INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CELEBRATES ARÉVALO'S INAUGURATION IN GUATEMALA
Countries and international organizations have celebrated that Bernardo Arévalo has finally assumed the Presidency of Guatemala, after a delay due to political and judicial attempts to prevent him from taking office.
The Guatemalan Attorney General’s Office had even tried during the electoral campaign to annul the participation of Arevalo and the Seed Movement. The argument is that there were, allegedly, irregularities in the creation of this political movement, which led to a judicial order of suspension against him. The Prosecutor’s Office tried to annul the elections, in which, in the runoff, Arevalo obtained 60% of the voters’ support against the pro-government and conservative candidate.
The investiture session was to take place on Sunday afternoon in Guatemala, but the deputies, mostly from right-wing parties, were debating until late at night how to form the Board of Directors of the Congress, if the Seed Movement should be considered as independent, given the judicial order of suspension.
Arevalo, who raised an anti-corruption discourse in his campaign, asked throughout the day that the will of the citizens be respected. He received the fundamental support of leaders and dignitaries who attended the investiture. Among those who traveled to Guatemala were the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, the presidents of Colombia, Chile, Honduras and Panama, among others, delegates from the US government, as well as the King of Spain, Felipe VI.
The presence and international pressure were key to the success of the psosession. Arévalo. In view of the delay in the inauguration, Latin American foreign ministers and Borrell signed a joint declaration in which they called for “handing over power” to the president elected at the polls.
These same governments expressed their satisfaction after Arévalo’s inauguration ceremony took place at the stroke of midnight this Sunday, January 14, 2024, after eight hours of delays.
U.S. President Joe Biden congratulated Arevalo for his inauguration, in which he sees “a historic testimony of the shared commitment to democracy and the will of the people”.
Borrell, for his part, said that “democracy has won in Guatemala”. And he assured that in this new chapter the EU will be “at the side of the Guatemalan people and its institutions, defending the rule of law and promoting social cohesion”.
From Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said: “We celebrate that (Bernardo Arévalo) passed this difficult and even painful test, because it is not possible that an election takes place, that a candidate wins with a 20-point lead and that they begin to put obstacles in his way so that he does not assume the mandate of the people. But well, he is out”.
“The will of the Guatemalan people has triumphed”, said the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez.
Another institution that joined in the congratulations was the UN. UN Secretary General António Guterres has also said that he has “taken note” of the Arevalo government’s intention to “promote peace, social justice and democratic reforms.”
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