On November 21, 2020, protests began in

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

and several other parts of the country in response to the passing of a controversial budget bill by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in the midst of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and the aftermath of Hurricanes

Eta Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

and

Iota Iota (; uppercase Ι, lowercase ι; ) is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Yodh. Letters that arose from this letter include the Latin I and J, the Cyrillic І (І, і), Yi (Ї, ї), and J ...

. More than 7,000 protesters gathered in the capital city to demonstrate against the bill, which included cuts to education and health spending and increased funding for meals and expenses for lawmakers. During the protests in Guatemala City, social media reports showed a fire burning inside a window of the National Congress building.

Background

At the time of the protests, Guatemala was dealing with the effects of Hurricanes

and

, back-to-back storms that brought torrential rains to the country, and the

. The storms caused landslides that buried more than 100 Indigenous people and caused crop damage across the country. During this time,

passed a budget bill that cut spending for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

patients and

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

agencies. The protesters claimed that this bill was passed while the country was distracted by national disasters. The bill also increased the legislator's stipend for meals and expenses while cutting $25 million from the budget earmarked to fight malnutrition in the country. The budget also cut spending for the judiciary. On November 20, 2020, Vice President Guillermo Castillo called for himself and President

Alejandro Giammattei Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei Falla (; born 9 March 1956) is a Guatemalan politician who was the 51st president of Guatemala from 2020 to 2024. He is a former director of the Guatemalan penitentiary system and participated in Guatemala's presid ...

to resign. Castillo said he would not resign unless the president did so as well.

Protests

On November 21, 2020, more than 7,000 people gathered in protest in

, the capital of Guatemala. Hundreds of protesters also gathered in other parts of the country. University students led a protest that began four blocks away from the National Congress. Once they arrived at the plaza in front of the building, they set up a

guillotine A guillotine ( ) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by Decapitation, beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secur ...

. Protesters called on President Giammattei to veto the 2021 budget bill. They also called for the resignation of 125 of the 160 legislators in Congress. Uniformed police officers stood by as protesters climbed the front of the National Congress building, broke windows, and threw in incendiary devices. After the building was set on fire, the security forces fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd. Several people were injured. Firefighters arrived to stop the fire. The building, which was empty at the time, was on fire for about 10 minutes but the extent of the damage is not yet known. The protests also included peaceful demonstrations in the nation's capital. Among the targets of the protesters was the Supreme Court of Justice which recently withdrew

immunity from prosecution Legal immunity, or immunity from prosecution, is a legal status wherein an individual or entity cannot be held liable for a violation of the law, in order to facilitate societal aims that outweigh the value of imposing liability in such cases. S ...

for constitutional magistrates. The magistrates had blocked efforts by politicians to stop investigations into corruption in the government. Attorney General

María Consuelo Porras María Consuelo Porras Argueta (born August 23, 1953) is a Guatemalan attorney who has been serving as the attorney general of Guatemala since 2018. She previously served as Deputy Magistrate of the Constitutional Court from 2016 to 2018. Presi ...

was also targeted for requesting the withdrawal of immunity for the constitutional magistrates.

Reaction

President Giammattei condemned the events, saying: "I reiterate that people have the right to protest as allowed by law. But we cannot permit public and private property to be vandalised." He warned that anyone identified to have participated in causing the fire would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guatemalan protests, 2020 2020 in Guatemala 2020 protests Protests in Guatemala