The People of Guatemala rises in protests against the government
Since October 2nd, Guatemala has been on strike for 15 days now. The people are demanding the resignation of Consuelo Porras, Attorney General and who heads the Public Ministry after blocking the election of the current government of Bernardo Arévalo, of the party Nueva Semilla, winner of the last elections of August.
The Attorney General’s Office is carrying out an investigation to clarify the “legitimacy” of the vote since the party Nueva Semilla is accused of having falsified signatures for registration in the electoral process. and the magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Court are also investigated and more than 100,000 people who participated in the reception, counting, protection and digitalization of votes and the acts of the elections.
It has also been declared by the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE, due to its acronym in Spanish) that the electoral process will be expanded until January 14th (date on which the new president should enter the position) since the investigation can be carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office without being in an elected charge. Giammattei’s government still refuses to dismiss the Attorney General and she refuses to resign.
Due to the lack of democratic rights, where even the State does not comply with its own laws according to the interests of the current government and its mainly Yankee-imperialist masters, the people has gone to the street to march broadly. The protests, which are mainly composed of peasants and indigenous people, are blocking roads and paralyzing the economy and causing shortages all over the country. More than 100 blocked roads and rallies in front of the headquarters of the Prosecutor’s Office in the capital have been carried out.
These protest have affected companies economically, causing millions in losses, especially in affecting the exports of raw materials in the country. To try to avoid these blockages that concern the Giammattei government, riot police have been deployed and tear gas has been launched to protesters. He has also threatened that he will criminally sanction those who lead the road blockages and who finances them.
The accusations of anti-democratism against Porra are not new. In 2018, after her re-election by the previous government led by Giammattei, the Association of Journalists said that this decision was going to bring “greater restrictions on free speech, violations of human rights and criminalization of journalists.” Even Yankee imperialism, in this case Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, described Porras as corrupt and that she “repeatedly obstructed and undermined the anti-corruption investigations in Guatemala to protect their political allies and obtain undue political favors.” These accusations of the US against Porras took place after the cancellation of the United Nations Commission “International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala” (CICIG).
