“Enough of so much corruption,” says Bernardo Arévalo, the new president of Guatemala

The new president of Guatemalathe social democrat Bernardo Arevaloreiterated on Sunday his promise to undertake a frontal fight against the corruption for “restore confidence in the State and in democracy”after his wide victory at the polls.

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“The town of Guatemala has spoken forcefully”, “Enough of so much corruption”Arévalo said in his first statements to the press after winning the presidential ballot with a strong speech against corruption, an endemic evil in the country.

“Now, united with the people of GuatemalaWe will fight against corruption”, he added from a hotel in the capital, in addition to reporting that the presidents of two neighboring countries, the Mexican Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and the Salvadoran Nayib Bukele.

arevalo he won the presidency of Guatemala with 58% of the votes, after the count of 100% of the polling stations, while his rival, the former first lady Sandra Torreswho has not acknowledged defeat, obtained 37%, according to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE).

The future president confirmed that he was called by the outgoing president, the right-wing Alejandro Giammatteito congratulate him. “We will sit down to make a schedule of the transition plan”, he explained.

“the victory of arevalo means a defeat of the old politics, of the ruling party and of those nostalgic for the Cold War. A different era is beginning for our country and we will have to be mobilized for a peaceful transition”, the independent analyst told AFP Miguel Angel Sandoval.

Son of a leader who left his mark, arevalo He was the ballot favorite. party leader SeedHis broad triumph is attributed to the fact that he generated hope for change in a country mired in poverty, violence and corruption, which lead thousands of Guatemalans to emigrate each year.

But he is viewed with apprehension by the political elite and business entity that runs the country, accused of corruption. The prosecution tried to sideline him from the ballot to prevent him from coming to power.

Thousands of supporters of arevalo they celebrated their triumph in squares of the capital and other cities.

“This triumph is the defeat of a part of the system of corruption”, Jorge Mendoza, a 41-year-old sociologist, told AFP.

The ambassadors of USA and of the European Union expressed their willingness to work with arevalo.

“On behalf of my government, the position is to let those who were elected govern and assume power”said the US ambassador, William Poppto Guatemalan television.

“What is going to be important now is a consensus at the national level to guarantee the governance”, indicated the representative of the EU, Thomas Peyker.

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“complex times”

“Diplomatic experience and as a parliamentarian give him [a Arévalo] a base of knowledge and experience to form a broad government team. This increases its legitimacy”, told AFP the rector of the University for Peace of Costa Rica, Francisco Rojas.

“It will be a long period before the takeover [el 14 de enero de 2024]. It will be complex times”, he added.

The former first lady had the silent support giammattei and the powerful business elite allied with the government. She leads a center-left party that has turned to the right.

towers He had been questioning the electoral process since Friday and asked the court to guarantee the cleanliness of the ballot. After the vote, his party declared that it would fix “A definitive position when the results are clarified with total transparency” and lashed out at electoral observers from the OAS and the EU.

Torres also received the silent support of several right-wing partiesevangelical pastors and the prosecution, which has tried to outlaw the party Seed of Arevalo.

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“There will be judicial maneuvers”

The Supreme Court annulled on Friday the order to disqualify Seed and arevalo said he hopes the prosecution will drop the “ongoing pursuit” against his party “after the forcefulness of this victory” at the polls.

64-year-old sociologist, arevalo He is the son of the first democratically elected president in Guatemala, Juan Jose Arevalo (1945-1951), and promises to follow the path of his father with a strong social and change agenda.

Analysts point out that Guatemala lives a setback towards authoritarianism as a reaction of the establishment to the CICIGan entity created by the UN who investigated government corruption between 2007 and 2019.

In 2019 the then right-wing president Jimmy Morales closed the CICIG and giammattei he did not want to revive her.

In a strongly conservative and religious country, arevalo rule out legalizing same-sex marriages or abortionwhich is only allowed if there is risk to the mother.

His coming to power markat the end of 12 years of right-wing governments.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.