Issued on: 23/11/2020 -
Demonstrators burn an effigy representing Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei during a protest demanding his resignation
Johan ORDONEZ AFP
Guatemala City (AFP)
Guatemala's parliament on Monday backed away from approving a business-friendly 2021 budget after demonstrators in the impoverished Central American nation torched the Congress building and demanded the resignation of President Alejandro Giammattei in weekend protests.
Widespread indignation against Giammattei's administration and Congress have been caused by a lack of resources for battling the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the new spending plan.
"In order to maintain the governability of the country and social peace, we have agreed to suspend the processing of the budget," said Congress president Allan Rodriguez.
The suspension would create "space for discussion of the country's governance," he said.
The country's only state-run university, the University of San Carlos, had earlier called for a national strike on Monday.
Meanwhile, powerful farmers' union Codeca appeared to back away from an earlier call to its members to block roads around the country.
With the budget suspended, a decree endorsing it will no longer be sent to the president who is responsible for approving or vetoing it, Rodriguez said on the Congressional television channel.
Congress, dominated by conservative pro-government parties, last week approved an almost $13 billion budget, the largest in the country's history.
Lawmakers have until November 30 to approve a new budget, otherwise the government will continue to operate under the existing budget of $10.4 billion.
- Torching Congress -
Thousands of Guatemalans took part in a peaceful demonstration in the capital on Saturday, but hundreds broke away and partly burned the Congress building, setting fire to several offices after smashing windows to get inside.
Hundreds of people returned to the streets on Sunday to demand Giammattei's resignation.
Rodriguez accused the protesters of using the budget as a pretext to commit "terrorist acts" against the Congress, which "had the objective of breaking the constitutional order and gaining access to power."
The Congress speaker said he would ask Attorney General Consuelo Porras to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the attack on the Congress building, pledging that those responsible would face justice.
Giammattei, 64, issued a statement Sunday afternoon reproaching Saturday's violent demonstrations, saying he considered the protesters to be "minority groups that seek to force a true coup d'etat."
They are angry over the budget in which most of the funds were to go to infrastructure tied to big business in a country where poverty is widespread and half of children under five years old are malnourished.
Giammattei's vice president Guillermo Castillo, with whom he has repeatedly clashed, said Friday night he had asked the president to resign with him "for the good of the country".
Castillo asked the public prosecutor's office on Sunday to investigate the burning of the Congress building but also police repression of the protests, in which dozens of people were injured in clashes.
A former prisons chief, Giammattei took office in January but his management of the health crisis has been criticized by Castillo, the opposition and social sectors.
All have denounced deficiencies in the hospital system as well as in taking care of groups affected by lockdowns aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
Congress approved $3.8 billion to fight the coronavirus pandemic, but less than 15 percent of those funds have been invested.
Guatemala has recorded nearly 120,000 cases of the virus and more than 4,000 deaths.
© 2020 AFP
Guatemala City (AFP)
Guatemala's parliament on Monday backed away from approving a business-friendly 2021 budget after demonstrators in the impoverished Central American nation torched the Congress building and demanded the resignation of President Alejandro Giammattei in weekend protests.
Widespread indignation against Giammattei's administration and Congress have been caused by a lack of resources for battling the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the new spending plan.
"In order to maintain the governability of the country and social peace, we have agreed to suspend the processing of the budget," said Congress president Allan Rodriguez.
The suspension would create "space for discussion of the country's governance," he said.
The country's only state-run university, the University of San Carlos, had earlier called for a national strike on Monday.
Meanwhile, powerful farmers' union Codeca appeared to back away from an earlier call to its members to block roads around the country.
With the budget suspended, a decree endorsing it will no longer be sent to the president who is responsible for approving or vetoing it, Rodriguez said on the Congressional television channel.
Congress, dominated by conservative pro-government parties, last week approved an almost $13 billion budget, the largest in the country's history.
Lawmakers have until November 30 to approve a new budget, otherwise the government will continue to operate under the existing budget of $10.4 billion.
- Torching Congress -
Thousands of Guatemalans took part in a peaceful demonstration in the capital on Saturday, but hundreds broke away and partly burned the Congress building, setting fire to several offices after smashing windows to get inside.
Hundreds of people returned to the streets on Sunday to demand Giammattei's resignation.
Rodriguez accused the protesters of using the budget as a pretext to commit "terrorist acts" against the Congress, which "had the objective of breaking the constitutional order and gaining access to power."
The Congress speaker said he would ask Attorney General Consuelo Porras to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the attack on the Congress building, pledging that those responsible would face justice.
Giammattei, 64, issued a statement Sunday afternoon reproaching Saturday's violent demonstrations, saying he considered the protesters to be "minority groups that seek to force a true coup d'etat."
They are angry over the budget in which most of the funds were to go to infrastructure tied to big business in a country where poverty is widespread and half of children under five years old are malnourished.
Giammattei's vice president Guillermo Castillo, with whom he has repeatedly clashed, said Friday night he had asked the president to resign with him "for the good of the country".
Castillo asked the public prosecutor's office on Sunday to investigate the burning of the Congress building but also police repression of the protests, in which dozens of people were injured in clashes.
A former prisons chief, Giammattei took office in January but his management of the health crisis has been criticized by Castillo, the opposition and social sectors.
All have denounced deficiencies in the hospital system as well as in taking care of groups affected by lockdowns aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
Congress approved $3.8 billion to fight the coronavirus pandemic, but less than 15 percent of those funds have been invested.
Guatemala has recorded nearly 120,000 cases of the virus and more than 4,000 deaths.
© 2020 AFP
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