GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala's new president, Bernardo Arévalo, was left with huge challenges Monday after he was finally sworn into office, including his party's lack of recognition in a Congress where he would not have a majority anyway.
“There cannot be democracy without social justice, and social justice cannot prevail without democracy,” Arévalo said in his first speech as president, referring to the young and Indigenous Guatemalans.
It was an important gesture by Arévalo, who was criticized last week for including only one Indigenous person in his Cabinet.
A progressive academic-turned-politician and son of a Guatemalan president credited with implementing key social reforms in the mid-20th century, Arévalo made confronting Guatemala’s entrenched corruption his main campaign pledge.
Outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei, who was widely criticized for eroding the country’s democratic institutions, did not attend the inauguration.
Persons:
—, Bernardo Arévalo, Arévalo, General Consuelo Porras, ” Arévalo, Porras, Guatemala’s, “, ”, Alejandro Giammattei, Arévalo's, Manuel Perez, ” Prosecutors, Washington, Antony Blinken
Organizations:
GUATEMALA CITY, Attorney, Lawmakers, Central, la Constitucion, Guatemalan, ”, Arévalo’s, Prosecutors, Seed, European Union, Organization of American, U.S
Locations:
GUATEMALA, Guatemala, Central American, U.S, America