The new president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo de León, finally took office in the early hours of this Monday (15) after an intense day full of incidents and several months of uncertainty, during which the Public Ministry tried to avoid his arrival at all costs. power.
The inauguration was scheduled for Sunday afternoon (14), but was postponed by more than 10 hours and several heads of state, including the King of Spain, Felipe VI, left the country without witnessing the ceremony.
Felipe VI left Guatemala on Sunday night, as initially planned, as did the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, who had arrived a few hours earlier to accompany his country's delegation.
The same happened with the president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, who left the Central American country in the afternoon because he had commitments in his country this Monday morning, as he explained on his official channels.
Arévalo de León, a 65-year-old academic who symbolizes the fight against corruption, was sworn in as head of state at the end of a day in which the transfer of power was at risk due to the fact that Congress at the end of the legislature had excessively delayed some procedures routine legal.
Opposition deputies accused the institutions of delaying the investiture with the intention of a “coup d'état”, a statement previously made by the elected president himself, on September 1st, when he accused the chief prosecutor of the Public Ministry, Consuelo Porras, of wanting to avoid his possession.
Arévalo de León won the 2023 presidential elections with the Movimento Semente party, born from the anti-corruption demonstrations that took place in Guatemala in 2015.
The outgoing president, Alejandro Giammattei, did not appear in person at the National Theater for the power transfer ceremony and sent the institutional symbols through his secretary.
On the other hand, its vice-president, Guillermo Castillo, from whom he has been away since 2020, was present at the ceremony and handed over the position to chemical biologist Karin Herrera. 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.
Guatemalan law determines that the then president should leave office this Sunday (14), after assuming office four years ago, on January 14, 2020, at the beginning of his term.
Giammattei delivered his final government report last Friday, despite the fact that, since democracy was established in 1986, all presidents have appeared before Congress on January 14 to be replaced.
Samuel Pérez Álvarez, deputy from Arévalo de León's party, was also elected this Sunday president of the Guatemalan Congress for the period 2024-2025, after reaching agreements with different parties and obtaining the necessary 90 votes.
Pérez Álvarez, aged 31, became the youngest president of the Legislature in the history of the Central American country since the establishment of democracy and was responsible for the investiture of Arévalo de León.
Pérez Álvarez's triumph in the vote for the presidency of Congress was surprising, since the Seed Movement only has 23 deputies out of the 160 that make up the Legislature.
The losing ticket, with 75 votes, was that of deputy Sandra Jovel, from the Valor party, former presidential candidate Zury Ríos, and an ally of the political group Vamos, from Giammattei.
According to sources consulted by EFE Agency, a victory for Jovel, former chancellor during the government of Jimmy Morales (2016-2020), would have put at risk the inauguration of Arévalo de León, which was finally carried out under pressure from the international community and hundreds of protesters in the streets. (With EFE Agency)
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