A Defiant Consuelo Porras
Guatemala City, Jan 24 (EFE).-
Consuelo Porras, Guatemala’s attorney general, canceled a meeting with newly inaugurated President Bernardo Arévalo just hours before it was to take place through a message posted Wednesday on social media.
Arévalo, who took office on Jan. 14, invited Porras to give a report on the work of the Public Ministry, which she heads.
Porras posted a video on social media just hours before the meeting, saying that she would publish the requested information on the institution’s social media “in the spirit of public accountability.”
She explained that the Public Ministry “is not subject to any state power,” which she took to meet that “participating in summonses or meetings to discuss procedures under investigation” would be against the law.
Arévalo has publicly accused the Attorney General of leading a “coup d’état” to prevent his inauguration, and before taking office, assured EFE on Jan. 3 that one of his first actions in office would be to request Porras’ resignation.
However, Porras said on Wednesday that she would not resign under any circumstances.
“Regarding the attempt to ask for my resignation, I want to send a clear message to the people of Guatemala and to the President of the Republic, which is that I categorically respect the law and therefore I will fulfill my four-year constitutional mandate,” the Attorney General declared.
Porras can only be removed from her position if there is a previous sentence against her, the Constitutional Court, Guatemala’s highest court, said on Dec. 20 when it dismissed motions to facilitate her removal.
The Attorney General’s Office has pursued a series of legal actions against Arévalo and his party, including three requests to lift presidential immunity and an attempt to annul the Seed Movement.
Arévalo won the presidential election with an anti-corruption discourse, in a country where dozens of local and foreign organizations have warned that for years the state has been “co-opted” by a corrupt clique of politicians, civil servants, military, legislators, judges and members of the business elite. EFE
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