The president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo de León, invited this Friday the attorney general, Consuelo Porras Arguetawho wanted to prevent his inauguration last Sunday, so that he attends his office next Wednesday and presents a detailed report on different issues during his management at the head of the Public Ministry (Prosecutor's Office).
(Also read: Guatemala: Arévalo's party will give up the presidency of Congress by constitutional order).
Arévalo de León waits for Porras Argueta to come to his office at the National Palace of Culture on January 24 and reports on his management at the head of the Prosecutor's Office.
Last September 1, Arévalo de León accused Porras Argueta of leading an attempted “coup d'état” to truncate his presidential inauguration and a week ago he assured local media that he will ask for his resignation.
Madam Attorney General Consuelo Porras, I sent you a letter.
I'll wait for you next Wednesday, January 24 at 10:00 am in my Presidential Office so that you can present a report on 4 points that are of concern to this Presidency: Human Rights, Freedom of… pic.twitter.com/zOfruOll3Y
— Bernardo Arévalo (@BArevalodeLeon) January 19, 2024
Porras Argueta can only be removed from her position as attorney general If there is previously a conviction against you, The Constitutional Court, Guatemala's highest court, stated on December 20 when rejecting requests that sought to facilitate the dismissal of the official.
According to the letter sent this Friday by the presidency, The attorney general must report on her criteria for criminal prosecution in cases of freedom of expression, as well as advances in research due to anomalies in the purchase of covid-19 vaccines.
(Keep reading: Court annuls election of Congressional leadership related to the new president of Guatemala).
Arévalo de León also asked the Prosecutor's Office to report on the progress in criminal proceedings linked to decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR).
Porras Argueta, 70 years old and who has been sanctioned by the United States since 2021, accused of “undermining the anti-corruption fight” of the Central American country, has been involved since July 2023 a series of attempts to trap the electoral victory of Arévalo de León and prevent his presidential inauguration.
These included attempts to cancel the new president's political party Movimiento Semilla, as well as arrest warrants against the judges of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and also the seizure of boxes containing documents from the elections held on June 25 and August 20.
(We recommend: the US sanctions the former president of Guatemala Alejandro Giammattei for corruption).
During the last three months, hundreds of indigenous people from all over Guatemala staged a disrupted sit-in in front of the Prosecutor's Office in Guatemala City, to demand the resignation of Porras Argueta and three other officials accused of trying to affect “the popular will expressed at the polls.”
Arévalo de León assumed the presidency on January 14 with the challenge of generating the governability conditions that allow him to fulfill his campaign promise of frontally attacking the state corruption that has deteriorated the democracy of the Central American country in recent years.
EFE
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