Guatemala City, March 27 (Prensa Latina) A day of road closures is taking place in Guatemala today at the request of the Council of Authorities of the 48 cantons of Totonicapán in the southwest of the country.
“We have called a nationwide strike,” they said in an official statement released the previous day, after the deadline given to the executive and legislature to comply with their demands.
The protesters are demanding the repeal of Government Agreement 245-2022 and Initiative 6165, which the tax administration system said aims to improve tax collection through e-invoicing.
However, the National Alliance of Indigenous Peoples believes this will hurt the economy of those who make a living from informal trade.
For this Monday, according to an official statement, the blocked points are the Alaska Summit, Cuatro Caminos, La Morería, Salida a Quiché and Xecanchavox.
On March 22, representatives of the people of Ixil, the Xinca Parliament, the 48 cantons of Totonicapán and the Indigenous Mayor’s Office of Sololá arrived at the President’s House, where they delivered a memorial with their requests and gave them 48 hours to fulfill them .
That same day, also before Congress, they demanded the repeal of those laws or they would call a nationwide strike for March 27th.
«We call on the cantonal markets, the terminal, the Cenma (Central de Mayoreo) so that they all rise up, because these laws will affect us directly; They want to collect more taxes for their high salaries, for corruption,” several mayors told the legislature.
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