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From: TT
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Photo: Oliver De Ros / AP / TT
Angry protesters set fire to the Guatemala City convention building on Saturday.
The protesters set fire to the Guatemalan Congress building and demand the resignation of President Alejandro Giammattei.
Unrest broke out on Saturday, when hundreds of angry protesters protested against corruption and the allocation of resources in the latest budget.
A peaceful protest also took place in front of the old government palace, not far from the congress building. With flags and banners bearing messages such as “No more corruption,” “Giammattei out,” and “Fighting with the wrong generation,” the protesters gathered in the square of the old palace to demand the resignation of the president.
Guatemala’s vice president, Guillermo Castillo, had previously said that he was ready to resign and urged his boss to do the same.
Giammattei, 64, won last year’s election promising to fight corruption and organized crime. But his first time in power has been marked by controversy surrounding his handling of the pandemic.
The country’s congress, where conservative pro-government parties are in the majority, this week approved the largest state budget in the country’s history. Most of the investment goes to infrastructure with connections to large companies, which has drawn harsh criticism in a country where poverty is widespread and half of children under five suffer from malnutrition.
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