King of Spain and Ten Heads of State Confirm Attendance to Bernardo Arevalo's Inauguration in Guatemala

According to official sources, the inauguration of Guatemala’s president-elect, Bernardo Arevalo de Leon, on January 14, 2024, will be attended by the King of Spain, Phillip VI, and ten other heads of state.

The Guatemalan Foreign Ministry informed that the presidents of Mexico and Chile, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Gabriel Boric, respectively, will attend Arevalo's inauguration.

Likewise, presidents Rodrigo Chavez of Costa Rica, Xiomara Castro of Honduras, Gustavo Petro of Colombia, Santiago Pena of Paraguay, Daniel Noboa of Ecuador, and Laurentino Cortizo of Panama, as well as the Prime Minister of Belize, Juan Antonio Briceno, and the Prime Minister of Aruba, Evelyn Weber-Croes, will also be in Guatemala.

The same source said that the foreign ministers of Taiwan, the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Portugal will also attend the inauguration of Bernardo Arevalo.

The Foreign Ministry also confirmed that Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States will attend.

Almagro has closely followed and monitored the transition process after repeated attempts by the Guatemalan Public Ministry (Prosecutor´s Office) to reverse the electoral triumph of Arevalo de Leon.

The new president’s inauguration will occur at 14:00 local time (20:00 GMT) and will mark the beginning of the Arevalo Administration. He won the 2023 elections representing the progressive party Movimiento Semilla.

Arevalo warned on September 1, 2023, that the Attorney General and head of the Public Ministry, Consuelo Porras, was carrying out a “coup d’etat” against him to prevent him from taking office.

In an interview with EFE, the Guatemalan president-elect assures that the supporters of the “coup d’etat” against him are “desperate” a few days from his inauguration.

The 65-year-old academic comes to power with an anti-corruption discourse to replace the current president, Alejandro Giammattei, who has one of the lowest approval ratings in the continent, according to several surveys.

This article was published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times. To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.