Last Tuesday night, the bill to expand the budget by Q14,451 million received the 107 votes it needed to dispense with the need for a national emergency ruling.
The final votes were cast by the deputies of the Valor bench, Sherol Arévalo, Carlos López, Jorge Ayala and Elmer Palencia; by the National Unity of Hope (UNE) León Barrera; and by Elefante, Rodrigo Pellecer.
Cabal’s representative, Luis Aguirre, one of the Congress’s operators; and Luis Contreras, from the Compromiso, Renovación y Orden (Creo) bench; Christian Joél Martínez and Thelma Ramírez, from Vamos, sought district votes for the approval of the new resources.
Of the 20 legislators who make up the Congressional Finance Committee, in which a draft resolution was initially presented, four voted against it, three were absent from the vote and one had permission not to attend the plenary session.
Meanwhile, opposition members Álvaro Arzú, from the unionists, and Allan Rodríguez, from Vamos, did not obtain support from their colleagues to stop the session, which lasted more than eight hours. Another absentee was Adim Maldonado, from the UNE, who began as an ally of the ruling party.
In the middle of the plenary session, the deputies elected by the Semilla Movement and declared as independents were left as mere spectators of what was happening in the chamber. Román Castellanos was the only independent who signed the seven approved amendments.
Lobbying
Deputy Samuel Pérez stated that part of the lobbying that was done with the departmental congressmen was the assignment of projects in their districts. For his part, Aguirre indicated: “The district members also have to support their electorate and they were also reflected in this.”
Aguirre confirmed that his commitment was to support farmers and the country’s economy, and that this seemed like an opportunity to make his contribution.
Ramírez explained that district deputies can facilitate the work of the Executive by providing support to the people. He added that, based on his experience, perhaps some legislators saw his leadership and asked for their opinion before voting, because they instilled fear in them, although in this regard he avoided going into details.
“Necessity has no political banner and the district deputies that we support see the national reality,” he said.
The three legislators—Contreras, Martínez and Ramírez—were responsible for gathering at least 66 votes; the rest is attributed to Aguirre.
The changes
The amendments included reductions to the Ministries of Public Health and Social Assistance, Labor and Communications, as well as secretariats and other State agencies. In the same article, an increase was granted to the Agriculture portfolio, as well as to the ceiling of the extraordinary contribution for the Departmental Development Councils (Codede).
Another of the modified articles is the extraordinary allocation to the Departmental Development Councils (Codede), for Q1,875 million. In addition, a contribution of Q1,000 million was included for “national agricultural production and the reduction of prices of the basic basket”, where the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food is authorized a credit fund of Q500 million for fertilizers, seeds and farming tools.
For this last purpose, the article established that “for the aforementioned acquisitions, neither tender nor quotation will be mandatory and direct purchase of inputs for agricultural production may be made.”
The ministry was also authorized to create the “Crédito Campesino” fund, which will be managed by the National Mortgage Credit of Guatemala, with an allocation of Q500 million.
The funds will come from a reduction in the ceilings of the Ministries of Labor, Communications, Education and Social Development.
Signs
Arzú wrote on the social network X: “The most interesting thing is not only who is the main beneficiary deputy,” alluding to the fact that among the signatures of the legislators who supported the Q1 billion assigned to Maga appears that of Nery Rodas, from the Cabal bench.
In 2016, Rodas would have benefited from a family business that obtained Q14 million in vouchers of Q200 for agricultural inputs that farmers exchanged.
The lawmaker was contacted for comment, but did not respond to calls or messages to his phone.
Aguirre clarified that “this government does not provide benefits and is frontally opposed to corruption and such practices.”
Another of the articles included is the contribution of Q100 million for the rehabilitation of Route CA-9, section Palín-Escuintla. For the events that take place under this heading, neither the bidding nor the quotation in the contracts will be mandatory.
CONTENT FOR SUBSCRIBERS
Nery Ramos, president of the Legislative Assembly, justified the budget allocation that will be used to repair the section where the collapse occurred, because this problem has affected basic food products. “The Congress of the Republic is collaborating with the Executive to make it more practical and expeditious,” said the deputy, who added that the contracting will be immediate, since the State Contracting Law allows time and a bidding process would take nine months.
Article deleted
The new regulations also repealed Article 7 of the Law to Strengthen the Maintenance and Construction of Strategic Infrastructure, which was approved in 2022. This article contemplated a distribution of projects by municipalities and programmed amounts of Q994.2 million.
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