The president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo de León, told journalists this Tuesday (16) that he sent a letter to the country's attorney general, Consuelo Porras Argueta, to call on her to provide clarifications, after the head of the Public Ministry (MP) tried to avoid his inauguration in recent months. “We're going to start the process here,” said the new Guatemalan president, aged 65.
Argueta and the MP tried to prevent the inauguration of Arévalo de León and his party, the Seed Movement, for more than six months, specifically since July, just three weeks after the now president won the elections.
The new president of the State has been stating since September 1st that Argueta, together with what he called other corrupt actors, was planning a coup against him. The president's words were spoken after a Mayan ceremony in honor of his term, which will end in January 2028.
Guatemalan law establishes that the only reason to remove the attorney general from office would be if she were convicted of a crime. Therefore, Arévalo de León does not have the possibility of ordering her dismissal, but he said last week that he would ask her to resign.
The attorney general has not been seen in public in recent years and has not commented on the inauguration of the new president. According to experts, with the presidency of Congress in the hands of the Seed Movement and a majority in the National Parliament, it is possible that an alternative will be sought to remove the attorney general from office.
Argueta and the MP leadership were sanctioned in recent years by the United States and were also accused by various sectors of impeding criminal investigations against former presidents Alejandro Giammattei (2020-2024) and Jimmy Morales (2016-2020).
TURBULENT POSSESSION
The Guatemalan Congress experienced moments of tension on Sunday (14) with the inauguration of Arévalo de León, which was delayed by a group of end-of-term parliamentarians who tried to prevent the process.
Several deputies from the Seed Movement, tense about the situation, had to forcibly open a door to a room where parliamentarians supporting the former government, led by Alejandro Giammattei, were trying to delay the legal procedures for the new legislature.
Arévalo's predecessor did not appear in person at the National Theater for the power transfer ceremony and sent the institutional symbols through his secretary.
Giammattei sent his personal secretary to deliver the presidential sash to Congress, according to several sources, and confirmed that it would not be at the inauguration of the new president.
“Given the risk of arriving at midnight without starting the protocol acts, at this moment I handed over the symbols of the Presidency to the Guatemalan Congress”, stated the now former president on his official communication channels. (With EFE Agency)
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