GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemalan President-elect Bernardo Arévalo is scheduled to be sworn into office Sunday afternoon. But just like almost every day since his resounding Aug. 20 election victory, the inauguration will be tinged with doubts and tensions.
The still-serving Attorney General, Consuelo Porras, has tried every legal trick in the book to put him on trial or in jail before he takes office. And Arévalo’s Seed Movement party will not have a majority in Congress, and may not even have formal recognition there.
And it’s not even clear if the leaders of Congress — who oppose Arévalo — will turn up for the inauguration, which could introduce legal doubts because they are supposed to attend.
Arévalo is an academic, diplomat and the son of a progressive president from the middle of the 20th century, and his election marked a political awakening in a population weary of corruption and impunity.
But as much as Arévalo wants to change things, he may face enormous obstacles. His anti-corruption stance and outsider status are threats to deep-rooted interests in the Central American country, observers say.
Still, the fact he got this far is a testament to international support and condemnation of the myriad attempts to disqualify him.
For many Guatemalans, Sunday’s inauguration represents not only the culmination of Arévalo’s victory at the polls but also their successful defense of the country’s democracy.
Guatemalan President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, right, shakes hands with Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, at the end of a joint news conference the night before Arévalo’s inauguration in Guatemala City, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. Credit: AP/Moises Castillo
The inauguration is scheduled to have a festive tone: cumbia and salsa music is planned for a huge celebration in Guatemala’s City’s emblematic Plaza de la Constitucion.
That Arévalo has made it to within a day of his…
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