The U.S. government expressed its support for the budget expansion recently approved by Congress and said that Guatemala can be the economic engine of the region.
Washington’s support for the budget increase requested by Bernardo Arévalo’s government was given through a message on the social network X account of the US Embassy accredited in the country.
“The @Moodys rating reaffirms what we have always known: Guatemala can be the economic engine of the region! The increase in the budget is an important step and there is more work to be done, since Guatemala’s progress depends on the unity of all,” says the Embassy on its X account.
On August 14, the Congress of the Republic approved a budget increase of Q14,451 million requested by the Executive.
That day, the questioning of the Minister of the Interior, Francisco Jiménez, was interrupted by a privileged motion that opened the opportunity for 110 deputies to support the budget increase that the Arévalo government had been waiting for for months.
In the first call, 99 deputies voted in favour of the budget increase and from then on it took more than 30 minutes for the board to move again and add two more votes. In the midst of this, some parliamentarians asked for the vote to be closed and the failed attempt to be confirmed and others, such as the president of the Legislative Assembly, Nery Ramos, did not leave the telephone.
Finally, the ruling party obtained 110 votes and approved the extension, increasing the spending ceiling by Q14,451 million.
However, there are already four appeals for constitutional protection against the budget increase approved by the legislature, because the complainants allege illegalities.
On August 19, the Guatemalan Civic Citizen Group filed an appeal against the budget increase before the Constitutional Court (CC).
In addition, the Foundation Against Terrorism (FCT), the deputy of the Valor bloc, Sandra Jovel, and deputies of the Vamos bench filed legal actions against the expansion.
Among the arguments for filing the appeals is that the right to question the Minister of the Interior, Francisco Jiménez, was violated, as raised by Congresswoman Jovel.
Representative Andrea Reyes, elected by the Semilla Movement, indicated that everyone is within their rights, but that legally -the amparos- are inadmissible. She recalled that the Constitutional Court (CC) has already ruled that an interpellation can be interrupted to legislate in favor of budgetary issues, which is why it is “perfectly constitutional.”
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