Hundreds of Guatemalan ex-military storm Congress demanding reparations

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – At least a dozen police officers and four journalists were injured in rioting in Guatemala on Tuesday (19) when hundreds of retired military personnel stormed the country’s Congress following a protest.

The former combatants, demanding compensation for their service in the army during the civil war, had demonstrated for several days over the past two weeks with roadblocks and finally decided to take violent action in Congress on Tuesday.

In addition to the injured, two people were arrested, and hundreds of officials and legislative staff suffered nervous breakdowns.

According to Efe, the veterans, armed with machetes, sticks, and stones, entered the parliament building in the nation’s capital by breaking open the iron gate and setting fire to parliament offices, five cars, and three motorcycles.

According to the National Civil Police and the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman, at least ten police officers and four journalists from local media, were injured in the clashes, and several others were threatened for their work.

The demonstration turned violent around 2 PM local time (6:00 PM GMT), shortly before the start of the plenary session. At that point, only 12 of the 160 congressmen were still in the building, and they had to seek safety in offices out of the protesters’ reach.

The Minister of Energy and Mines, Alberto Pimentel, was also in the building and confirmed to the media that they were being held there.

The deputy of the Seed Movement, Luis Fernando Pineda Lemus, called for “help” on his social networks, pointing out that the ex-militants had machetes and stones.

“We ran to get into the patrol cars and disappear along Ninth Avenue. We are all shocked. The ex-militants are too violent, they are with machetes and stones, threatening. They burned my office and destroyed ‘carros’ (cars) and other offices near the parking lot,” Pineda Lemus told Efe seconds after being evacuated.

The National Civil Police prepared an operation to evacuate the more than 100 congressional staff, deputies, and the Minister of State in the street parallel to the parking lot where the protesters were, that is, at the other end of the building, where security forces had already controlled the area.

After the evacuation was completed, the special police forces managed to push back the violence. About three and a half hours after the attack on the building, they could control the area and arrest two suspected perpetrators, who were later brought to justice.

More than 200 riot police from the Guatemalan National Civil Police (PNC) participated in the operation to regain control of Congress after it was overrun.

Police threw tear gas canisters at protesters surrounding the Congress until they managed to end the chaos that affected the parliament building and surrounding streets in the historic center of Guatemala City.

The protesters’ demands are currently being considered by Congress’s Defense, Finance, and Human Rights Committees. Proposed is a payment of 120,000 quetzals (about $15,500) for each former military personnel or their family if they are already deceased, to be paid in four annual installments.

Financial compensation for veterans of the internal war was one of Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei’s campaign promises in his 2019 election campaign.

The internal war ended on December 29, 1996, with the signing of the peace agreement between the government and the guerrilla group Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG).

According to the United Nations Commission for Historical Clarification (Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico de las Naciones Unidas), more than 250,000 people were killed and disappeared in the process, of which more than 90% are attributed to the Guatemalan army.