After two years without mass demonstrations due to the pandemic, the working class commemorated on this day the achievements of the people’s emancipatory act that ended almost half a century of dictatorships, while at the same time denouncing corruption and impunity under the government of Alejandro Giammattei.
“Long live the revolution, no to discrimination”, “For unity and restart the revolution”, “My country is not a business”, “For health and a decent pension for workers”, “No to high gas prices” and “Guatemala never again”, were sentences that rang out during the extensive tour through the main streets of the capital.
They also highlighted the achievements of the process led by Presidents Juan José Arévalo and Jacobo Arbenz (dubbed the Democratic Spring), not as a nostalgic reminder, but as a guide and example of the unity needed in view of the 2023 electoral process, several told Prensa Latina Interview partners who carried photos of the rulers with them.
They particularly highlighted the figure of Arbenz, the man who dared to challenge the United States and was overthrown in a coup backed by the CIA.
They could not forgive measures such as social security, women’s suffrage, the right to strike and, in particular, an agrarian reform that harms the North American interests of the United Fruit Company and the Central American Railway Company, recalled users on social networks, where the event was also acknowledged.
Authorities of indigenous peoples and the general coordinator for students of the University of San Carlos also took part in the march, which was convened in the capitals of the city and departments and defends the autonomy usurped in the recent rectoral elections, he said Leader.
“For our right to a decent higher education, public and popular” and “We have no rector,” read the sea of placards, tarpaulins and banners that showed them during the walk to the iconic Plaza de la Constitución, in Zone 1 of the historic center.
Passing through Sixth Avenue, the Association of University Students paid the traditional tribute to its President, Oliverio Castañeda de León, 44 years after his murder by gunfire, only on October 20, but in 1978, after his indictment of state repression.
His sentence again: They may massacre the leaders, but as long as there is a people there will be a revolution! sounded in front of the entrance to Pasaje Rubio, where two plaques mark where he fell and the last sentence he spoke that day in Parque Centenario.
jcm/mmc