The new elected president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo de León, who won the August 2023 elections, arrived this Sunday on the day of his inauguration after managing to remain standing after repeated attempts by the Public Ministry (Prosecutor's Office) to annul the election results. A long and unprecedented transition of command that, when the time came, has resulted in a tumultuous parliamentary session and a delay in the investiture that begins the tenth legislature, since democracy was established in the Central American country in 1986. The event finally took place ten hours later than planned.
Bernardo Arévalo, a 65-year-old academic and former diplomat, took office as the new president of Guatemala after a chaotic Sunday. Clashes, insults, deputies locked in locked rooms and general chaos describe what happened in the Guatemalan Congress, as EFE was able to verify. The delay in the certification of the new members of Parliament circulated fears of an eventual "coup d'état", as the president-elect had been denouncing. Since the summer, the Public Ministry has tried to outlaw the Semilla Movement party, the president-elect's main supporter.
The postponement of the event caused numerous guests who had come to the Guatemalan capital to attend the ceremony to be forced to leave before it began, including the king of Spain, Felipe VI, and the presidents of Chile, Gabriel Boric; from Paraguay, Santiago Peña, and from Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves.
The incidents inside the Chamber have also been reflected on the street, when dozens of Bernardo Arévalo's adherents gathered in the vicinity of Congress and engaged in some clashes with anti-riot agents, with no injuries or arrests reported.
The obstacles of Congress to formalize the investiture of Bernardo Arévalo are added to the judicial persecution of the Public Ministry (Prosecutor's Office) against the elected president and the Semilla Movement, a maneuver that has been denounced by the Organization of American States (OAS), the European Union, the United States and most Latin American governments.
On several occasions throughout Sunday, the Guatemalan Congress has been the scene of moments of tension and bitter discussions that motivated first the postponement of the closing of the legislature that is now closing and later the delivery of credentials to the 160 new parliamentarians.
As a result of the postponement of the ceremony, some of the leaders who traveled to Guatemala to attend the transfer of command between Alejandro Giammattei and Bernardo Arévalo have been forced to leave, as in the case of the Chilean Gabriel Boric, who explained that he had to travel return due to commitments previously made for this Monday
The Lower House constituted this Sunday for the 2024-2028 legislature is very fragmented, which represents a serious obstacle to the governability that Arévalo must face.
The head of state of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, assured this Friday that he is leaving the Government "with his head held high." He says goodbye to the presidency with low popular approval and with an Administration that failed to fulfill its campaign promises on corruption, malnutrition and infrastructure.
One of the most notable blemishes of her administration is that in 2022 she decided to renew the mandate at the head of the Public Ministry of Consuelo Porras Argueta, sanctioned by the United States for "undermining" Justice in Guatemala, in addition to trying to annul the 2023 electoral results. Since the August elections, there has been international pressure to stop the harassment of Guatemala's elected president. In addition, Arévalo reported attempted attacks.
