The agile execution of economic stimulus programs, the considerable increase in public debt and the need to accelerate the process of economic reactivation are the lights, shadows and challenges identified a year after Alejandro Giammattei took office as president of Guatemala.
The fire of the Legislative Palace and the capture of more than 30 people, is the balance of the violent demonstrations that took place on November 21 in the capital of the country, after a discontent was generated due to the approval of the National Budget 2021.
During the early morning of November 18, the Congress of the Republic approved the Income and Expenditure Budget of the State, which amounted to approximately $12,815 million.
Following the departure of US diplomatic staff from Nicaragua at the worst moment of the socio-political crisis, the US government has now announced that it has authorized the return of the embassy staff and their families to Managua.
The crisis in which Nicaragua has been immersed since last April has negatively affected the country in multiple ways, including the irregularity with which the US diplomatic corps works.This was evident when, in mid-May, the US Embassy reported that it would not be processing routine applications for nonimmigrant visas, and that due to unstable security conditions, it would reduce the hours of service provided to the public.See "Nicaragua: US suspends visa issuance"
Like lemmings running towards a cliff, Costa Rica repeats the kind of actions that underscore the definition of a society incapable of stopping on the road to a terminal crisis.
One of the decisions taken by Guatemalan businessmen with interests in Nicaragua is to suspend new investments until the situation in the country is normalized.
Due to the social and political situation that the country has been experiencing for more than three months, Guatemalan investors that operate companies in Nicaragua have been analyzing the situation closely, and are already taking measures to minimize the impact of the crisis on businesses. One of the decisions that some companies have taken is to reduce the cost of the operation to the lowest possible level, in order to maintain or reduce product inventories.
To be able to ship cargo throughout the region, Central American business leaders are exploring options for moving goods using alternative methods, such as shipping.
Representatives from the Costa Rican government and the union of exporters met to address the issue of blockades in Nicaragua and the logistical drawbacks that they have caused, since Costa Rica transports by land about five thousand containers to the other Central American countries every month. As a result of this meeting, both parties concluded that the most viable option is to use maritime transport.
In response to the rupture of the dialogue on the part of the Ortega administration, companies and citizen organizations have called for a national strike on Thursday, June 14.
Demanding the cessation of repression by the Government and the resumption of the National Dialogue, social and business organizations, called for a general strike to take place tomorrow.
Since the beginning of the week at least 500 cargo trucks from Central American countries have been unable to get around a blockade in the department of Carazo.
Since the afternoon of last Monday, traffic has reportedly been totally shutdown in the area known as Dolores, near the municipality of Jinotepe, because protesters opposed to the Ortega administration are blocking roads.
Standard & Poor's has reduced Guatemala's debt rating from BB to BB-, arguing that political instability and weakness in government institutions are affecting economic growth prospects.
A series of events that began earlier this year, when President Jimmy Morales declared the Commissioner of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala,Iván Velasqueza persona non grata, and which continued with the "Corruption Pact" made by 107 deputies to approve a reform of the Penal Code to favor politicians implicated in illicit financing and to extend commutative penalties is the main reason behind the reduction in the debt rating.
The Supreme Court of Justice has agreed to uphold the request filed by the Public Ministry and the CICIG against the president, and now deputies must launch an investigation.
The political crisis affecting the country has been accentuated in the last few hours with a decision by the Supreme Court of Justice to send to Congress the file requesting a preliminary hearing.
Four petitions for pre trial hearings have already been lodged against President Morales, following his request to expel the leader of the International Commission against Impunity from Guatemala.
EDITORIAL
In less than a week a series of events took place which have left the country on tenterhooks.The Public Ministry and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig) filed a petition for a pre trial hearing against President Morales for alleged illicit electoral financing; Morales declared the Commission of the Cicig, Iván Velásquez, persona non grata, and requested his expulsion from the country. In response to this, three other requests for preliminary hearings have been filed in the last few hours.
With the resignation of Pérez Molina and Alejandro Maldonado sworn in as president, the institutional crisis should moderate in its intensity.
From a statement by AmCham Guatemala:
After several months of political uncertainty in Guatemala it has been demonstrated that nobody is above the law and that the country's institutions are able to perform their job.
With 132 votes in favor, the Congress decided to remove the president's immunity, who will have to face the accusations of corruption.
While the president insists on staying in office, the commission appointed to examine the arguments in President Perez Molina's defense and evidence presented by the prosecution decided unanimously to recommend to Congress to waive his immunity so that he faces judgement.
The appointment as Minister of Economy and Competitiveness Commissioner of people linked to the telecommunications sector has created strong suspicions, and comes at a time when a $250 million deal is on the table.
An article in Plazapublica.com.gt reports that "... the appointment of Ricardo Sagastume and Acisclo Valladares Urruela as Minister of Economy and Presidential Commissioner for Competitiveness, respectively, in a government that is drowning under the weight of allegations of corruption, has generated doubts and suspicions. When everyone else is leaving the ship, they are getting ready to get onboard. With a lack of coherent explanations from the Presidency and the new officials themselves, everything points to Tigo, the telephone company from which both of them come from, and a multi million dollar business deal in its favor as a result of the troubled waters in which the country finds itself. "
The Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations is asking him to leave office and be accountable, preventing unnecessary institutional expense for the country.
From a statement issued by the CACIF:
The undersigned organizations, members GUATEMALA FORUM, wish to express to Otto Perez Molina :
4. Guatemalan society has expressed peacefully and orderly its demands for your resignation as President of the Republic. So have various social bodies. As the person constitutionally responsible for national unity, recognize that this united nation is today asking for your retirement from office.