Guatemala's President Says 'Corrupt Coalition' Plans a Comeback

By Augusta Saraiva and Michael McDonald
September 30, 2024 at 12:28PM EDT

Guatemala’s President Bernardo Arevalo during an interview in New York on Sept. 26. (Michael Nagle/Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloo)


(Bloomberg) -- Guatemala’s President Bernardo Arevalo says the same politicians and officials who nearly thwarted his inauguration this year are now trying to sabotage his plans to fight corruption and boost infrastructure and social spending.

Arevalo, who took office in January with the support of the US, said in an interview that most of his proposals have not made any progress in congress, where his party holds just 23 of 160 seats. His long-term goal is to integrate subsistence farmers in the national economy, creating the social development that’s needed to retain Guatemalans seeking to emigrate north, he said.

But Arevalo’s plans face an uphill battle in the hostile congress, while local courts have already received 13 impeachment requests against him. He said that gives ammunition to the politicians and court members who keep trying to destabilize his government. Known as “coalition of the corrupt” in Guatemala, many of them were sanctioned by the US last year for “undermining democracy and the rule of law.”

“They’re going to try to come back. That’s why they need us to fail,” Arevalo said in New York. “They will try to throw every possible obstacle in our way — legal, political.”

More:
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/politics/2024/09/30/guatemalas-president-says-corrupt-coalition-plans-a-comeback/

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Older article regarding malignant monster prosecutor who has been conducting a war upon this President since before he was elected:

María Consuelo Porras

María Consuelo Porras, Guatemala’s Attorney General, has been a key instrument in derailing democracy, working to keep the corrupt government in power by overseeing efforts to prevent president elect Bernardo Arévalo from assuming office, and brutally persecuting honest prosecutors, journalists, and activists.



Reported by
OCCRP

The philosopher and historian Hannah Arendt noted that some of the Nazi party’s most effective leaders were not fanatics or sociopaths, but rather bureaucrats who ruthlessly engaged in murder and corruption on behalf of the cause. Their calculated efficiency made the horror greater, and Arendt called this the “banality of evil.”

María Consuelo Porras, Guatemala’s Attorney General, is a sterling example of that same banality –– albeit involving lesser crimes –– and that’s why our judges have decided she is worthy of being named 2023 Person of the Year in Organized Crime and Corruption.

Porras has acted as an efficient instrument used by the government to eviscerate the rule of law. She has overseen efforts to prevent president elect Bernardo Arévalo from assuming office, including suspending his political party and raiding the election commission. Arévalo has called it a “coup in slow motion.” The moves by Porras and her government allies have thrown Central America’s most populous country into political crisis, with protestors taking to the streets and blocking a main highway leading into the capital, Guatemala City.

"Porras is protecting what has been called in Guatemala ‘the pact of the corrupt,’ which involves bent businessmen, corrupt politicians, members of organized crime, and retired generals," said Maria Teresa Ronderos, director of the Centro Latinoamericano de Investigación Periodística (CLIP), and one of OCCRP's Person of the Year judges. “She has brutally persecuted honest prosecutors, journalists, and activists, chasing them into exile and depriving the public of these crucial checks on authority."

More:
https://www.occrp.org/en/person-of-the-year/maria-consuelo-porras



María Consuelo Porras





María Consuelo Porras challenges us all to step outside