The newest in a sequence of legislative setbacks triggered by opponents underscored the challenges Arevalo faces as chief of Central America’s most populous nation, to which he has pledged to deliver sweeping reforms and deal with the rising value of residing and violence, key drivers of migration to the United States.
Arevalo gained August elections by a landslide and about 9 hours after his inauguration was scheduled to begin, he took the oath as president, changing conservative politician Alejandro Giammattei whose authorities has been engulfed in corruption scandals.
Giammattei skipped the ceremony.
WATCH | Arevalo wins Guatemala presidency, scored 59% of the vote
Earlier, Arevalo had urged his supporters to throng the capital’s emblematic Plaza de la Constitucion to “have a good time the brand new spring in Guatemala”.
Arevalo’s sudden election victory was seen as a watershed second for Guatemala, the place the 65-year-old has forged himself as a democracy advocate and the chief of a progressive motion bent on reshaping a political panorama lengthy dominated by conservative events.
A profession diplomat, sociologist and son of a former president, Arevalo has confronted regular opposition from established political events resembling these of Giammettei, whose allies have repeatedly tried to undermine his election victory.
Guatemala’s lawyer normal, an ally of Giammattei, has made a number of makes an attempt to hinder Arevalo’s transition to the presidency, together with attempting to strip Arevalo and his vp of authorized immunity, trying to droop his Semilla occasion and annul the election.
The lawyer normal’s workplace has defended its actions as throughout the framework of Guatemala’s legal guidelines.
Arevalo’s inauguration was thrown into disarray after the Supreme Court allowed opposition lawmakers to keep up their management of Congress, and compelled members of the president’s Semilla occasion to face as independents, additional diluting its presence. Semilla holds solely 23 of the 160 seats in Congress.
The transfer sparked wrangling in Congress, and supporters of Arevalo threatened to storm the constructing as police in riot gear gathered within the streets.
The United States and a number of other Latin American nations additionally known as for Arevalo’s election win to be revered.
The worldwide neighborhood, together with the United States, had piled huge stress on Giammattei’s administration to proceed with the transition of energy.