At least More than a dozen policemen and four reporters were injured During the riots this Tuesday Guatemala Hundreds of retired soldiers forcibly broke into the country’s parliament after protesting.
The ex-combatants demanded compensation for their service in the army during the civil war, In the past two weeks, they have risen for several days, Set up roadblocks, and finally on Tuesday they decided to take action in Congress.
In addition to the injured, two detainees and hundreds of legislative officials and staff have a mental breakdown.
According to Effie, these veterans armed with machetes, clubs and stones broke into the parliament building in the capital of the country by breaking the iron gate, where they burned down the legislative office, five cars and three motorcycles.
According to the National Civil Police and Human Rights Ombudsman, at least 10 policemen were injured in the conflict. Four reporters from the local media Nuestro Diario, Prensa Libre, Quorum and Nuestro Mundo were injured, and several others were threatened for their work.
The demonstration turned into violence around 2:00 pm local time (18.00 GMT), just before the start of the plenary meeting. At that time, only 12 of the 160 members of Congress had to hide in the office, away from the protesters.
The Minister of Energy and Minerals Alberto Pimentel was also in the legislative office, and he confirmed to the media that they were detained in the building.
The representative of the Seed Movement, Luis Fernando Pineda Remus, asked for “help” on his social network and pointed out that the former soldier had a machete and a stone.
“We ran into the police car and left on Ninth Avenue. We are all shocked. The former soldiers were too violent. They threatened with machetes and stones. They burned down my office and destroyed the’carros’ (cars) and other offices near the parking lot (parking lot),” Pineda Lemus told Efe a few seconds after being evacuated.
The National Civil Police prepared an operation to evacuate more than a hundred congressional staff, representatives, and ministers of state on the street parallel to the parking lot where the protesters were located; that is, at the other end of the building, the security forces had already taken control of the surrounding area. environment.
At the end of the evacuation, the SWAT team successfully repelled the violent crowd, and about three and a half hours after attacking the building, they managed to control the area and Arrest two people suspected of being implicated, Was later brought to justice.
More than 200 anti-riot agents from the National Civil Police (PNC) of Guatemala participated in the operation to regain control of the Congress after it was invaded.
The police threw tear gas at protesters in the congressional area until they managed to stop the chaos. Affected council facilities and surrounding streets, In the historic center of Guatemala City.
The protesters’ request is currently being analyzed by the Congressional Defense, Finance and Human Rights Committee, and it is proposed to pay 120,000 quetzales (approximately US$15,500) for each former soldier or their relatives. If they have died, the payment will be made in four years.
Financial compensation for civil war veterans is one of Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei’s campaign promises in the 2019 election campaign.
The civil war ended on December 29, 1996, and the government signed a peace agreement with the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Forces (URNG) guerrillas. More than 250,000 people died According to the United Nations History Clarification Committee, in more than 90% of cases, this is attributed to the Guatemalan army.