Page 7 - aruba-today-20201123

A7
WORLD NEWS Monday 23 noveMber 2020

Guatemala condemns fire at Congress; 12 injured in protests

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — growing demonstrations
Guatemala's government against President Alejandro
called fires set by protesters Giammattei and the legis-
at Congress "terrorist acts" lature for approving a bud-
while the Inter-American get that cut educational
Human Rights Commission and health spending. Law-
on Sunday condemned makers approved $65,000
what it called an "exces- to pay for meals for them-
sive use of force" by police selves, but cut funding for
against demonstrators op- coronavirus patients and
posed to a new budget human rights agencies.
that slashes social spend- Giammattei's interior min-
ing. ister, Gendri Reyes, said "a
Protesters broke into the group of people attacked
Congress building and set with terrorist acts, throwing
one office afire on Satur- firebombs to destroy Con-
day, and tossed rocks at gress buildings. They tossed
police. Flames poured out rocks and used weapons
of the building's neoclassi- against security forces."
cal facade. About 10,000 demonstrat-
Police used tear gas and ed protested in front of the
nightsticks to push demon- National Palace in Guate-
strators back, attacking not Debris lays in front of graffiti that reads in Spanish "Corrupt," outside of the Congress building that mala City against corrup-
only about 1,000 demon- was damaged during protests in Guatemala City, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2020. tion and the budget, which
strators in front of Congress Associated Press protesters say was negoti-
but also a much larger pro- ated and passed by legisla-
test in front of the country's "condemns the excessive after which State agents with violence, they "must tors in secret while the Cen-
National Palace. Some use of force by authorities indiscriminately suppressed identify persons — protest- tral American country was
protesters also damaged against demonstrators" but the protest." ers or third parties — who distracted by the fallout of
bus stations. also asked for an investiga- It said governments "must risk rights or infringe State back-to-back Hurricanes
The commission wrote in tion into "the acts of van- respect peaceful demon- property. " Eta and Iota as well as the
its Twitter account that it dalism against Congress, stration," but when faced The protests was part of COVID-19 pandemic. q