Video images show the interior of a room attached to the Presidency of the Congress of the Republic, which has generated exchanges of accusations between deputies regarding the nature of the space.
Some allege that it is a supposed “bunker” used to store “resources” without registration, while others firmly maintain that it is a place dedicated to worship.
The debate began with a complaint on social networks, to which the Public Ministry (MP) responded by initiating an investigation into the alleged discovery.
The president of the Congress of the Republic, Nery Ramos, was questioned on the subject. “They talk regarding a cache of money. Naturally, anyone who might have had a cache is not going to leave it in an office like this power of the State,” he said on March 5.
According to Ramos, it was Congressman Samuel Pérez who found the annex when he was in the Presidency of Congress and of whom he said he “did not know” what “its usefulness” was.
Pérez pointed directly, this March 6, to former president Allan Rodríguez. “The week of January 14, I showed you the office of the Presidency of Congress, but we were missing an important part,” Pérez said in a video that he published on the Semilla bench’s social media account.
The deputy, in the video, removes a piece of furniture, opens a small hatch in the living room wall, and enters the space. “This place is not in any registry,” he says and proceeds to point to a plaque that he attributes to Allan Rodríguez.
In the space there is an “unnecessary number of drawers,” says Pérez, while showing a box that pretends to be “books.” “They are not exactly bibles […] The Public Ministry is going to have to investigate what purpose this place had,” he said.
Pérez assures that it is a secret “bunker” built by Allan Rodríguez. “It is a refuge for the cowards who always hide from the people of Guatemala,” he said.
The bunker built by Allan Rodríguez is a refuge for the corrupt who hide from the town. pic.twitter.com/lzmx9Q89Gm
— Bancada Semilla (@BancadaSemilla) March 6, 2024
Space for “prayer and reflection”
“It makes me laugh,” said former president Allan Rodríguez in statements he gave to the media on March 5. “After the burning of Congress, a space that was used as a warehouse was repurposed into a private space that was used as a space for prayer and reflection”he assures.
On the plaque it says that it was left in a “comforting” way. According to him, he assured, it is a space of “protection” for “those of us who have principles and values, and respect God, might have a space to reflect and pray,” Rodríguez commented.
The former president himself urged a tour of the space that was repurposed. According to the deputy, the accusation once morest him is regarding people “interested in exaggerating and taking things out of context”.
Rodríguez said that the accusations must be accompanied by a complaint. “If the president—Nery Ramos—had said that, he would be concerned and ask him where the complaint is because for him to come and say that, three months following they took office, it makes them look bad.”
#Now | Video regarding the “bunker” found in the Presidency of Congress. Perez justifies that the complaint was filed until now because they sought to “strengthen” the complaint. pic.twitter.com/85p37WwXcG
— Henry Montenegro (@hmontenegro_GTV) March 6, 2024
Laughing, Shirley Rivera declared that, in fact, Rodríguez had shown her the annex. “When I took the presidency of Congress, the previous president, Allan Rodríguez, showed me that he had created a space of protection there in the Presidency. That is what exists,” she said.
Rivera said that for her it was a “very private” issue because she used the space to do devotionals. “You have seen the little prayer room, I used it for devotionals, exactly, it exists.”
When questioned regarding the existence of a cove he said: “Not at all. Let them say where they are, take photos and report them.”
A team from the Prosecutor’s Office once morest Money Laundering or Other Assets went to the Congress of the Republic on Tuesday, February 5. However, the MP reported that advisors from the legal area of the Legislature did not allow access to the researchers.
For this reason, the Prosecutor’s Office reported that they will proceed to present corresponding requests before a jurisdictional body to continue with the expertise.
The Ministry of Culture and Sports, being an entity that must accompany the investigation process because it is a historic building, assured in a note that its delegates have not managed to carry out two verification visits.
The investigation process includes “includes the review and analysis of the respective documentation” of permits for the remodeling of the space in the annex to the Presidency of Congress.
“Regarding the documentation, we are in the verification process and we hope to complete it soon, however, we have not been able to complete the two visits we have made because Congress, for reasons of jurisdiction and independence of the legislative body as such, has its own regulations and we are still waiting for your authorization to enter,” the note reads.
The deputies have given different versions regarding the nature of the space. Samuel Pérez directly denounces Allan Rodríguez, former president of Congress, for creating a “bunker.” (Free Press Photo: Erick Ávila)
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