out of business last month, has been sentenced to six years in jail for alleged money laundering, it was reported. Both Zamora and the Prosecutor's Office announced that they will appeal the ruling.
Former Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom (2008-2012) died Monday at the age of 71. The cause of death has not been disclosed, although it was known that Colom was being treated for esophageal cancer.
Guatemala City's La Aurora International Airport was closed temporarily Sunday due to the presence of ashes from the nearby Fuego volcano, it was reported. The air terminal resumed operations three hours later after the wind shifted to the south, according to Civil Aeronautics Director Francis Argueta.