Ten thousand protesters took to the streets in Guatemala’s capital on Saturday 21 November, culminating in part of the Congress building in Guatemala City being set on fire by demonstrators. Demonstrations took place in 15 other cities across the country. The crowds, mostly young people, carried banners reading ‘they messed with the wrong generation’, decrying the Guatemalan state’s latest budget and demanding the resignation of members of the Executive, Congress and the Supreme Court.
The state revealed plans to cut spending on education and healthcare, whilst lawmakers set aside $65,000 to pay for meals for themselves. This proved to be the final straw for the Guatemalan working class who saw political action in the streets as the only viable option to achieve justice. The police responded with violent repression, beating crowds with batons and firing tear gas grenades.
Since the start of 2020, Guatemalans have suffered from two hurricanes and the Covid-19 pandemic, both of which have been criminally mismanaged by the government of Alejandro Giammattei, who took power in January 2020. Accusations and charges of corruption have been levied against Giammattei’s government, including the embezzlement of public funds. Whilst Guatemalan healthcare professionals were forced to work without pay and in undersupplied conditions, state officials were being implicated in the theft of public funds intended to fight the pandemic.
This double-dealing from the state has been commonplace since the 2015 election was won by Jimmy Morales, a far-right candidate from the National Convergence Front (Frente de Convergencia Nacional). Morales forged political ties with large business owners in Guatemala, forming what left organisations in the country called ‘Pacto de Corruptos’ (The Pact of the Corrupt). Under Giammattei, the state has continued to serve big business interests and attack the working class via public service cuts, eventually coming to a head in November 2020.
The protesters have forced the government to shelve the budget. Vice President Guillermo Castillo has offered to resign ‘for the good of the country’ and has called upon Giammattei to do the same, invoking the resignations of President Otto Perez and Vice President Roxana Baldetti following mass street protests in 2015.
Jacob Dexter
