Guatemala: the new president Arevalo takes office seven hours late

The president-elect of Guatemala, Bernardo Arevalo, was officially installed together with the vice president, Karen Herrera. After hours of delay, the nomination as president of the country took place at midnight (7 am in Italy). “With this government, it is time for Guatemala to change,” the president declared after the ceremony, adding that “corruption within the institutions will not be allowed.”

In his inauguration speech he indicated the four priorities of his government: environment, health, education and development. The 64-year-old sociologist should have taken up his duties at 16pm, 23pm in Italy, but the first of the institutional moments - the proclamation of the deputies and the opening of the Congress - was significantly delayed. What blocked the start of the work was yet another consequence of a legal and institutional battle that has been ongoing for months, arising from complaints from the prosecutor's office regarding alleged fraud committed by the president-elect, by his party - the Semilla Movement -, and by the Supreme Court electoral.

Arevalo takes over Alejandro Giammattei, the outgoing president also has Italian nationality, thanks to his victory in the August elections with over 60 percent of the votes. Following up on complaints that emerged even before the vote, however, the general prosecutor's office - especially through the anti-corruption office - has repeatedly requested the disqualification of Arevalo and the vice president-elect, Karin Herrera, citing various crimes. There was talk of irregularities in the formation of the Semilla Movement, the party with which he won the elections, and of a case of dirty money laundering of the equivalent of around 40 thousand dollars. Also in the sights of the public prosecution is the electoral tribunal, which is said to have been guilty of having validated the result of the presidential elections tainted by alleged fraud.

The latest chapter in a long and complex legal battle took place on Friday, when the Constitutional Court rejected three requests to suspend the inauguration ceremony, centered on alleged violations of the Charter. The other court, which as on previous occasions defended the actions of the other powers against the prosecutor's accusations, rejected the appeals lodged against the composition of parliament filed by the deputy and former presidential candidate, Lecsan Medina, and by the conservative Liga formation ProPatria. The third appeal, presented by a citizen against the leaders of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), also had no follow-up. Arevalo, the first social democratic president in the history of the Central American country, has repeatedly spoken of "coup" attempts that the previous ruling class would have carried out, through the prosecutor's office, to avoid the anti-corruption commitment of the new government.

The legal offensive against the elected president has also raised concern and alarm among the international community: regional bodies such as the Organization of American States (OAS) or Mercosur, and numerous governments have called for respect for the electoral results, denouncing threats to the system Guatemalan Democrat. The United States has launched sanctions against elected officials and deputies, while the European Union has prepared a "regulatory framework" for possible restrictive measures to defend democracy. Proclamations which the outgoing president, however, stigmatized: defending the validity of the electoral result, Giammattei however reminded everyone that the prosecutor's office is only "a part" of the institutional system and that having organized the process of transfer of power well in advance is proof itself of the democratic solidity of the country.