OPINION: Last Call for Giammattei

[Judi Lynn]

Thursday, October 19, 2023
El Faro Editorial Board
Leer en español

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei is running out of time to avert a catastrophe. Prosecutors' brazen efforts to thwart the swearing-in of President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo in January have unleashed a crisis that is dangerously inching toward a scenario of social confrontation and grave international isolation.

The resignation of the Minister of Governance, who indicated that he had refused to carry out illegal orders that threaten Guatemalan lives, coupled with violent clashes in San Marcos that have already left one person dead, have further rarefied the tension enveloping the country.

After two weeks of protests in which thousands of people have demanded the resignation of Attorney General Consuelo Porras and her right-hand man, prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, President Giammattei has opted for paralysis, arguing that he does not have the power to resolve the crisis.

An attorney general with a sense of responsibility to her country, and with dignity, would have already resigned. An act as simple as that —her resignation, followed by that of Curruchiche— would clear a path to normalization of national life and a democratic transfer of power. This is what Guatemala needs. But their efforts to delegitimize the electoral process have confirmed to anyone who still harbored doubts that Porras and her right hand man lack those two things: responsibility and dignity.

More:
https://elfaro.net/en/202310/opinion/27115/last-call-for-giammattei