The OAS and the EU ask the Guatemalan Congress to hand over power to Arévalo

The Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union (EU) This Sunday they called on the Guatemalan Congress to hand over “power as required by the Constitution” to the president-elect, Bernardo Arévalo de León.

“The Guatemalan people expressed their democratic will in fair, free and transparent elections”assured a joint statement by “all delegations invited and represented here” in Guatemala for the inauguration of the elected president.

The declaration was read in an improvised press conference by the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, after a meeting between the foreign ministers of several countries in the region attending the transfer of command in the Central American country.

“Gathered in the City of Guatemala “For the presidential inauguration, we call on the Congress of the Republic to fulfill its constitutional mandate of handing over power as required by the constitution today to the president-elect Bernardo Arévalo and the vice president-elect Karin Herrera,” Almagro explained.

The Uruguayan diplomat, who is in Guatemala City to attend the transfer of command in the country, added that the “willpower” of the people reflected in the 2023 elections must be “respected.”

“I signed today, on behalf of the European Unionthe statement in support of the President Bernardo Arevalo and democracy in Guatemala”, published by Josep Borrell.

“The Guatemalan people expressed their democratic will in fair, free and transparent elections. That will must be respected. “I signed today, on behalf of the European Union, the declaration in support of President Bernardo Arévalo and democracy in Guatemala.”stressed the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The United States has also asked the Guatemalan Congress to “Respect the will of the people.”said today Samantha Power, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, who heads the delegation from her country attending Arévalo’s inauguration.

The presidential investiture in Guatemala this Sunday is being hindered because Congress did not advance during the morning in the swearing-in process of the 160 new deputies of Parliament, as officially scheduled.

The delivery of credentials to the new legislators is an essential requirement for the investiture of the new president to take place.

The tension comes after an electoral process marked by attempts since last July by the Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office) to prevent Arévalo de León from taking office this Sunday, as established by law.

Luis Almagro visited Guatemala three times in recent months to supervise the transition process, which must take place with the departure this Sunday of the current president, Alejandro Giammattei.