José Carlos Móvil
Guatemala City, Oct 9 (EFE) – Guatemala is experiencing an unprecedented national strike on Monday, after a week of road blockades, to demand the resignation of the attorney general and head of the Public Ministry, Consuelo Porras Argueta, who is not considering leaving her post.
With more than 120 road blockades throughout the country, the Central American country is going through a heated moment after a week of demonstrations against Porras Argueta, whom the demonstrators accuse of trying to modify this year’s electoral results.
During the last seven days, the protests took place on highways and at the Public Ministry headquarters, but this Monday at least 200 people arrived at one of the Attorney General’s residences to personally demand her resignation.
Porras Argueta was not in the place, but it is not discarded that in the next hours, the demonstrators will look for the attorney general in other residences, as well as other members of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
In total, there were around 200 people who arrived at Porras Argueta’s residence, and certified, thanks to the entrance enabled for some of them, that the Attorney General was not in the place.
AN UNPRECEDENTED NATIONAL STRIKE The unprecedented national strike, of great magnitude, has few historical precedents, the most recent being that of August 27, 2015, against the president at the time, Otto Pérez Molina, resigned a week later under accusations of corruption.
Educational centers at all levels, in addition to stores and markets, have closed at least for this Monday, but protest organizers have warned that they will not stop the blockades until Porras Argueta resigns.
“The corruption is too much. We need to unite and we are not going to let go of the roads until he resigns,” Gerson Gonzalez, a cab driver blocking the way on one of Guatemala City’s streets, told Efe.
The demonstrations were called and initiated a week ago by the indigenous organization 48 Cantones of the department (province) of Totonicapán (west). Since then, they have been joined by various groups, including universities, doctors, and businessmen.
The protestors are demanding the resignation of the head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for attempting to modify the results of the elections held last June and August, which were surprisingly won by the academic Bernardo Arévalo de León.
“We are tired of corruption and this is a peaceful demonstration in favor of the rights of all”, said to Efe another of the protesters, without identifying himself, in a sector of the residential area Cayalá, a few kilometers from the center of Guatemala City.
Arévalo de León has reiterated since September 1 that prosecutor Porras is leading an “ongoing coup d’état”, which aims to prevent her from assuming the presidency on January 14. EFE
jcm/ar (foto) (vídeo)
