The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, supervised this Monday (04/09/2023) in Guatemala the first presidential transition meeting between the government of Alejandro Giammattei and his successor Bernardo Arévalo de León.
Almagro, together with an OAS delegation, visited the Presidential House in the Guatemalan capital, where he witnessed the official start of the transfer of command, which must take place on January 14, 2024. The meeting, which took place behind closed doors, served for Giammattei and Arévalo de León to agree on the priorities for the transition process.
Arévalo de León, who won the presidential runoff on August 20, was accompanied by his vice president, Karin Herrera, who will lead the new government’s transition team.
Almagro’s presence in Guatemala came after OAS member countries granted him “greater authority to oversee the change of command” in the Central American country on September 1.
They are demanding the resignation of Consuelo Porras because of election interference
Meanwhile, the Guatemalan people demonstrated this Monday in various national headquarters of the Public Ministry (Prosecution) to demand the resignation of the Attorney General Consuelo Porras, whom they accuse of disrupting and condemning the electoral process in the Central American country.
Community and indigenous leaders led mobilizations in at least 10 prosecutors’ offices in all regions of the country. The protests were registered in the departments (provinces) of Totonicapán, Chimaltenango, Sololá and Quiché in the northwest of the country, as well as in Santa Rosa, Jalapa, Jutiapa in the east and Petén in the north. There was also a sit-in at the prosecutor’s office headquarters in the Guatemalan capital.
Puebla group warns of alleged risk of coup
For their part, several former Ibero-American presidents gathered in the Puebla group condemned the “legal war” underway against the elected president of Guatemala and “the attempts to sabotage the transition process” so that he could take command, warning of alleged danger of a coup.
“We warn of the risk of a coup and call on the international community to support a peaceful transition that respects legality and allows popularly elected authorities access to government – a crucial step to ensure continuity.” Democracy and the restoration of the rule of law in Guatemala,” this left-wing group said in a statement.
The complaint was made in a letter signed by several political leaders and former presidents, including Spain’s José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Colombia’s Ernesto Samper and Ecuador’s Rafael Correa.
loves (efe, afp)