Hundreds of protesters stormed Guatemala’s congress on Saturday and set part of the building on fire amid growing protests against President Alejandro Giamatei and the legislature for approving budget cuts in education and health spending.
As many as 2,000 people protested in front of the National Palace in Guatemala against the budget, which protesters say was secretly negotiated and passed by lawmakers when the Central American country was distracted by a back-to-back hurricane. Was gone. And the Covid-19 epidemic.
The video on social media showed flames of gunfire from the window of the MLA building. According to media reports, security agents fired tear gas at protesters and injured people there.
Giamatte condemned the fire on his Twitter account on Saturday.
“Anyone found to have participated in criminal acts will be punished with full force of law.” “He defended the right of the people to protest, but we cannot allow people to sabotage public or private property,” he wrote.
The president said he was meeting with various groups to introduce changes to the disputed budget.
Dissatisfaction with the 2021 budget was growing on social media and clashes erupted during demonstrations on Friday. Guatemalans were furious because legislators allowed 000 65,000 to pay for meals for themselves, but cut funding for coronavirus patients and human rights agencies.
The vice president, Guillermo Castillo, has offered to resign, and Giamatte said the two should resign “for the good of the country.” He suggested an attempt to veto the approved budget, sack government officials and make more contact in various sectors across the country.
Giamatte did not publicly respond to the proposal, and Castillo did not share the president’s response to his proposal. Castillo said he would not resign alone.
The spending plan was secretly negotiated and approved by Congress before early Wednesday morning. It also passed when the country was distracted by hurricanes Eta and Iota, causing torrential rains in most parts of Central America.
The leadership of the Roman Catholic Church in Guatemala also called on Giamattey to veto the budget on Friday.
The country’s human rights lawyer Jordan Rhodes said this is a misleading blow to the people because Guatemala was in the midst of natural disasters, government corruption, signs of globalization in humanitarian aid.
He said the budget favored ministries that have historically been centers of corruption.
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