Guatemala’s Congress voted on Tuesday 3 November 2026 to keep its members’ pay at Q66,000 quetzales a month (about US$8,640). A motion to cut that pay failed, with 41 deputies in favour and 50 against, the same day the chamber passed its own 2027 budget.
The vote matters to readers in the United States because this is the body that writes Guatemala’s budget and its laws on migration, security and trade. How much voters trust it will shape the 2027 election.
Key Facts
- Vote. Deputies rejected a pay-cut motion on Tuesday 3 November 2026, with 41 in favour and 50 against.
- Pay. Each deputy earns Q66,000 a month, about US$8,640 at Q7.64 per dollar.
- Budget. Congress approved Q1.53 billion (about US$201 million) for 2027, including its own operations.
- Proposer. Samuel Pérez, a deputy of the Raíces bloc (a party group in Congress), led the cut proposal.
- Next. The national 2027 budget still needs a vote before the end of November.
What Happened in Congress
Deputies of the Raíces bloc, led by Samuel Pérez, asked the chamber to scrap the pay rise approved in 2024 and to trim attendance allowances, known as dietas. They also wanted deputies moved into the state social security institute, the IGSS, and an end to private health insurance paid from public money.
The motion failed, with 41 deputies in favour and 50 against, and the budget passed the same day as Legislative Agreement 24-2026, the formal decision that sets Congress’s budget. That text pays for salaries, allowances, travel and fuel for 2027.
Pérez called the raise a “descaro”, a Spanish word for brazenness, and said it did not serve Guatemala’s interests. Allan Rodríguez, a deputy of the Vamos bloc (a party founded by former president Alejandro Giammattei), replied that Pérez had backed the raise from behind the scenes, an allegation we could not confirm.
How the Pay Got Here
In late November 2024, Congress approved its 2025 budget with a clause that, according to press reports, set deputies’ pay no lower than that of appeals-court magistrates. Pay has been a live issue in the chamber ever since.
Press reports in 2025 put the base salary at Q46,700 a month, with Q5,000 in representation expenses and Q14,600 in dietas, about Q66,300 in all. The Q66,000 now quoted is that total, rounded.
The Money Behind the Vote
The 2027 budget approved on 3 November totals Q1.53 billion (about US$201 million). Of that, about Q1.28 billion (US$167 million) goes to the legislature itself, Q245 million (US$32 million) to the human rights ombudsman (known as the PDH) and Q13 million (US$1.7 million) to the Central American Parliament, known as Parlacen.
This is Congress’s own budget, not the national one. The much larger national budget for 2027 is a separate bill, and our report on the business sector’s objections to it shows how contested it already is.
Why It Matters for Readers Abroad
A pay vote can look like a local row, but it feeds a larger question for Guatemala: whether citizens believe their lawmakers act in the public interest. Guatemala holds general elections in 2027, and parties are already choosing candidates, as in our report on Creo, a Guatemalan party, picking the mayor of Mixco, a city next to Guatemala City, as its presidential candidate.
For US investors, companies and officials, the same Congress decides budgets, tax rules and security laws. Low public trust can slow reform, and every unpopular vote gives critics of the political class a new example.
What Is Not Known
Press reports do not say whether any bloc will try to revive the cut when the national budget comes up. It is also unclear whether the pay will be debated again before the 2027 elections.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do Guatemalan deputies earn?
Reports put pay at about Q66,000 a month, roughly US$8,640, and Congress kept it for 2027. That is a base salary of Q46,700 plus representation expenses and dietas.
Who proposed the pay cut in Guatemala’s Congress?
The Raíces bloc, led by deputy Samuel Pérez, proposed it. The motion failed on 3 November 2026, with 41 in favour and 50 against.
What happens next with Guatemala’s budget?
Congress must still pass the national 2027 budget before the end of November. The 2027 general elections follow next year.
Sources: Congress of Guatemala plenary session of 3 November 2026 (Legislative Agreement 24-2026), as reported by Guatemalan press on 3 and 4 November 2026; press reports of the Congress budget vote of late November 2024; exchange rate US$1 = Q7.64, market rate of 9 November 2026.
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