Arévalo seeks to close a "dark era of corrupt cooptation" with his inauguration in Guatemala

Borrell announces 50 million euros in investments for the "green transition" in Guatemala

MADRID, 14 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The elected president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, defended this past Saturday, hours before taking office, the need to "close" a "dark era of corrupt cooptation" in reference to the attempts by various public organizations to annul the elections and prevent his inauguration despite his victory in the presidential elections.

The new authorities have the "commitment" to "close this dark era of corrupt cooptation of the political system in which our country has existed for more than two decades," Arévalo stated in a joint press conference with the High Representative of the EU Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell.

"We have before us an opportunity and a challenge to rebuild and strengthen institutions that for many years have been weakened and exploited for the benefit of a few," he highlighted.

Arévalo has referred to the protection granted by the Guatemalan Constitutional Court to prevent him from being detained before his inauguration at the initiative of the Public Ministry (the country's Prosecutor's Office). "We have a legal team that is on permanent alert precisely because the creativity, however spurious, of the Public Ministry seems to have no limits and they may actually have resources," he indicated.

The accusations of the Prosecutor's Office "have already been seen to make no sense and yet they generate alarm and generate confusion." "It is feasible that this could happen, we cannot rule it out," but the Constitutional Court guarantees that "none of these actions are viable to prevent the investiture."

The president-elect has also highlighted that "the polarization that exists in Guatemala is a polarization that is more virtual than real." "This polarization has been attempted to be created within the framework of political competition (...). There is no polarization around ideological issues in the Guatemalan population (...). There is unity in the conviction about the need to combat corruption and protect the system," he assured.

Arévalo has expressed his gratitude to the EU "in this effort, in this resistance, in this fight" against the "political-criminal elites" that began with the presence of an EU electoral observation mission.

The deployment of this mission "served to effectively verify that the elections had been free and transparent with a presence, clarity and forcefulness in their statements that prevented the narrative of alleged fraud and irregularities from congealing in the face of the evidence they provided," Arévalo has stressed.

Borrell, for his part, referred to "the obstacles that have been put in place to prevent this process from reaching a successful conclusion" and recalled that the EU has approved a legal framework for the possible imposition of individual sanctions "against those who make it difficult the normal development of the democratic process".

Borrell took advantage of his visit to announce an investment of 50 million euros in the department of Petén "to support the green transition over the coming years" that will benefit nearly 600,000 people.

"In a joint effort with the States of the Union, in particular Spain, Germany, Sweden and Ireland and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations," he highlighted.